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PhD Studentship in Soft Matter/Lipid Membranes

Structure-Function Relationships for Drug Reactivity in Lipid Membranes

Supervisors: Dr John Sanderson, University of Durham; Professor Mark Wilson, University of Durham.

Start date: 1st October 2021.

Stipend: commensurate with EPSRC rates.

Aims

• To understand how membrane partitioning behaviour affects compound reactivity with lipids.

• To develop a mechanistic understanding of the reaction between organic molecules and membrane lipids.

Programme

This programme of collaborative research will examine chemical reactivity in model membranes by spectroscopic and analytical chemistry approaches, combined with molecular mechanics simulations to understand how the interfacial partitioning of molecules affects this reactivity. The research will involve:

• analysis of drug-membrane binding;
• determination of drug-lipid reactivity profiles;
• analytical work (fluorescence, NMR, LC-MS) to quantify reaction kinetics and probe mechanism;
• atomistic and coarse grained molecular modelling;
• free energy calculations;

The successful applicant will have the unique opportunity to work at the interface of experimental and theoretical chemistry alongside researchers within the Departments of Chemistry and the Durham Centre for Soft Matter.

Eligibility

Applicants should have, or expect to obtain, a First class or a minimum of an Upper Second class (2.1) Honours degree, MSci, MChem or equivalent qualification in Chemistry or a related subject. The studentships are funded for UK/EU citizens, but EU students must have been continuously resident in the UK for the last three years to be eligible (for more details please see the EPSRC eligibility guidelines: https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/eligibility/).

Further Information

For further information, contact Dr John Sanderson or Prof. Mark Wilson.

Further information is in this document.

Masters by Research

Research Areas

Enquiries are welcomed for projects in the following research areas:

• the chemical reactivity of membrane lipids;
• lipid synthesis;
• peptide-lipid interactions;
• drug-lipid interactions;
• lipid and sterol dynamics in vivo;

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