Annual Report 2020 - 2021
19 July 2021
The Department's Annual Report for the academic year 2020-2021 has been released. The brochure showcases a selection of the year's highlights, celebrating our significant advances in both research and equality, diversity and inclusion in what has been another challenging year in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brain’s one-sided teaching signals
16 July 2021
A new study by the Lak group reveals a novel facet of dopamine signalling during visual decision making.
The prime of Professor Dame Kay Davies
14 July 2021
Professor Dame Kay Davies, Professor of Genetics, first woman appointed Dr Lee's Professor of Anatomy at Oxford, first woman to become Head of Department for DPAG, University-wide champion of equality, and award winning scientist known for her work on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, has 'retired' after a lifetime's research, but remains Professor Emeritus at DPAG.
Fellowship awarded to Huriye Atilgan to enhance our understanding of value-based decision-making
7 July 2021
Awards and Honours EDI News Postdoctoral Research
Congratulations are in order for Postdoctoral Research Scientist Dr Huriye Atilgan who has been awarded a prestigious Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the Wellcome Trust.
The future of stroke treatment
5 July 2021
Publication Research Wade-Martins Group News
A team of international collaborators including DPAG's Dr Mootaz Salman has been researching a promising new therapeutic for the treatment of strokes and other brain injuries.
Frances Ashcroft and Denis Noble honoured by the IUPS Academic of Physiology
5 July 2021
Professors Dame Frances Ashcroft and Denis Noble have been elected Fellows of the the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Academy of Physiology in the inaugural year of its Fellowships.
New review reveals proof of concept for an anti-obesity immunotherapy
2 July 2021
The Domingos lab has published a new opinion piece in Science investigating the implications of a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center study that lays the foundations for a potential new anti-obesity treatment in the form of targeting adipose tissue-resident macrophages.
New pathway established for multisensory cortical communication
28 June 2021
Integration of information across the senses is critical for perception. This activity is thought to arise primarily from connections made in the brain's sensory cortical areas. A new paper from the King Group uncovers evidence for the first time on the little understood role of subcortical circuits in shaping the multisensory properties of primary cortical neurons.
Gero Miesenböck FRS gives the 2021 Sherrington Prize Lecture ahead of Sherrington Plaque unveiling
24 June 2021
CNCB Head of Department's News
The Department's most prestigious named lecture was delivered this year by Shaw Prize winner and Waynflete Professor of Physiology Gero Miesenböck FRS in honour of our 1913 Waynflete Professor and Nobel Laureate Sir Charles Sherrington OM GBE PRS. The lecture was followed by the unveiling of The Physiological Society blue plaque honouring Sherrington by Sir Colin Blakemore FRS.
Diversifying the Sherrington building walls
22 June 2021
This week framed photographs of 16 women who have contributed to the success of DPAG were displayed on the main stairwell of the Sherrington Building as part of our 2021 Centenary project.
Sherrington Talks 2021 Prize Winners
21 June 2021
Awards and Honours EDI Events Students
The 2021 Sherrington talks were presented by graduate students in their third year of DPhil research study.
Iron deficiency anaemia in early pregnancy increases risk of heart defects, suggests new research
8 June 2021
Cardiac Theme Postdoctoral Publication Research
In animal models, iron deficient mothers have a greatly increased risk of having offspring with congenital heart disease (CHD). The risk of CHD can be greatly reduced if the mother is given iron supplements very early in pregnancy. Additionally, embryos from a mouse model of Down Syndrome were particularly vulnerable to the effects of maternal iron deficiency, leading to a higher risk of developing severe heart defects.
Nicola Smart to deliver John French Lecture
2 June 2021
Awards and Honours Cardiac Theme
The British Atherosclerosis Society's John French Memorial Lecture is named in honour of the Oxford-based pathologist, Dr John French, who made seminal observations and contributions to the field of cardiovascular pathology.
Celebrating the Women of DPAG
1 June 2021
To mark the centenary of women being awarded degrees at Oxford University, DPAG celebrates some of the women who have contributed to the success of the Department, and its predecessor departments, over the last century
New target to develop immunosuppressants
18 May 2021
A new study from the Parekh Group has resolved a long-standing question in our understanding of intracellular Ca2+ signalling, namely how a specific type of Ca2+ channel is uniquely able to signal to the nucleus to regulate gene expression. By unravelling this mechanism, researchers have identified a new approach for developing immunosuppressant drugs.
How the kidney contributes to healthy iron levels and disease
17 May 2021
Lakhal-Littleton Group News Publication Research
A new study from the Lakhal-Littleton Group has addressed a long-standing gap in our understanding of systemic iron homeostasis. It provides the first formal demonstration that the hormone hepcidin controls iron reabsorption in the kidney, in a manner that impacts the body’s iron levels, under normal physiological conditions. It also demonstrates for the first time how this mechanism becomes critically important in the development of iron disorders.
Scott Waddell honoured by the Academy of Medical Sciences
12 May 2021
Awards and Honours Head of Department's News
Congratulations are in order to Professor Scott Waddell FMedSci on his election to The Academy of Medical Sciences.
Nchimunya Nelisa Tebeka wins Diabetes UK Early Career Investigator Award
10 May 2021
Awards and Honours EDI News Students
Congratulations are in order to Rhodes Scholar Nchimunya Nelisa Tebeka, who has been awarded this year's Diabetes UK Early Career Investigator Award for her DPhil work. This award is awarded for the best basic or clinical science oral abstract presentation at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference.
New research to radically alter our understanding of synaptic development
14 April 2021
A new study from the Molnár group on the role of regulated synaptic vesicular release in specialised synapse formation has made it to the cover of Cerebral Cortex.
Samira Lakhal-Littleton appointed Associate Professor in Cell Physiology
7 April 2021
Awards and Honours EDI News Head of Department's News Lakhal-Littleton Group News
The post is in association with a Tutorial Fellowship at Brasenose College.