News — Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)

Mapping uncharted networks in the progression of Parkinson’s

26 October 2021

A major new $9 million project funded by the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative will map the original circuits vulnerable to Parkinson’s on an unprecedented scale. The project is a collaboration between a core team of Professors Stephanie Cragg, Richard Wade-Martins, and Peter Magill at Oxford, Dr Mark Howe at Boston University and Professor Dinos Meletis at the Karolinska Institute, as well as collaborators Professor Yulong Li at Peking University and Dr Michael Lin at Stanford University.

Drug could help diabetic hearts recover after a heart attack

20 October 2021

New research led by Associate Professor Lisa Heather has found that a drug known as molidustat, currently in clinical trials for another condition, could reduce risk of heart failure after heart attacks.

DPAG Academics receive Teaching Excellence Awards

13 October 2021

The Medical Sciences Division's Teaching Excellence Awards scheme recognises and rewards excellence in teaching, supervision, the organisation and development of teaching, and support for teaching and learning, within a research-intensive environment.

From Cells to Systems: New animation brings physiology to life for students

6 October 2021

Head of Department and President of The Physiological Society Professor David Paterson has been involved in developing a new animation about physiology fundamentals which launches today during Biology Week 2021.

Head of Department and President of The Physiological Society congratulates 2021 Nobel Prize Winners

4 October 2021

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.

DPAG Researchers honoured for their work in cardiac metabolism

27 September 2021

Kaitlyn Dennis, Ujang Purnama and Kerstin Timm have won prizes across each of the three award categories at this year’s Society for Heart and Vascular Metabolism conference, demonstrating DPAG's continued excellence in cardiac metabolism research.

Richard Tyser and Jack Miller honoured by the British Society of Cardiovascular Research

14 September 2021

Dr Richard Tyser is this year’s winner of the Bernard and Joan Marshall Early Career Investigator Prize, and Dr Jack Miller has received a runner-up award, at the British Society of Cardiovascular Research Autumn Meeting.

Blood bank storage can reduce ability of transfusions to treat anaemia

13 September 2021

New research from the Swietach Group in collaboration with NHS Blood and Transplant has demonstrated that the process of storing blood in blood banks can negatively impact the function of red blood cells and consequently may reduce the effectiveness of blood transfusions, a treatment commonly used to combat anaemia.

Decorative comparison of rest cells and simulated cells

Overlapping second messengers increase dynamic control of physiological responses

3 September 2021

New research from the Parekh and Zaccolo groups reveals that a prototypical anchoring protein, known to be responsible for regulating several important physiological processes, also orchestrates the formation of two important universal second messengers.

This image shows the developing heart of a mouse embryo captured using an electron microscope (left) and a laser microscope (right). In the black and white image we can see how cells in a developing heart don’t form a smooth surface. To capture the image on the right cells were stained with two coloured markers - red, to visualise nuclei, and green, to highlight cell boundaries. These red and green cell boundaries show how some cells huddle together in small structures and form strong connections with their neighbours. Other cells end up alone and will dive into the heart to find stronger connections as it continues to develop.

Xin Sun shortlisted in national science image competition

25 August 2021

DPAG Postdoctoral Research Scientist Dr Xin Sun has been shortlisted in the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) annual ‘Reflections of Research’ image competition.

Celebrated Haldane painting adorns Sherrington walls

24 August 2021

A portrait of British Physiologist John Scott Haldane, known as the father of oxygen therapy, by Philip de László is on display on the first floor of the Sherrington building.

Feeling tired? Here’s how the brain’s ‘hourglass’ controls your need for sleep – new research

24 August 2021

New article on The Conversation website written by Dr Lukas Krone, Associate Professor Vladyslav Vyazovskiy and Professor Zoltán Molnár.

Visceral fat supports various fundamental functions, such as reproduction. However, when it is too abundant, it produces unhealthy levels of proteins and hormones that negatively affect neighbouring tissues and organs. In this study authors reveal the first known neuro-immune process by which brain signals instruct immune function in visceral fat stores.

Scientists Decipher How NeuroImmune Interactions Burn Deep Fat

20 August 2021

A pioneering collaborative mouse study from an international team of researchers including DPAG's Associate Professor Ana Domingos published in Nature offers new therapeutic avenues for reducing visceral fat stores, which have been associated with cardiovascular disease and multiple types of cancer.

Large Lecture Theatre renamed to honour Sir Colin Blakemore FRS

10 August 2021

The Large Lecture Theatre is being renamed the Blakemore Lecture Theatre in tribute to the longest serving Waynflete Professor of Physiology Sir Colin Blakemore FRS following a prestigious Festschrift event held in Professor Blakemore's honour.

Gosia Cyranka and Sian Wilcox honoured by The Physiological Society

6 August 2021

DPAG DPhil students Gosia Cyranka and Sian Wilcox have been awarded prestigious Early Career Researcher Prizes at Physiology 2021, The Physiological Society's Annual Conference celebrating first-class physiology.

The healthy lungs appear to have more gas activity present than the post Covid scan which shows more dark areas indicating damage.

Study set to detect hidden lung damage in Long Covid Patients

6 August 2021

Following the successful identification of long-term previously invisible lung damage in post-Covid patients, a large NIHR grant will enable a University of Oxford team including DPAG's Dr James Grist to continue this crucial work to shed light on why people with confirmed Long Covid continue to experience breathlessness following recovery from Covid-19.

Small Lecture Theatre renamed to honour DPAG pioneer Florence Buchanan

5 August 2021

The newly renamed Florence Buchanan Lecture Theatre is testament to Dr Buchanan’s pioneering career in physiology, in line with the Department's ongoing commitment to acknowledge the significant contribution of women to DPAG and its predecessor departments.

Continued ethical animal research needed to advance treatment of brain disease, researchers argue

5 August 2021

More research is needed to improve the treatment of brain diseases such as depression, Alzheimer’s or ADHD. A widely held view within the scientific community is that this cannot be done without ethically conducted animal research. A team of seventy international neuroscientists, including DPAG’s Associate Professor Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, have now published a warning that animal research is under pressure, which endangers the further development of treatments.

The cerebral cortex is shown at the top of the brain with the anterior hypothalamus and junction of forebrain and brainstem positioned below at the lower part of the brain.

Cortex may regulate the need for sleep

2 August 2021

Why we sleep, and the processes behind sleep, are amongst the most interesting questions in modern neuroscience. Researchers at the University of Oxford, including DPAG's Molnár and Vyazovskiy group scientists, have now uncovered a new target for sleep investigations within the mammalian brain – the cerebral cortex. The paper, first authored by Dr Lukas Krone, was published today in Nature Neuroscience.

Reducing fat in the diabetic heart could improve recovery from heart attack

29 July 2021

New research from the Heather Group has shown that in type 2 diabetes an overload of lipids reduces the heart’s ability to generate energy during a heart attack, decreasing chances of recovery.