November 2025: The new Future Medicine PhD Fellowship scheme was formally launched by Prof David Argyle, head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, at a symposium focussing on the role infectious agents in chronic disease. The doctoral fellowships scheme has been made possible by a philanthropic donation through the Pipistrel Fund. The Fund is keen to see interdisciplinary approaches to research that increasingly break down the siloes between research disciplines and see sharing of insights and approaches across fields, scales and sectors. In particular the Fund is interested in enhancing the effectiveness of therapy for chronic disease conditions through advanced diagnostics, digital health information and new therapeutics. L to R: Ting Shi, David Argyle, Jonathan Knowles, Sarah Walmsley, and Sarah Reece. PhD projects on the role of infectious agents in chronic disease The new PhD fellowship scheme will offer 4 fully-funded PhD places to UK students. The fellowships will run for 3 years, starting in September 2026. The closing date for applications is Friday 16 January 2026.Students are invited to select from 13 interdisciplinary projects that explore the role of infectious agents in chronic diseases, including the role of respiratory infection on stroke recovery, understanding how bacterial infection drives rheumatic heart disease, and how the microbiome influences cancer progression. Further details about the scheme, projects, applicant eligibility, and how to apply is available via the Future Medicine fellowships website. Future Medicine PhD Fellowships - information and application Future Medicine symposium The symposium on 25 November 2025 was organised by Ting Shi (Usher Insitute) and Sarah Walmsley (Institute of Regeneration and Repair) to showcase ongoing University-wide work that is taking integrative, multidisciplinary, and patient-focused approaches to understand how infectious agents contribute to chronic disease conditions.Speakers discussed the role of infection in neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome, the imapct of chronic inflammation during parasite infection, and the information being unlocked through new approaches to data linkage and epidemiological analysis. Symposium speakers Sara Clohisey Hendry (Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies) - Pathogens and the preterm lungDavid Hunt (Institute of Genetics and Cancer) - Is multiple sclerosis a late complication of EBV infection?Andrew Macdonald (School of Biological Sciences) - Inflammation, immunopathology and immunoregulation during chronic helminth infectionChris Ponting (Institute of Genetics and Cancer) - The genetics of ME/CFSJenny Regan (School of Biological Sciences) - Harnessing genetic variation in Drosophila to model infection susceptibility over age and sex-specific connection with lifespanTing Shi (Usher Institute) - Untangling early-life respiratory viruses and childhood lung disease using national health dataIan Simpson (School of Informatics) - Harnessing AI for Better Health EID was delighted to support the Future Medicine Symposium and forthcoming PhD Fellowships, which highlight the need for cross-disciplinary research on out-of-the-box ideas to uncover the cryptic impacts of chronic infections on common conditions, such as cancer, autoimmunity and neurological disorders. Prof Sarah Reece Co-director of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases, School of Biological Sciences EID is excited to play a role in CMVM's Future Medicine doctoral training programme. The long-term consequences of infection to non-communicable disease are poorly understood but by applying disruptive interdisciplinary approaches this programme can shed new insights on this problem. Prof David Dockrell Co-director Edinburgh Infectious Diseases, Institute of Regeneration and Repair Related links Future Medicine PhD FellowshipsCollege of Medicine and Veterinary MedicinePostgraduate research degrees at the University of Edinburgh Publication date 26 Nov, 2025
