(MRC NW-DMS Funded PhD opportunity) Antibiotic use in hidradenitis suppurativa: prescribing patterns, treatment trajectories and antimicrobial treatment failure in Manchester

Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences

Organisation/Company The University of Manchester Department Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences Research Field Medical sciences » Epidemiology Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 27 Nov 2026 - 17:00 (UTC) Country United Kingdom Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 40 Offer Starting Date 4 Oct 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

About the Project

Hidradenitis suppurativa is one of the most painful diseases in dermatology. It causes recurrent boils, abscesses and scarring in the armpits, groin and under the breasts, and affects around one in 130 people in the UK. Oral antibiotics are a mainstay of treatment and many patients take them for months or years. What that costs them in antibiotic effectiveness later on is unknown.

This PhD will answer that question using national electronic health records. You will work with the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum, linked to hospital admission and mortality data, and you will: map how antibiotics are prescribed for hidradenitis suppurativa across the UK and how this has changed; use machine learning to uncover distinct patterns of treatment over time and test whether they predict disease flares; and estimate whether prolonged antibiotic exposure is followed by antibiotic treatment failure when patients are later treated for chest or urine infections.

You will be trained in epidemiological study design, causal inference, survival analysis, machine learning and statistical programming, and in the governance of large health datasets. Supervision spans dermatology, pharmacoepidemiology and health informatics. You will join the Dermatology and Pharmaco-epidemiology Research Group in Manchester, within a dermatology centre that is a standalone theme of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, and you will be supported to work with patients in shaping the research.

Antimicrobial resistance is a national priority and dermatology is almost absent from the evidence base. The findings are intended for clinical guidelines and stewardship policy, and all analysis code will be published openly.

Candidates must contact the primary supervisor before applying to discuss their interest in the project and assess their suitability.

These studentships are open to UK and international applicants and provide full funding for 4 years, covering the full tuition fees applicable to the successful applicant's fee status (including international tuition fees for overseas applicants) and a stipend at the UKRI rate.

Applicants are expected to hold (or be about to obtain) a minimum upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent) in medicine, pharmacy, epidemiology, public health, statistics, data science, health informatics or a related quantitative discipline. A relevant Masters degree is desirable. Research experience in the analysis of health data, and familiarity with a statistical programming language (R, Stata or Python), are desirable. A good track record of academic publications is desirable.

Specific Requirements

Due to the competitive nature of the programme, many successful applicants may also have:

• Relevant research experience.
• Experience demonstrating suitability for doctoral research.

Applicants who are offered a place will also need to meet the University's English language requirements before commencing their studies. Further information can be found on the University's English Language Requirements page.

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