Andrew Firth

[AstraZeneca funded studentship with funding from £23,805 p.a. for a 4-year PhD.] This is a collaborative PhD studentship hosted by the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge and the AstraZeneca Discovery Centre at Cambridge. The project brings together academic and industry research environments, with the student working across both sites under joint supervision. The research focuses on improved 2A peptide sequences and their use in co-translational separation of polyproteins. These short peptide motifs drive “ribosome skipping” or “StopGo”, allowing the expression of multiple protein components from a single promoter. The project aims to investigate newly identified 2A sequence classes with improved properties and to optimise them for biotechnology. The student will work on molecular biology approaches to study peptide-bond skipping sequences and their behaviour during translation. The Cambridge group contributes expertise in ribosome profiling, ribosome structure and function, cell biology, cryo-electron microscopy, and bioinformatics. The AstraZeneca team contributes expertise in cell therapy, CRISPR/Cas9 technologies, and viral vectors, and the project includes opportunities to explore how optimised sequences can be implemented in biotechnological applications. The project is designed to combine mechanistic understanding with translational application, and there may also be scope to develop bioinformatic skills and gain experience in structural biology.