The programme was designed by international experts working in the areas of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Studying on this full-time programme will enable you to maximise your exposure to the research expertise in the Division of Infection and Immunity and the Systems Immunity University Research Institute. You will benefit from their enthusiasm and commitment to lead and deliver high-quality research-led teaching activities on this MSc programme. This MSc provides comprehensive coverage of immunity research giving you a holistic view of chronic disease progression, the control of infection and the mechanisms affecting our capacity to mount an effective immune response. This will enable you to evaluate the impact of research on the life-course of the immune system in health and disease and to explore the immune system in greater depth by learning how it can be manipulated to treat cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Biotechniques are evolving fast, and new approaches that enable the generation and analysis of vast amounts of data are being applied to address immunological problems. Immunology research is now embracing the full range of ‘omics’ including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics. You will examine ‘omics’ approaches and use them to resolve Infection-, Immunity- and Inflammation-based research questions by learning the computational and statistical methods used by scientists to analyse and interpret data from the assays.
The frontier of biomedical science has rarely been as exciting and as full of opportunities as it is today. You will be taken on a journey from the fundamentals of science through clinical research to health services research that highlights the impressive advances of recent decades and emphasize the vulnerability of human health to new and re-emerging infectious diseases. The ‘arms race’ between host and pathogen poses a new threat to global health so it is important for you also to learn about the evolution of immune evasion strategies and the development of new drugs that stop pathogen replication. The pivotal role of research in improving scientific knowledge (e.g. for advising on best practices in pandemic planning) and the development of life-saving vaccines and treatments will be clear to you by the end of this MSc.