Anti-cancer drug derived from fungus shows promise in clinical trials
11 October 2021
A new industry-academic partnership between the University of Oxford and biopharmaceutical company NuCana as found that chemotherapy drug NUC-7738, derived from a Himalayan fungus, has 40 times greater potency for killing cancer cells than its parent compound.
Researchers set out steps to address mental health effects of the pandemic on young people
11 October 2021
Researchers have outlined 14 steps that schools, mental health services and policymakers can take to help children and young people whose mental health has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Finding our Way: An NHS Tribute Garden' at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2021
21 September 2021
‘Finding Our Way – An NHS Tribute Garden’ is a celebration of the incredible efforts of the thousands of people who fought – and are still fighting - the COVID-19 pandemic on our behalf. The garden is designed by Naomi Ferrett-Cohen and presented by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford University.
Brain cortex may regulate the need for sleep
4 August 2021
Why we sleep, and the processes behind sleep, are amongst the most interesting questions in modern neuroscience.
African trial of novel HIV vaccine candidate starts
4 August 2021
Trial aims to evaluate safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of vaccine candidate First dose given today, in Lusaka, Zambia Vaccine aims to combat numerous HIV strains, a key requirement of any vaccine to end the HIV/AIDs epidemic The Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership (GREAT) – of which the University of Oxford is a lead partner – announced today the start of vaccinations in a Phase I clinical trial of a novel HIV vaccine candidate.
New data show rise in hospital admissions for unvaccinated pregnant women
4 August 2021
The Chief Midwifery Officer for England will urge expectant mums to have their COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible. This follows a worrying rise in unvaccinated women being admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19, and evidence that the Delta variant poses a significantly greater risk than all previous strains.
Cooking with coal or wood associated with increased risk of major eye diseases
4 August 2021
A study involving nearly half a million people in China reveals a clear link between cooking with wood or coal, and an increased risk of major eye diseases that can lead to blindness, according to a report published today in PLOS Medicine.
Oxford vaccine reaches one billion doses released
4 August 2021
The University of Oxford and our partners AstraZeneca have today announced that one billion doses of the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 coronavirus vaccine have been released, to more than 170 countries, marking a key milestone as part of the University and AstraZeneca’s joint vision to make the vaccine available to the world, on a not-for-profit basis during the pandemic, and in perpetuity for low- and middle-income countries.
Phase I trial begins of new vaccine against the Plague
27 July 2021
Researchers at the University of Oxford today launched a Phase 1 trial to test a new vaccine against plague.
Daily contact COVID-19 testing for students effective at controlling transmission in schools
23 July 2021
A study by the University of Oxford has found that daily testing of secondary school students who were in contact with someone with COVID-19 was just as effective in controlling school transmission as the current 10-day contact isolation policy.
Alpha variant spread via ‘super-seeding’ event: warning over COVID-19 variants
23 July 2021
The COVID-19 Alpha (or Kent) variant is not 80% more transmissible, as was originally thought, according to a new study published by researchers at universities including Oxford. But, they warn, the rapid spread of the variant around the UK last year has major implications for the treatment of other variant outbreaks, because it resulted from multiple ‘exports’. It was, in fact, a major ‘super-seeding’ event, with the variant ‘exported’ numerous times from the large outbreak in the Kent/London area.
Urgent need for COVID-19 vaccine equity: UN-Oxford research
23 July 2021
COVID-19 vaccine programmes are expected to cost poorer countries an additional 56.6% on health budgets, compared with just 0.8% on wealthy countries’ health expenditure, according to new data from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the University of Oxford.
Red and processed meat linked to increased risk of heart disease, Oxford study shows
22 July 2021
Largest review of all large-scale studies to date finds red and processed meat increase the risk of heart disease.
Difficulty hearing speech could be a risk factor for dementia
22 July 2021
A new study led by University of Oxford researchers on over 82,000 participants has shown that difficulty hearing spoken conversations is associated with up to 91% increased risk of dementia.
New research studies to help diagnose and treat Long COVID funded by NIHR
20 July 2021
Three projects at Oxford have received funding from NIHR to assess breathlessness in Long COVID patients, investigate the impact of Long COVID on families, and examine the role of vaccines in Long COVID.
T-cell ‘training grounds’ behind robust immune system response seen in adenovirus vaccines
20 July 2021
Adenovirus vaccine vectors, such as the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 construct which has risen to prominence as a major vaccine for COVID-19, may generate robust long-term immune system responses, according to scientists from the Universities of Oxford and the Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen, Switzerland.
ISARIC COVID-19 clinical database passes ½ million patient records mark
20 July 2021
COVID-19 has exposed our vulnerability to pandemic infections and shown what works, and what does not. It has tested the effectiveness of the Oxford-based global, open-source, collaborative approach set up 10 years ago to prevent illness and deaths from infectious disease outbreaks: ISARIC, the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium.
High blood sugar levels ‘reprogramme’ stem cells
14 July 2021
Findings explain higher risk of heart attack in people with diabetes, even after treatment.
Oxford holds in-person graduation ceremony for medical-students joining the NHS frontline
14 July 2021
A COVID-secure graduation ceremony has been held at Oxford University for its final year medical students who will join the NHS next month.
Feeling Safe works: effective treatment for paranoia follows a decade of Oxford research
14 July 2021
Professor Daniel Freeman, clinical psychologist, explains how delusions may be unfounded but they cause real distress and misery for sufferers - who feel constantly unsafe. He set himself the challenge of finding an effective treatment, a decade later he and colleagues have unveiled Feeling Safe, which shows real benefits for trial participants and, he hopes, a step change in the treatment of severe paranoia.