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

Nicola Smart appointed Associate Professor of Cellular and Integrative Physiology

18 May 2022

The post is in association with a Tutorial Fellowship at Christ Church College.

REF 2021 results

12 May 2022

Joaquim Vieira brings heart regeneration research to the public at Pint of Science

10 May 2022

Pint of Science is the world’s largest public science festival bringing researchers to local pubs, cafes and spaces to share their scientific discoveries with the public.

Professor Irene Tracey CBE FMedSci nominated as next Oxford Vice-Chancellor

10 May 2022

Congratulations are in order for Professor Irene Tracey, Warden of Merton College and former University Lecturer at DPAG, who has been nominated as the next Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

DPAG researchers showcased at premier European Society of Cardiology meeting

5 May 2022

DPAG scientists across four research groups were highlighted at the major annual European Society of Cardiology basic science conference (FCVB 2022). Congratulations are in order for Dr KC Park on receiving the Young Investigator Award and to Dr Elisabetta Gamen on winning the Moderated Poster Prize.

Nobel Laureate Professor Thomas Südhof ForMemRS delivers 2022 Sherrington Prize Lecture

3 May 2022

The annual lecture was given in honour of Sir Charles Sherrington, who was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, by the 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.

Professor David Paterson unveils Blue Plaque to honour Sir Charles Sherrington at his long-time Oxford residence

29 April 2022

Head of Department Professor David Paterson unveiled an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque commemorating Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857 – 1952), OM, Nobel Laureate, founder of neurophysiology, on Thursday 28 April at 9 Chadlington Road, Oxford.

Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre awarded £3.8 million to reveal the role of calcium in Parkinson’s

29 April 2022

A collaborative research team led by the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC) has been awarded a £3.8 million Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award to study the function of calcium in dopamine neurons, and how this is plays a role in Parkinson’s. Their research will help explain how and why dopamine neurons are vulnerable in the disease and look at how they may be preserved.

Charmaine Lang appointed Departmental Research Lecturer

28 April 2022

Congratulations are in order to Charmaine Lang on her conferral of the title of Departmental Research Lecturer.

My Primary School Visit for Science Week

21 April 2022

On 2 March 2022, Dr Katherine Brimblecombe visited two primary school classes (ages 8-11) as part of their “Science week”. Read her interview to learn more about public engagement with school children in the local Oxford community.

DPAG Postdoctoral Researcher acknowledged for developmental and cell biology research

19 April 2022

Dr Matthew Stower was selected to give an oral presentation of his work and his abstract won the second prize at the Joint Spring Meeting of the British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) and the British Society for Cell Biology (BSCB).

Map of nuclear and cytoplasmic pH recorded in neonatal cardiac cells incubated in various medium pH: 6.24, 6.49, 6.80. 6.98, 7.10 and 7.45. This is colour coded on a scale from 6.1 - 7.6 pH.

The effect of nuclear pH on cardiac gene expression

13 April 2022

Research led by Dr Alzbeta Hulikova and Professor Pawel Swietach has, for the first time, described the potential regulation of nuclear acid-base chemistry in neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes, and explained its relevance in the context of heart physiology and pathology.

L-R Lorraine Dyson (OPDC), Dr Brent Ryan (OPDC), Mark Jennings (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Martin Cowell (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Gary Shaughnessy (Parkinson’s UK), Caroline Rassell (Parkinson’s UK), Paul Mayhew-Archer (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Sally Bromley (Parkinson’s UK), Jonathan Bromley (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Dr Charmaine Lang (OPDC), Dr Katherine Brimblecombe (OPDC), Kevin McFarthing (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Maria Claudia Caiazza (OPDC), Nigel Hamilton (Parkinson’s UK Oxford).
Missing from photo: Professor Richard Wade-Martins (OPDC), Professor Michele Hu (OPDC) , Professor Stephanie Cragg (OPDC), David Dexter (Parkinson’s UK), Simon Rinaldi (University of Oxford), Pen Keyte (Parkinson’s UK Oxford), Jessica Welch (OPDC), Jamil Razzaque (OPDC), Professor Gabriele de Luca (University of Oxford), Dr Gina Hadley (University of Oxford).

OPDC researchers welcome Parkinson’s UK and the Oxford Branch committee

13 April 2022

Researchers from the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC) recently hosted Caroline Rassell, Parkinson’s UK Chief Executive; David Dexter, Associate Research Director; Trustee Board members, Gary Shaughnessy (Chair) and Sally Bromley; together with members of the Parkinson’s UK Oxford Branch committee, for a visit to showcase the research being carried out in Oxford.

DPAG launches “Body, Brain, Behavior: Three Views and a Conversation” in Oxford

8 April 2022

The Oxford Book Launch 'Body Brain Behavior - The Need For Conversations' brought together three world leading scientist authors, Professor Zoltán Molnár and Yale Professors Tamas Horvath and Joy Hirsch, with Oxford's neuroscience community on Thursday 7 April 2022.

A role of sleep in tinnitus identified for the first time

8 April 2022

Phantom percepts, such as subjective tinnitus, are driven by fundamental changes in spontaneous brain activity. Sleep is a natural example of major shifts in spontaneous brain activity and perceptual state, suggesting an interaction between sleep and tinnitus that has so far been little considered. In a new collaborative review article from DPAG’s auditory and sleep neuroscientists, tinnitus and sleep research is brought together for the first time, and, in conclusion, they propose a fundamental relationship between natural brain dynamics and the expression and pathogenesis of tinnitus.

An unexpected role for the cell’s largest membrane network

7 April 2022

A new Klemm Lab-led paper has uncovered a new mechanism involving the endoplasmic reticulum that is critical to the organisation and position of the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton, which ultimately dictates the shape and function of our body’s cells.

Ana Domingos Awarded Carl Ludwig Distinguished Lectureship Award

5 April 2022

Congratulations are in order for Associate Professor Ana Domingos, who has been awarded the 2023 Carl Ludwig Distinguished Lectureship from the American Physiological Society.

A representative T2-weighted image of a healthy human brain (red arrows indicate the claustrum) compared with a T2-weighted image showing a lesion reported as affecting the claustrum.

Little understood brain region linked to how we perceive pain

28 March 2022

A new DPAG-led review paper, published in the journal Brain, has shown that a poorly understood region of the brain called the claustrum may play an important role in how we experience pain.

Side by side pancreatic islets demonstrating prevalence of glucagon in normal animals and heavily reduced glucagon when ACC1 is knocked out.

New insights into little understood regulator of blood sugar levels

25 March 2022

A new Novo Nordisk project paper has uncovered the role of ACC1 enzyme in the regulation of glucagon secretion for the first time. This raises the prospect of a potential new therapeutic target in the context of type 2 diabetes and metabolic disorders characterised by hyperglycaemia.

Pawel Swietach appointed to Oxford Cancer Oversight Committee

21 March 2022

Congratulations are in order to Professor Pawel Swietach, who will represent the Department in strategic decision-making for Oxford Cancer.