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Research Opportunities

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Prospective Students

The goal of the NIH Oxford-Cambridge (OxCam) Scholars Program is to create, foster, and advance unique and collaborative research opportunities between NIH laboratories and laboratories at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. Each OxCam Scholar develops a collaborative research project that will constitute his/her doctoral training. Each Scholar also select two mentors – one at the NIH and one in the UK – who work together to guide the Scholar throughout the research endeavor.

Students may select from two categories of projects: Self-designed or Prearranged. OxCam Scholars may create a self-designed project, which enables students to develop a collaborative project tailored to his/her specific scientific interests by selecting one NIH mentor and one UK mentor with expertise in the desired research area(s). Alternatively, students may select a prearranged project provided by NIH and/or UK Investigator(s) willing to mentor an OxCam Scholar in their lab.

Self-designed Projects 
Students may create a novel (or de novo) project based on their unique research interests. Students have the freedom to contact any PI at NIH or at Oxford or Cambridge to build a collaboration from scratch. The NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) represents a community of approximately 1,200 tenured and tenure-track investigators providing a wealth of opportunity to explore a wide variety of research interests. Students may visit https://irp.nih.gov to identify NIH PIs performing research in the area of interest. For additional tips on choosing a mentor, please visit our Training Plan.

Prearranged Projects
Investigators at NIH or at Oxford or Cambridge have voluntarily offered collaborative project ideas for NIH OxCam Scholars. These projects are provided below and categorized by research area, NIH Institute/Center, and University. In some cases, a full collaboration with two mentors is already in place. In other instances, only one PI is identified, which allows the student to select a second mentor to complete the collaboration. Please note that prearranged project offerings are continuously updated throughout the year and are subject to change.

18 Search Results

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128
Category:
Virology
Project:

Understanding the “immunodominance” of Ab responses to Influenza A glycoproteins, HA and NA 

Project Listed Date:
Institute or Center:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
NIH Mentor:

Dr. Jonathan Yewdell

University:
Oxford
Project Details:

Influenza A virus imposes a significant socio-economic burden on humanity.  Vaccination is effective in only 60% of individuals, even under optimal circumstances.  The difficulty stems from the remarkable ability of influenza A virus to evade existing immunity.  IAV’s error prone polymerase enables the rapid antigenic evolution of the two virion surface glycoproteins, neuraminidase (NA) and hemagglutinin (HA).  Since the most potent antibodies (Abs) at neutralizing viral infectivity are directed the HA and NA globular domains, amino acid substitutions in these regions enable IAV to evade Ab-based immunity.  The project focuses on understanding the “immunodominance” of Ab responses to HA and NA in humans.  Immunodominance describes the strong tendency of the immune response to respond to complex antigens in a hierarchical manner, with higher ranking, “immunodominant” antigens potentially suppressing (“immunodominating”) responses to “subdominant” antigens.  By focusing responses on single antigenic sites, it is likely responsible for enabling influenza A virus to evade immunity by allowing the virus to sequentially alter its antigenicity.

124
Category:
Virology
Project:

Understanding HIV incidence and impact of interventions  

Project Listed Date:
Institute or Center:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
NIH Mentor:

Dr. Thomas Quinn

University:
Oxford
Project Details:

Understanding HIV incidence at a population level is critical for monitoring the epidemic and understanding the impact of interventions. Using full length sequencing of HIV we are developing models for estimating incidence based on viral diversity which increases with time in the infected host. Using data from longitudinal cohorts we will develop these models and then apply them to large population based interventions to determine their impact.  Experimental approaches include next-generation sequencing, phylogenetic analysis, modelling and statistical methodologies.

111
Category:
Virology
Project:

Identifying correlates of natural and vaccine protection and antibody-dependent enhancement

Project Listed Date:
Institute or Center:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
NIH Mentor:

Dr. Leah Katzelnick

UK Mentor:
N/A
University:
N/A
Project Details:

A previous infection with one of the four dengue viruses increases future risk of severe dengue disease, including hemorrhagic fever, upon infection with a different dengue virus. For this reason, dengue viruses 1-4 are challenging vaccine targets because sub-protective vaccines can increase risk the disease vaccines are designed to prevent. In the Viral Epidemiology and Immunity Unit (Chief, Dr. Katzelnick), we aim to identify correlates of natural and vaccine protection and antibody-dependent enhancement in order to develop better next generation vaccines, extend the longevity of vaccine-induced immunity, and characterize how vaccines may affect viral evolution and transmission.  Our work combines immunology, virology, and epidemiology, including close collaborations with research teams leading longitudinal cohort and vaccine studies in Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ecuador, the Philippines, and other sites. Specific projects include studying quaternary ‘super-antibodies', which bind epitopes across viral envelope proteins, and testing whether these antibodies provide enduring protection against dengue and other viral diseases. We will also study antigenic evolution away from existing immunity for flaviviruses and coronaviruses. Dr. Katzelnick was part of the NIH OxCam program (2012-2016) and is open to collaborating with research groups at both Oxford and Cambridge to mentor Ph.D. students.

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