We have established collaborations with colorectal surgeons at Westmead Hospital such that we have access to discarded human intestinal tissue from patients suffering from Crohn's disease and other autoinflammatory diseases. In this project we will compare the immune cells present in actual diseased human tissue and compare it to healthy tissue. We will particularly focus on defining the subsets of innate lymphoid cells, dendritic cells, macrophages and lymphocytes that are present in these tissues.
This project is highly translational and will involve close collaborations with colorectal surgeons who will provide access to human tissue which will be used to carry out cutting edge immunological and genomic assays. This will include multicolour flow cytometry to investigate immune cell subsets isolated from the tissue by enzymatic digestion and immunofluorscence microscopy to visualise them within the tissue. We will also investigate the genetic aspects of this disease using RNA seq and QPCR.
You will be working in the Westmead Institute for Medical Research with an experienced team of researchers including honours, masters and PhD students.
Supervisor: Associate Professor Andrew Harman - andrew.harman@sydney.edu.au