Are you looking for a research project?

We have projects available for motivated 6-9 month internship students with an interest in computational modeling in the area of antimicrobial pharmacology or with interest in experimental approaches to characterize antibiotic PK-PD and resistance. Drop us an email if you are interested. Positions for PhD students and postdocs are always posted at the Leiden University vacancies page. However, if you can secure your own funding through scholarships or grants please let us know.

Below you find a list of available research topics:

Development of antibiotic combination therapies and dose regimens to combat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections

Antibiotic resistance is expected to lead to 10 million deaths annually in 2050 if no solution to this health challenge is found.

In this project you will investigate combinations of antibiotics or clinical dose regimens to treat antibiotic resistant-bacterial infections, or to prevent the emergence of resistance.

Using experimental infection models the response to these treatments can be measured. The effects of different molecular  resistant determinants may be studied. Optionally you can also develop mathematical models based on the data you generate to scale your findings towards patients.

Mathematical models to study the immune response to infections

The immune response to infection is highly complex. In order to better treat severe bacterial infections and sepsis, it is important to be able to understand and interpret biomarkers that reflect progression and treatment response to infectious challenges. Mathematical modeling can be used to develop this understanding. Based on preclinical and clinical data, mathematical models to characterize the immune response to infection will be developed in order to improve treatment of infections and sepsis.

Optimizing treatment of biofilm-associated infections

Chronic infections such as in cystic fibrosis are hard to treat with antibiotics. One important reason for this is the formation of microbial biofilms. In this project you will develop and apply novel experimental assays to design improved treatments for biofilm-associated infections.

Personalized antibiotic treatment design

In order to personalize antibiotic therapy we need to better understand variability between bacterial pathogens. In this project you will experimentally characterize a panel of bacterial strains and develop a mathematical model to enable personalized antibiotic treatment.

Optimizing treatment of lung infections

In order to optimally treat lung infections, antibiotics need to be able to reach the infection in the lung. In this project you will further develop a physiologically-based PK model specifically for the lung in order to optimize treatment with antibiotics.

If you have any questions, please contact Coen van Hasselt.