News — Nuffield Department of Medicine

Paxlovid clears COVID-19 more rapidly than molnupiravir

29 September 2023

First-ever direct comparison between the two leading COVID antivirals molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid®), published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases by NDM's Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) researchers reported that, while both drugs worked, nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid®) was more effective, clearing the virus from the throat more rapidly than molnupiravir.

Evidence shows COVID-19 triggers sustained inflammatory gene expression

22 September 2023

In a study, recently published in Genomics Medicine, researchers from NDM’s Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics and the CAMS Oxford Institute investigated the long-term impact of COVID-19 on immune cells.

Identifying factors for maternal and foetal mortality from malaria

31 August 2023

A study coordinated by NDM researchers published in BMC Medicine explores the factors predicting higher mortality in pregnant women with severe malaria and describes how severe falciparum malaria in pregnancy affects foetal health and mortality.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis control in Indonesia

23 August 2023

A new study published in The Lancet Global Health highlights the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis (TB) control in Indonesia, the nation with the second highest TB burden globally and the second highest burden of COVID-19 in the Asian region.

New model evaluates a path to tracking leprosy elimination

21 August 2023

A special issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B on challenges and opportunities in the fight against neglected tropical diseases has been released today. This special issue, compiled and edited by Kathryn Forbes, Maria-Gloria Basáñez, Déirdre Hollingsworth and Roy M. Anderson, celebrates progress made since the 2012 London Declaration on NTDs and discusses challenges currently faced to achieve these goals.

Fighting back against viral evasion of host defences

16 August 2023

In new research, published in Nature, Professor Geoffrey L Smith and a team of collaborators identified a mechanism by which poxviruses evade host immune defences, opening up new avenues for therapies using existing licensed drugs.

Investigating HIV-1 replication and reactivation

14 August 2023

In a recent study, NDM and other collaborators investigated the role of Salt Inducible Kinases in Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. Understanding how this human pathogen multiplies helps researchers develop effective medications that can slow down the virus's progression.

Rapid Funding for COVID-19 Research in Low-Resource Settings

7 August 2023

In a research letter published in The Lancet, the authors including Professor Philippe Guerin, Director of the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory, hosted by NDM’s Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, emphasised the critical need for equity in the allocation of research funding, especially in the context of epidemic response efforts.

Inspecting the WBC count variability in uncomplicated malaria patients

1 August 2023

Researchers at the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), hosted by NDM’s Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, investigated the variability in white blood cell count in patients with uncomplicated malaria and found that using the assumed value of WBC in the calculation of parasite density led to a significant underestimation of parasite count for children and potentially sub-optimal treatment.

Population-scale digital capabilities can protect cancer patients at risk of COVID

25 July 2023

Research led by the Nuffield Department of Medicine has been published in Nature Scientific Reports, investing the effect of COVID-19 across the cancer population over the course of the pandemic. This analysis is the world’s largest and most comprehensive cancer evaluation showcasing the United Kingdom’s digital capabilities and the potential of population-scale cancer studies.

Applying artificial intelligence and digital health technologies in Viet Nam

19 July 2023

Digital health and artificial intelligence have the potential to transform healthcare, making health care management more efficient and accessible. However, a new paper by OURCU student Ho Quang Chanh et al, detailed why engagement with policymakers, local patients and healthcare workers, and integrating with local systems and practice are crucial to ensure that digital health technologies can thrive in low- and middle-income settings.

Taking the non-classical route in the fight against COVID

13 July 2023

Researchers from across the Nuffield Department of Medicine have published a new article in Science Immunology investigating the role of HLA-E-restricted SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells.

African Phase I HIV vaccine trial shows encouraging preliminary results

12 July 2023

The multisite Phase I HIV-CORE 006 HIV vaccine clinical trial, run by the Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership (GREAT), has concluded successfully. Preliminary analysis of the immunological trial results demonstrates the induction of high frequencies of broadly specific T cells that recognise functionally conserved regions on HIV-1 and are therefore more protective.

Predicting immuno-chemotherapy outcomes for oesophageal cancer

11 July 2023

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has discovered that the presence of relatively high numbers of immune cells known as monocytes in tumours is linked to better outcomes in oesophageal cancer patients treated with a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, or immunochemotherapy.

Novavax COVID vaccine as a second dose generates high immune response

10 July 2023

Researchers running the University of Oxford-led Com-COV3 study have reported the results of a study assessing the immune response and side effect profile of ‘mixed’ two-dose COVID-19 vaccine schedules in adolescents aged 12 to 16 years - administering either a full or a one-third (fractional) dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or a full dose of the Novavax vaccine at least eight weeks after a first full dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Study reveals vaccine response in patients with impaired immune systems

6 July 2023

Updated data from the ongoing OCTAVE trial, a collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham and Oxford, show for the first time that most clinically at-risk patients with a range of immunocompromised or immunosuppressed conditions in the UK were protected from severe COVID by the vaccination programme.

STRUBI researchers validate IBM’s AI-generated COVID antivirals

29 June 2023

In a new study, researchers from IBM and NDM’s Division of Structural Biology and Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics show that new antivirals can be designed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), developed and potentially validated in months.

Identifying the diagnostic markers of Japanese encephalitis

22 June 2023

Researchers from NDM’s Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, the Target Discovery Institute and Centre for Medicines Discovery, the University of Oxford’s Department of Biochemistry, and other collaborating organisations have found a nine-protein diagnostic signature in human cerebrospinal fluid that could discriminate between Japanese encephalitis and other brain infections.

Providing a global picture of malaria in pregnancy

16 June 2023

Researchers at the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), hosted by NDM’s Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, have provided unique insights into the epidemiology of malaria in pregnancy. The study explored the relationship between infection and fever and found that submicroscopic malaria was associated with fever in Africa but not in Asia and the Americas.

Hypertension drugs could improve cancer immunotherapy efficacy

8 June 2023

Researchers from NDM’s Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and de Duve Institute have found out that drugs used to treat hypertension could substantially improve the clinical efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. They discovered a new treatment approach that helps T lymphocytes to destroy cancerous cells.

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