Global Infectious Diseases

Global infectious diseases have set off alarms with serious public health emergencies from time to time. Interdisciplinary research approaches and international co-operation are vital to tackling infectious disease outbreaks, epidemics and unprecedented global pandemics like the ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) due to a novel coronavirus, along with our old foes tuberculosis (TB), cholera, malaria, Ebola, Zika, bird flu to name a few.

In our ever-changing, rapidly globalising world, the free movement of people and goods, social change, urbanisation and environmental degradation mean that microorganisms can move quickly between and across populations, crossing natural and human-made borders with ease. A communicable disease that develops in one country has the potential for global impact. On top of this, microorganisms are constantly adapting and developing resistance to existing antibiotic and other treatments, leading to the resurgence of old diseases and the evolution of new ones.

In response, new and improved treatments are constantly required to combat parasitic, bacterial and viral infections. These pathogens have the potential to adversely affect the health of millions of people and they challenge scientists, particularly in the field of microbiology, to respond swiftly and preemptively.

Our MRes Global Infectious Diseases is ideal if you have an undergraduate degree in a relevant scientific subject. It is research-focused and will help you develop the research skills and subject-specific, laboratory-based expertise you need to develop an academic or professional career as a researcher into global infectious diseases.

In addition to your own laboratory work, you will attend group laboratory meetings and seminars, to deepen your theoretical knowledge and practical skills, and contextualise your research. You will also undertake an original, independent research project and dissertation.

Highlights

- We are part of the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB), a joint initiative with University College London.

- In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), in a joint submission with UCL, Biological Sciences at Birkbeck were ranked 11th in the UK, with a research environment supporting world-leading and internationally excellent research.

- You will join an existing research group under the guidance of a research supervisor.

Careers and employability

Graduates can pursue career paths in the NHS or wider health sector, including laboratory-based positions, or in public health settings. Possible professions include:

- microbiologist

- biomedical scientist

- research scientist (life sciences)

- clinical research associate

- science writer

- higher education lecturer

- scientific laboratory technician.

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