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

New DPAG Associate Professors and University Research Lecturer

6 July 2020

Congratulations are in order to Associate Professor Duncan Sparrow, Associate Professor Kerry Walker and Dr Dan Li.

Shaping our understanding of why we sleep

1 July 2020

Associate Professor Vladyslav Vyazovskiy has edited a special issue of Current Opinion of Physiology with Professor A. Jennifer Morton from the University of Cambridge. “Physiology of Sleep” compiles the latest developments in sleep research around the complex question of ‘why do we sleep?’

Sherrington Talks 2020 Prize Winners

22 June 2020

The 2020 Sherrington talks were presented by graduate students in their third year of DPhil research study.

Samira Lakhal-Littleton to give prestigious Bayliss-Starling Prize Lecture

19 June 2020

The annual Prize Lecture from The Physiological Society will provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of the Lakhal-Littleton lab's work into iron control in systems physiology.

Assumptions on fetal iron development during pregnancy challenged

18 June 2020

A key hormone in the fetal liver has been found for the first time to play a critical role in determining iron endowment in the newborn baby. Up until now, widely held notions made in comparison to how the adult liver controls iron in the body have led to a common focus on how maternal iron status and function of the placenta determines a baby's iron status. A new study from the Lakhal-Littleton group reveals a more autonomous process takes place within the fetus than previously understood.

Stories of Women in Neuroscience: Dr Kerry Walker

18 June 2020

Dr Kerry Walker is University Research Lecturer and principal investigator of the Walker group, a research team investigating how the activity of neurons in the brain gives rise to our perception of sound.

Oliver Neely wins Peter Beaconsfield Prize

16 June 2020

Congratulations are in order for DPhil student Oliver Neely of the Paterson and Domingos labs, who has been awarded the Peter Beaconsfield Prize in Physiological Sciences 2020.

URICA trial gives hope for faster diagnosis of hemolysis in the newborn

12 June 2020

The destruction of red blood cells known as hemolysis in the newborn baby is very dangerous, but existing clinical methods are not sufficient for rapid diagnosis and can lead to delays early-life care. A new Swietach Group paper has identified a biomarker that could significantly speed up the process.

Professor Anant Parekh to be Honorary Guest Speaker at the 108th Indian Science Congress

8 June 2020

Professor Anant Parekh is to deliver the Public Lecture at the prestigious annual conference due to be held in Pune, India, in January 2021.

Dr Oliver Stone starts research group as Sir Henry Dale Fellow

1 June 2020

Dr Stone has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Henry Dale Fellowship to lead research investigating how lineage history can impact vascular cell fate and function.

COVID-19 drug trial could lead to enhanced respiratory care for patients

29 May 2020

Researchers at the University of Oxford led by DPAG's Professor Peter Robbins are working with clinical collaborators from NHS hospitals to carry out a new clinical drug trial aimed at treating COVID-19, funded by LifeArc. It will test a drug that could raise oxygen levels in the blood in COVID-19 patients in order to improve their chances of recovery. Raising oxygen levels is important in COVID-19, because many patients with the disease die when oxygen levels in their arterial blood fall to levels that are too low to support life.

HCQ with antibiotics to treat COVID-19 could be dangerous for the heart

26 May 2020

DPAG researchers have collaborated on an international study that demonstrates a detailed mechanistic understanding of how the anti-malaria drug, Hydroxychloroquine, combined with antibiotics, can cause adverse cardiac side-effects in COVID-19 patients. This gives weight to US Federal advice against using this combined treatment.

Nervous system cells defined in unprecedented detail

22 May 2020

The collaborating groups of Professor Stephen Goodwin and Professor Scott Waddell based in The Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour (CNCB) are shedding new light on what precisely constitutes a neuronal cell type.

Gero Miesenböck receives Shaw Prize 2020

21 May 2020

Professor Gero Miesenböck, the Waynflete Professor of Physiology and Director of the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, is one of three scientists awarded The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine.

New weight-loss drug brings hope for safer obesity treatment

13 May 2020

A collaborative research team from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge co-led by DPAG's Associate Professor Ana Domingos have developed a new weight-loss amphetamine that could potentially avoid the harmful side effects of traditional treatments.

OPDC Researchers hit target for Parkinson's UK with 2.6 Challenge

30 April 2020

Wade-Martins Lab members took part in the 2.6 challenge to raise vital funds for Parkinson's UK. Challenges included running for 2.6 miles, baking 26 cookies, 260 sit ups and 2600 steps.

DPAG and RDM researchers set to reveal the role of inflammatory cells in heart repair

29 April 2020

DPAG's Associate Professor Mathilda Mommersteeg and Professor Paul Riley, in collaboration with Professor Robin Choudhury from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, will perform single cell analysis of inflammation during heart regeneration with a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Heart scarring run by Runx1 gene

27 April 2020

New collaborative research from the Mommersteeg Group and MRC WIMM researchers shows that a protein called Runx1 plays a significant role in the formation of the cardiac scar that forms after the heart is injured, a scar that is known to inhibit heart regeneration. In the zebrafish, a freshwater fish known to be able to fully regenerate its heart after damage, they show that the absence of Runx1 results in enhanced regeneration. This indicates a potential new therapeutic target for heart repair.

Milena Cioroch is Apprentice of the Month

24 April 2020

Milena Cioroch, Research Assistant in the Wade-Martins Lab at the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, is undertaking a Management training course as part of the University of Oxford Apprenticeships scheme. She has been awarded Apprentice of the Month for March 2020 by her training provider Abingdon and Witney College. Here we take a closer look at her work for the department and how she has developed her career through the scheme.

Reporting on the first DPAG sponsored International Women's Day Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon

23 April 2020

An international event held on Saturday 7 March and organised by DPAG's Cristiana Vagnoni and Tai-Ying Lee aimed to increase visibility of women in academia by creating or enhancing their online presence in the form of Wikipedia profiles. A new report from the organisers shows some impressive statistics, including 160,000 views of newly edited and created articles, demonstrating a strong effort to raise the profiles of many female academics.