Veterinary Parasitology PhD / MPhil

Program Overview

It has a strong reputation for infection research and global health, with expertise in zoonotic diseases, ticks, and anthelmintic resistance. The program offers a comprehensive curriculum, access to advanced research facilities, and supports research projects aligned with its research expertise, including tick-pathogen interactions, the immune response to parasite infection, and the development of diagnostic tools and vaccines.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

Parasitology encompasses the biology, transmission, immunology, epidemiology and control of parasites of veterinary and medical importance. We study a range of parasitic diseases including zoonoses, as well as ticks and the diseases they transmit.

Other:

• Liverpool's leading international reputation in infection research, tropical medicine and global health stretches back over 150 years.
• The University of Liverpool’s Institute of Infection and Global Health was established to bring together leading medical, veterinary and basic science researchers from across the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.
It also complements other strengths in Liverpool, including the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine, the Medicines for Children Research Network, and the Wellcome Trust Tropical Centre with its associated PhD programme.
• We also enjoy close and active collaboration with NHS colleagues through the Liverpool Health Partners Academic Health Science System.
• We particularly welcome research proposals that match those of our researchers, including:
• The diagnosis, epidemiology and control of Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke), a trematode parasite and a major cause of production losses in sheep and cattle, and an emerging and serious zoonosis in some developing countries
• Anthelmintic resistance in liver fluke and gastrointestinal parasites of livestock, including mapping of drug resistance genes using genomic technology and population genetic studies
• Tick-pathogen interactions at the cellular and molecular level, including co-infections with pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria and viruses
• Fundamental studies of the immune response to ruminant parasite infection
• Use of deep sequencing (genomics/transcriptomics) to examine disease mechanisms in unicellular, vector-borne parasites (Trypanosoma, Leishmania, Apicomplexa)
• Applying state-of-the-art imaging techniques to understand interactions between apicomplexan parasites, the intestinal epithelium, and the host immune system in 3D tissue culture models of livestock.
• Veterinary Parasitology research is based on two sites, the IC2 building on the main city campus and the Leahurst campus on the Wirral, 20 minutes away.
Parasitic diseases are of major importance to the health and welfare of animals throughout the world. As relatively large and sophisticated pathogens, parasites present particularly intriguing and difficult challenges; many are also zoonotic, transmitted between animals and humans, affecting the health of both. We have a large, well-funded research team working on the temperate liver fluke parasite, Fasciola hepatica, the abortifacient protozoans Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii, and the cyathostomins (the most significant group of gastro-intestinal nematodes affecting horses).
• Another group conducts research into vector-borne parasites such as African trypanosomes and those causing malaria, focusing on the identification of virulence factors in both laboratory and natural populations.
The IC2 building houses the Tick Cell Biobank, the world’s largest collection of cell lines derived from ticks and other ectoparasitic arthropods, which underpins research on many aspects of ticks and the pathogens that they transmit to livestock and humans. We have also developed advanced bovine and porcine 3D tissue culture models to study host-pathogen interactions at the intestinal epithelium, with particular emphasis on apicomplexan parasites.
• Finally, we are using detailed epitope mapping to reveal potential vaccine candidates and changes in T-cell populations during chronic helminth infection.
We are particularly interested in anthelmintic resistance, vaccine development and improved control through better management of disease. We maintain the liver fluke lifecycle in the snail and definitive sheep host and have capacity for development of advanced models for parasite transmission. In addition, The Tick Cell Biobank based in the IC2 laboratories provides access to over 50 continuous cell lines derived from ixodid and argasid ticks and other arthropods of veterinary and medical importance, several species of obligate intracellular tick-borne bacterial pathogens, and many years’ experience in techniques for tick and tick-borne disease research.
• There are also direct links with University core facilities including: The Centre for Genomic Research, houses 2x HiSeq, 3x MiSeq and 1x PacBio RSII sequencers with robotic liquid handling and is supported by a pool of core-funded research scientists; The NMR Metabolomics Suite has three state-of-the-art instruments; The Centre for Cell Imaging is furnished with the latest developments in microscopy; The Centre for Proteome Research is equipped with several state-of-the-art mass spectrometers for both shotgun and targeted proteomics.
• Veterinary Parasitology (Professor Diana Williams, Professor Jane Hodgkinson, Dr Robin Flynn)
• Parasite evolution group
• Immune dynamics group (Dr Janine Coombes)
• Vectors and vector-borne disease group (Dr Ben Makepeace, Dr Lesley Bell-Sakyi)

The fees below reflect one year of study during the 2024/25 academic year MPhil / PhD Duration UK students International Students Full time 2-4 years £4,786 Faculty of Health and Life Sciences £29,750 (Band A)^ Faculty of Science and Engineering £29,750 (Band A)^ or £23,400 (Band B) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences £23,400 (Band B) Part time 4-6 years £2,393 Faculty of Health and Life Sciences £14,900 (Band A)^ Faculty of Science and Engineering £14,900 (Band A)^ or £11,700 (Band B) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences £11,700 (Band B) The fees stated in the table above exclude potential research support fees also known as ‘bench fees’. You will be notified of any fee which may apply in your offer letter.

• Please note that if you are undertaking a PhD within the Faculty of Science and Engineering the fee you pay, Band A or Band B, will reflect the nature of your research project.
Some research projects incur a higher fee than others e.g. if you are required to undertake laboratory work. You will be informed of the fee for your programme in your offer letter. ^ Self-funded, full-time international students studying a PhD programme classified as Band A will receive a £2,000 reduction in their fees for the first year only.