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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.

3 Search Results

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619
Category:
Clinical Research
Project:

The use of blood biomarkers for the early and differential diagnosis of dementia 

Project Listed Date:
Institute or Center:
N/A
NIH Mentor:
N/A
University:
Cambridge
Project Details:

This project will focus on the use of blood plasma biomarkers of neurodegeneration and their role in the early and differential diagnosis of dementia. Blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration such as Phospho-tau (ptau)-181 and 217, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), amyloid beta (Αβ) 42/40 and neurofilament light (ΝfL) have shown high performance for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. However, their use for the diagnosis of non-AD dementias requires further development and likely additional research. Our group has previously shown that Ptau181 and GFAP plasma markers show excellent potential in differentiating AD from controls, frontotemporal lobe degeneration as well as progressive supranuclear palsy but do not perform as well in differentiating AD from Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). Furthermore these markers are not able to detect AD co-pathology in LBD.  This project aims to build up on ongoing work and test the accuracy and performance of blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration for the differential diagnosis of dementia. Building up to previous work will test novel biomarkers , such as ptau-217  and ptau-231 as well as markers of brain derived tau and synaptic function in cohorts from the Cambridge Centre for Parkinson’ plus disorders. It also aims to test whether such biomarkers can be used to detect AD co-pathology in LBD. It will also aim to test the associations between plasma biomarkers and brain imaging such as PET markers of synaptic function and neuroinflammation in AD and LBD using various statistical models including mixed linear models, area under the curve statistics and more advanced methods such as machine learning. The project will also test multimodal models and test whether addition of genetic information can improve the diagnostic accuracy of biomarkers. This post will ideally suit a clinically qualified candidate as their role will involve assessment and recruitment of research participants, collaborative work on the processing and analysis of plasma biomarkers, brain imaging data analysis and interpretation and publication of findings. 

340
Category:
Clinical Research
Project:

Therapeutic effects of microbiome manipulation in the treatment of eczema

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

Dr. Ian Myles

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

Our group focuses on how human health is affected by the normal microorganisms that live on our skin (collectively termed the microbiome). Our emphasis is on eczema (also called atopic dermatitis or AD), which is an inflammatory disease of the skin associated with reduced quality of life and high risk of developing asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergies. Recent work has uncovered that the skin microbiome is significantly different between healthy controls and patients with AD and that early commensal diversity may protect against development of AD. These realizations suggest that the skin microbiome contributes to AD presentation through both harmful and protective pathways. Our group identified a species of bacteria from normal healthy skin, called Roseomonas mucosa, which showed promising features in cell culture and mouse models that suggested the bacteria might be able to treat patients with eczema. We have since transitioned into a clinical trial using Roseomonas mucosa as a topical treatment for eczema. 

196
Category:
Clinical Research
Project:

Clinical Trial Methodology In Developing Countries

Project Listed Date:
Institute or Center:
N/A
NIH Mentor:
N/A
UK Mentor:

Prof. Trudie Lang

University:
Oxford
Project Details:
N/A
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