Learning from parasites to identify new therapeutic pathways for immune modulation

About the Project

Lead supervisor:Dr Cecile Crosnier

Co-supervisors:Dr J Hewitson

The student will be registered with the Department of Biology

Auto-immune and allergic conditions have undergone a dramatic increase in prevalence and incidence over the past few decades and are often associated with altered function of specific immune cell types. To alleviate the symptoms of these debilitating conditions, therapeutic interventions often rely on the use of systemic drugs that act as general immunosuppressants but can have associated side effects. Identifying new therapeutic pathways that target discrete immune cell populations would therefore be beneficial. To establish long-lasting chronic infection within the human host, parasites often produce molecules that suppress immune functions: their purpose is to weaken the immune system to promote their own survival without being too detrimental to the infected host. Parasitic worms in particular are renowned for their ability to manipulate host immunity. In some cases, biological therapy that consists in the intentional infection of patients suffering from severe auto-immune diseases with these parasites has been used to successfully alleviate symptoms. However, identifying the actual parasite molecules that trigger immune suppression would be preferable to uncover new therapeutic pathways and develop new targeted treatments.

Our laboratory focuses on parasitic worms of the Schistosoma genus that cause schistosomiasis, a major parasitic disease of huge socio-economic impact in low- and middle-income countries and responsible for up to 200,000 deaths annually. Schistosomes have the remarkable ability to survive for several decades within the blood vessels of their hosts by producing proteins that interfere with host immune function. Identifying these immunomodulatory proteins could therefore provide new vaccine targets for the control of schistosomiasis but also new therapeutic strategies for the control of allergic or auto-immune conditions. To identify parasite proteins with immunomodulatory potential, we have assembled a large library of secreted and surface proteins from the Schistosoma mansoni parasite (Crosnier et al., Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2022) and used a high-throughput protein:protein interaction methodology (Shilts et al., Nature, 2022; Lee et al., PNAS, 2024) to interrogate a unique array of over 750 human receptors, revealing new host:pathogen interactions. The research project will focus on understanding the functional outcome of these interactions and investigate their potential as new therapeutic pathways. The project will involve training in molecular biology, biochemistry, tissue culture, flow cytometry and cellular assays. You will perform in-depth biochemical and biophysical characterisation of these interactions, identify the immune cell subpopulations targeted by these parasite proteins, and perform cellular assays on primary cells or established cell lines to determine the functional outcome of these interactions.

University of York lab page: https://www.york.ac.uk/biology/people/dr-cecile-crosnier/

The University of York is committed to recruiting future scientists regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or career pathway to date. We understand that commitment and excellence can be shown in many ways and we have built our recruitment process to reflect this. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in science, who have curiosity, creativity and a drive to learn new skills.

The Department of Biology holds an Athena SWAN Gold Award. We are committed to supporting equality and diversity and strive to provide a positive working environment for all staff and students.

Entry Requirements: Students with, or expecting to gain, at least an upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, are invited to apply. The interdisciplinary nature of this programme means that we welcome applications from students with any biological, chemical, and/or physical science backgrounds, or students with mathematical background who are interested in using their skills in addressing biological questions.

Programme: PhD in Biomedical Science (3 year)

Start Date: 21 September 2026