###Design, synthesis and evaluation of metal nanoparticles as antifungal agents for topical treatment of external mycoses
Project ID: 2228bd1081 (You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Healthcare Technologies
UCL Lead department: School of Pharmacy
Lead Supervisor: Sudaxshina Murdan
Project Summary:
Fungal infections of the skin, hair and nail affect 20-25% of the world’s population, causing considerable morbidity. Meanwhile currently-available topical medicines are not very effective, especially for nail and hair infections, and patients are reluctant to use oral medicines which have considerable adverse effects. Consequently, there is a great need for new and more effective topical therapies. To address this need, we will evaluate the potential of metal nanoparticles – a novel and unique class of antimicrobial agents - for the topical treatment of such external mycoses.
You will conduct this interdisciplinary project in two departments, namely the Dept of Chemical Engineering and the UCL School of Pharmacy, under the supervision of Prof Asterios Gavriilidis and Dr Murdan respectively.
You will: (a) synthesise metal and metal oxide, e.g. silver, silver oxide, copper and copper oxide nanoparticles, having a range of properties such as size, charge, shape, (b) measure their anti-fungal activities against several fungi, in order to identify nanoparticles with a high- and broad- spectrum of activity, (c) investigate nanoparticle interaction with, and permeation into, the target disease sites of skin, nail, (d) investigate nanoparticle antimicrobial activity on fungally-infected tissue, (e) identify correlations among nanoparticle physico-chemical properties, anti-fungal efficacies, permeation into the target disease sites and anti-microbial efficacies on fungally-infected tissue. This will enable you to develop nanoparticles with optimal properties. The proposed work will deepen understanding of the potential of metal nanoparticles to treat external mycoses and identify the most promising nanoparticles for further development.
We are looking for a graduate with an appropriate science background, who is self-motivated, keen to learn and work in the fields of engineering and life sciences, and able to manage their time, to think critically, communicate well, meet deadlines, produce reports and other outputs and drive the project.