News

CIIE is looking to attract dynamic and enthusiastic researchers, eager to operate at the interface between disciplines (e.g. infection biology, immunology, evolutionary biology, ecology, epidemiology and mathematical modelling) to create new research paradigms to tackle infectious diseases.

To promote this, we are offering two interdisciplinary research fellowships of two years' duration, with the intention of providing a springboard for independent fellowship applications. Fellowships can be linked to, or combine, existing scientific areas within the Centre, though applicants with their own research projects within the remit of the Centre are also welcome.

May episode of BioPOD is out. BioPOD is the official podcast of the School of Biological Sciences, produced and presented by enthusiastic student volunteers.

In this episode, BioPOD visited the Edinburgh International Science Festival, found out about inbreeding in beetles and a fly that's threatening fruit crops, spoke to an Honorary Professor about his 30 year long career in science as well as taking one last trip to Millport's research station.

BioPOD

The Board of Governors of the Wellcome Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Jeremy Farrar as the Trust’s new Director.

Professor Farrar is an outstanding clinical scientist who has built a reputation as one of the world's leading figures in the field of infectious disease. He is currently Professor of Tropical Medicine and Global Health at Oxford University, Global Scholar at Princeton University and Director of the Wellcome Trust's Major Overseas Programme in Vietnam.

It may be an old wives' tale to say that starving a fever is an effective remedy – but now scientists have shown that plentiful food can accelerate the spread of infections.

Scientists studying bacterial infections in tiny water-fleas have discovered that increasing their supply of food can speed up the spread of infection. They carried out the study to better understand factors that affect how diseases are transmitted.

Fresh insight into the immune system could lead to better understanding of diseases that occur when the system fails.

Scientists have discovered that a key protein linked to autoimmune reactions – which occur when the immune system attacks the body – also helps control the responses to disease.

International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases holds a one-day conference focusing on coinfection within NTDs and global health.

The conference will be held on 12th February at The Wellcome Trust. The aim is to assess the impact of the Big 3: HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis on the future diagnosis, research and treatment of NTDs.

Research into malaria parasites – which exist in male and female forms, and mate to spread the disease – suggests that treatments would be more likely to succeed if designed to target female forms of the parasite.

Scientists found that male parasites can adapt to new surroundings faster than the females. When malaria infects the bloodstream after a mosquito bite, the male parasites are better able to react quickly to repeated attacks by the immune system and so are likely to be harder to treat with drugs and vaccines.