Novel diagnostics for Animal African Trypanosomiasis
Supervisors
Prof Mick Urbaniak, Lancaster University
Prof Michael Barrett, University of Glasgow
Federico Rojas, Lancaster University
CASE PARTNER - Eluceda
Summary
The African trypanosomes are parasites transmitted by the bite of infected tsetse fly and cause animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) in a range of wild and domestic animals including cattle. AAT is a major source of economic hardship in sub-Saharan Africa which is estimated by the UN FAO to cost the region $4.75 billion USD per year in lost productivity. Improved low-cost diagnostics for AAT are urgently needed and have the potential to improve economic performance, health and wellbeing in endemic areas.
The ability to identify and detect characteristics biomarkers of diseased state underpins the development of diagnostics. Eluceda (www.eluceda.com) has developed proprietary hand-held electrochemical detection devices that are suitable for field use applications including the identification of specific pathogen biological markers. It is well established that trypanosome infections cause alteration in the metabolic profile of their hosts. Indeed, trypanosome infection in camels known as Surra is traditionally detected by herd owners through a characteristic change in the colour and odour of their urine.
In this project you will perform metabolomic analysis to identify biomarkers of active AAT infections and working with Eluceda you will develop and evaluate an electrochemical detection based diagnostic method. You will gain experience of sample preparation, cell culture, advanced metabolomics and analytical methods, and data handling.