Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded to NDM Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe
7 October 2019
Peter Ratcliffe, William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza share the 2019 Nobel Prize for or Physiology and Medicine. They discovered how cells sense and adapt to oxygen levels, findings that affect our day-to-day life from exercise, to being at high altitudes to our early development in the womb. Their work is leading to new treatments for anaemia and even cancer
Research identifies how the gut loses protective barrier function in IBD
7 March 2019
A single-cell based study from Prof Alison Simmons Lab describes clonic epithelial cell diversity in health and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Big Data Institute announces two new research alliances
30 January 2019
The Big Data Institute (BDI) has recently announced new research alliances with Novartis and Sensyne Health.
Oxford secures £17.5 million to lead national programmes in AI to improve healthcare
9 November 2018
Funding will be provided to the University of Oxford through the Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund by as part of a £50 million investment to establish a network of digital pathology, imaging and AI centres, to drive innovation in the use of AI for improved diagnosis and delivery of precision treatments.
Novel cancer treatment resistance mechanism uncovered
2 August 2018
BRCA1 deficiencies cause breast and ovarian cancer, rendering tumours hypersensitive to PARP inhibitors. Patient treatment can become ineffective due to emerging resistance mechanisms. Ross Chapman’s team at the Welcome Centre has uncovered a protein complex termed Shieldin that acts with 53BP1 to limit end resection at DNA double-strand breaks, which confers resistance to cancer treatment.
Biomarker discovery for patients with malignant pleural effusion
15 June 2018
Ioannis Psallidas (Respiratory Medicine) and colleagues including members of the Target Discovery Institute (TDI) (Benedikt Kessler / Roman Fischer) have developed a score that predicts risk of death for a common metastasis of patients with malignant pleural effusion.
FORMA Therapeutics and the University of Oxford Announce Multi-Year Cross-Border Collaboration
16 May 2018
The FORMA/Oxford collaboration brings together Oxford’s expertise in disease molecular pathology and Ubiquitin biology, (including through the Alzheimer’s Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute (ODDI), the Target Discovery Institute (TDI) and the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC)), and FORMA’s deep expertise in small molecule drug design and development.
Scientists discover promising ‘off-switch’ for inflammatory diseases
3 April 2018
Researchers in Ireland, the UK and US have discovered a new metabolic process in the body that can switch off inflammation. “itaconate” – a molecule derived from glucose – “acts as a powerful off switch for macrophages”, thereby reducing inflammation.
The Journey from Genes to Disease – a symposium for postdocs by postdocs
26 March 2018
A free one day symposium, to be held on 20 April 2018, Medical Sciences Training Centre, Oxford and organised by the Postdoctoral Training Fellows at MRC Harwell Institute. The theme is the influence of genetics and genetic regulation in modelling human disease – from molecular through cellular to whole animal level and encompassing developmental, environmental and behavioural interactions.
Oxford one of six sites to receive funding for health data science
27 February 2018
Health Data Research UK is awarding £30 million funding to six sites across the UK, including the University of Oxford, to address challenging healthcare issues through use of data science.
New Year's Honours 2018
4 January 2018
Congratulations to Professor Chas Bountra, Professor of Translational Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, who has been appointed OBE for services to Translational Medical Research in the New Year's Honours List 2018. Congratulations also to Dr Jake Dunning, Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in Tropical Medicine (ERGO) who has been appointed MBE for services to Clinical Research.
Global health needs demand new approach to drug discovery
4 January 2018
Professor Chas Bountra, Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Affordable Medicines and Chief Scientist at the Structural Genomics Consortium, explains why a new approach to drug discovery and development is needed to address the urgent need for new drugs.
New structural insights accelerate drug discovery in the ubiquitin system for cancer therapy
18 October 2017
Modern cancer therapies often rely on the specific targeting of mutated proteins by small molecules that interfere with their function. However, some of these proteins which drive cancer are difficult to target directly. To get round this problem, scientists have tapped into the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) which controls the stability of client proteins. Their findings are published in Nature today (18th October 2017).
Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe awarded Royal Society Buchanan Medal
22 July 2017
The Royal Society has awarded Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe, Director of the Target Discovery Institute at the University of Oxford and Clinical Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute, with the Buchanan Medal for his ground-breaking research on oxygen sensing and signalling pathways mediating cellular responses to low oxygen levels or 'hypoxia'.
Cancer immunotherapy with p53 antibody
5 May 2017
p53 is one of the most damaged genes in cancer. Because p53 stays inside the cells, it is not straightforward to identify and kill the cells with damaged p53. Now we have developed an antibody that recognises a p53 fragment presented on cancer cell surface and we show that this antibody is a promising new drug for cancer immunotherapy.
World Cancer Day 2017
6 February 2017
World Cancer Day takes place on February 4 each year. NDM researchers are trying to understand the epidemiology and potential causes of cancer, its effect on patient lives and outcomes, as well as the basic science underpinning the unregulated cell growth that is the hallmark of the disease. To mark World Cancer Day 2017, NDM has asked some of our cancer scientists about their research.
John Davis: Why we work on Alzheimer’s disease
28 November 2016
The burden caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias represents one of the biggest problems for our healthcare systems.
Graduate Study Prize Winners 2016
8 November 2016
The NDM Graduate Prize winners for 2016 are Emma Davenport, Symon Kariuki, Sarah McCuaig, Manuel Rivas and Joshua Tan. The winners were awarded a £500 prize. This year’s winners have worked across many research areas including malaria vaccine work, behavioural studies and software development.
Medicine at Oxford named world's best for sixth year running
7 October 2016
Medical and health teaching and research at Oxford University has been ranked as the world's best for the sixth year running in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The discipline-specific tables, released today, follow on from last week's announcement that Oxford has been ranked the top university in the world by the same publication – the first time a UK institution has been awarded the accolade.