Where does Salmonella hide? Using Organ-on-Chip technology to uncover the secrets of persistent infection (LANGRIDGE_Q27DTP)

Persistent asymptomatic infections remain an important but poorly understood public health challenge. Salmonella infections can become persistent, contributing to ongoing transmission, recurrent disease and potential prolonged antimicrobial exposure. Yet the mechanisms enabling non-typhoidal Salmonella to establish long-term host colonisation remain largely unexplored.

To address this challenge, you will develop comparative infection models representing key tissue environments associated with persistence, including intestinal, hepatic, immune and gallbladder niches. Using progressively more complex experimental systems, from static cell cultures to dynamic Organ-on-Chip technologies, you will investigate the host environments that promote survival, adaptation and the emergence of persistent Salmonella populations.

This unique interdisciplinary project combines bacterial genomics, host–pathogen biology, Organ-on-Chip technology and high-resolution imaging, providing training in computational and experimental infection biology. You will develop expertise across multiple experimental and analytical approaches while addressing a fundamental unanswered question in Salmonella research: how do populations adapt to persist within the human host? The supervisory team combines internationally recognised expertise in Salmonella genomics and persistence (Dr Gemma Langridge) with complementary strengths in host–microbe interactions, advanced imaging and physiologically relevant infection models (Dr Aimée Parker), providing an outstanding interdisciplinary training environment for the next generation of infection researchers.

As an NRP-DTP student, you will benefit from a broad programme of cohort-based training, professional development and transferable skills alongside your research project. You will also undertake a funded three-month Professional Internship, gaining experience in a non-academic setting such as industry, policy, education or science communication. This provides an opportunity to explore potential career pathways and develop skills beyond academic research.

Based at the Quadram Institute on the Norwich Research Park, you will join a vibrant research community spanning microbiologists, bioinformaticians and food scientists, with access to state-of-the-art facilities and opportunities for scientific training, interdisciplinary collaboration and professional development. Informal enquiries can be sent to gemma.langridge@quadram.ac.uk