Mauro Torres

The School of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland is recruiting two fully funded PhD students for research at the interface of cell therapy, synthetic biology, CRISPR engineering, metabolic engineering, and biologic drug production . Project 1: Engineering mesenchymal stromal cell metabolism for reliable cell therapies . This project addresses variability in MSC-based therapies by using CRISPR-based engineering to establish defined metabolic states and study how these states affect immune function and anti-inflammatory potency. Co-supervision is with Professor Justin Cooper-White . Project 2: Synthetic gene circuits for controllable production of antibody and gene therapy medicines . This project develops synthetic gene circuits, including two-input logic gates, to dynamically control production cells and improve the consistency of biologic manufacturing. Co-supervision is with Professor Lars Keld Nielsen . The opportunity is based in the School of Chemical Engineering, UQ , and the post explicitly states that the positions are fully funded . The expression-of-interest deadline is 9 September 2026 . Interested candidates should review the project pages, assess fit with the research themes, and contact Mauro Torres at [email protected] with questions or to proceed with the application process.