The latest news, updates and announcements from the Nuffield Department of Medicine.
New bronchoscopy facility expands capacity for respiratory trials
15 March 2024
The Oxford Experimental Medicine Clinical Research Facility hosted by the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences has expanded its capability to undertake research bronchoscopies. The facility welcomed its first volunteers as part of the Oxford Airways Study to help understand the causes of asthma.
Antimalarial treatments more likely to fail in children with acute malnutrition
13 March 2024
A new study led by researchers from NDM’s Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO) analysed data from over 11,000 young children, and found that children with acute malnutrition across Africa and Asia have a higher risk of treatment failure and malaria reinfection, despite getting the best currently available and recommended malaria treatment.
UK’s first registry to be set up for those at risk of type 1 diabetes
11 March 2024
Researchers from the Oxford BRC and other collaborating organisations have received funding to set up a UK registry for children and adults who are at risk of type 1 diabetes and have tested positive for diabetes autoantibodies.
Dr Suwarti’s leadership inspires growth at OUCRU Indonesia
8 March 2024
Dr Suwarti (Atie) began her journey with OUCRU Indonesia in 2018 as an awardee of the OUCRU Young Scientist Fellowship programme, when she embarked on a research journey into leptospirosis, a neglected tropical disease. Her curiosity and commitment to improving health outcomes have seen her research interests expand to the molecular diagnostic of Tuberculosis, Covid-19, and HIV.
Research team receives $25m Cancer Grand Challenges award
7 March 2024
A global, interdisciplinary team of researchers, including the Centre for Medicines Discovery’s Professor Frank von Delft, has been selected to receive a Cancer Grand Challenges award of up to $25m over five years to tackle the solid tumours in children challenge. The Cancer Grand Challenges PROTECT team is led by Professor Stefan Pfister of the Hopp Children's Cancer Center in Heidelberg.
FIH deficiency is found to be tumour-promoting
4 March 2024
A collaborative study by the Lu and Ratcliffe research groups has found that the tumour-promoting immune microenvironment can be created by a deficiency in factor-inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor (FIH).
OUCRU partner hospital receives Viet Nam medical achievement award
1 March 2024
Oxford University Clinical Research Unit’s host and partner in Ho Chi Minh City, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, was recently honoured with the Vietnam 2023 Medical Achievement Award at an event hosted by Voice of Ho Chi Minh City (VoH).
Blog: Fitness compensation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
29 February 2024
Viktoria Brunner, a PhD student at NDM, takes us behind the scenes of their latest publication 'Compensatory mutations are associated with increased in vitro growth in resistant clinical samples of Mycobacterium tuberculosis' published in Microbial Genomics.
New project uses extreme weather data to inform health system capacity
28 February 2024
Led by Benjamin Tsofa and Jacob McKnight, at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, a new project called "A Novel Extreme Weather Risk Insurance System for Kenya (NEWRISK)” will focus on using the latest methods to provide focused data on extreme weather, population vulnerability, and health system capacity readiness across various climatic zones in Kenya.
Ludwig Oxford researchers identify a crucial factor for neurodevelopment
23 February 2024
Work from Professor Yang Shi’s research team both in the Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Oxford has shed new light on KDM5C mutation-associated intellectual disability and advanced the general understanding of memory and anxiety formation with the identification of Wnt functioning in a transient nature to impact long-lasting cognitive function.
Study finds high number of persistent COVID-19 infections
22 February 2024
A new study led by the Big Data Institute at NDM has found persistent COVID-19 infections are surprisingly common, with around one to three in every 100 infections lasting a month or longer.
Determining the origins of falsified antimalarials using isotope mass spectrometry
21 February 2024
In a recent study, the Medicine Quality Group at the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO) and Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) at NDM used stable isotope mass spectrometry to estimate where falsified antimalarials and their components come from.
Repurposed tests can detect falsified vaccines
19 February 2024
Researchers have found that widely available rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), typically used for common infections, can be repurposed to detect substandard and falsified (SF) vaccines, a significant but overlooked issue in global public health. Preliminary data suggests RDTs could be utilized by international organizations and regulators to screen vaccine supply chains for counterfeit products. This innovative approach addresses the urgent need for affordable tools to combat the threat of SF vaccines.
Rising antimicrobial resistance in enteric fever across 75 countries
16 February 2024
Recent findings by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance Project at NDM's Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health revealed the resistance patterns for a priority pathogen--also known as typhoid fever--with high mortality and morbidity in resource-constrained settings.
Study provides framework for optimising the design of antibody therapeutics
15 February 2024
New research by NDM, the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, the MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit and University of Cambridge research groups, has uncovered how antibodies trigger immune receptors in T cells. This breakthrough provides an improved framework for designing therapeutic antibodies, which could be used in new and better therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Study reveals a surge in poor-quality medical products during pandemic
13 February 2024
A recent study by the Medicine Quality Research Group found that during the pandemic there was a surge in low-quality COVID-19 medical products globally, including substandard and counterfeit medicines, diagnostics, PPE, sanitisers, and vaccines.
OUCRU develops a novel diagnostic tool for Tuberculous Meningitis
12 February 2024
A team of researchers at NDM’s Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) has pioneered a novel, microbiological assay-independent diagnostic model for adult Tuberculous Meningitis, leveraging Bayesian latent class analysis to improve the accuracy of diagnoses. This innovative approach, promises to enhance the detection and treatment of one of the most severe forms of tuberculosis (TB).
ASAP Discovery Consortium wins 2023 FASEB Dataworks prize
8 February 2024
The AI-driven Structure-enabled Antiviral Platform (ASAP) has won an Exemplary Achievement Award from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The prize recognises data practices in biological and biomedical research labs during the active phase of research.
New teaching collaboration with Brazilian universities
6 February 2024
The University of Oxford has entered into an agreement with three Brazilian universities, to contribute to the delivery of an undergraduate course in ‘Translational Science’, starting in 2024. The course will teach the full journey of a product ‘from bench to bedside’ as part of any science degree to prepare the next generation of researchers for the translation of their laboratory discoveries into patient care and prevention.
R21 malaria vaccine phase III trial confirms high efficacy and safety
5 February 2024
The phase III trial data results of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the Jenner Institute and the Serum Institute of India have confirmed high efficacy and supported regulatory approvals and licensure in several African countries.