PhD in Pathology

The department of Pathology has an excellent reputation in pure biological and biomedical research and is offering a fully funded PhD studentship from October 2026 to work with Prof. Christina Zielinski, one of the Research Group Leaders in this large and vibrant Department. The project will be funded with support from an ERC CoG and the LEO Foundation to undertake a research project investigating the of the human tissue resident T cell fate (Trm) in settings of infections. The overall mission of this project is to pioneer new strategies for tissue-specific immunotherapies./nFunding of this studentship will cover the student's stipend at the current Research council rate and Home University Fees. The studentship will be funded for 4 years from October 2026./nFurther information about the course can be found here: https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/blpapdpth/nMore about the project:/nProject Title:/nDissecting the body-wide spatio-temporal organisation of human resident T helper cells/nWe are a new research group at the University of Cambridge with a long-standing passion for the human immune system. Investigating tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells in humans is crucial because these cells provide rapid, localized immune protection directly at barrier tissues such as the skin, lungs, and gut. Unlike circulating memory T cells, TRM cells remain stationed at sites of prior infection, where they can respond immediately to reinfection and shape early immune control. It is, however, still not clear how TRM cells are generated in humans. Where does our immunological memory for specific pathogens lodge within our body and what determines its site-specific durability or cross-talk with other tissues?/nUnderstanding the development, maintenance, and functional diversity of TRM in humans can inform the design of more effective vaccines and immunotherapies that aim to establish durable, tissue-specific immunity. Using globally unique patient cohorts, transformative technologies and computational analyses, this project aims to crack the code of system-wide immune protection.