A robot has been used to inject a drug into the back of the eye in a world first for the next phase of a landmark clinical trial at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital. Prof Robert MacLaren used the remotely controlled robot to administer a tiny volume of blood dissolving agent tPA under the retina ... READ MORE
Archives for 2016
Funding boost for genetics centre
A major University of Oxford genetics research centre that supports Oxford BRC research is to share £118m of new funding. Global medical research funding charity Wellcome has announced funding for The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics. The aim of the centre is to advance understanding of ... READ MORE
Nanopore genetics breakthrough supported by Oxford BRC
Oxford University’s Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (WTCHG) and the leading genome analytics company Genomics plc has announced the first sequencing and analysis of multiple human genomes using nanopore technology. The announcement, made on Thursday, December 1, at the Oxford Nanopore ... READ MORE
Tower turns blue for diabetes awareness
Churchill Hospital staff lit Oxford’s Magdalen Tower blue and hosted a research open day to spread awareness about diabetes. Staff from The Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) arranged for the iconic landmark to be lit to mark World Diabetes Day on November 14, a ... READ MORE
Magdalen Tower set to turn blue for World Diabetes Day
Clinicians and researchers are preparing to light Oxford’s Magdalen Tower blue to mark World Diabetes Day – and have invited patients and visitors to then learn more at an open day about the condition at the Churchill Hospital. The tower at Magdalen College in High Street will follow in the ... READ MORE
Record high for Oxford University Hospitals research studies
The number of medical research studies at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has hit a record high, new figures show. The number of studies active in May 2016 was 1,786, up seven per cent from 1,664 in May 2015. The figures – up 222 per cent from 554 in May 2008 – ... READ MORE
HIV cure hope thanks to collaboration
Researchers are hopeful of a cure for HIV after treating the first patient with a promising new treatment that could kill all traces of the virus. A partnership sparked by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre is behind this ... READ MORE
How baby’s genes influence birth weight and later life disease
New research finds genetic differences that help to explain why some babies are born bigger or smaller than others. It also reveals how genetic differences provide an important link between an individual’s early growth and their chances of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart ... READ MORE
Monitoring prostate cancer “as effective as surgery”
Active monitoring of prostate cancer is as effective as surgery and radiotherapy, in terms of survival at 10 years, reports the largest study of its kind, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Results published in New England Journal of Medicine today, show that all three ... READ MORE
£113.7m boost for Oxfordshire research
More than £113.7m will be invested in ground-breaking Oxfordshire medical research after funding was renewed for the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) for a further five years. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which is funded through the Department of Health, today ... READ MORE
World first for robot eye operation
Surgeons at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital have performed the world’s first operation inside the eye using a robot. Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology assisted by Dr Thomas Edwards, Nuffield Medical Fellow, used the remotely controlled robot to lift a membrane 100th of a millimetre ... READ MORE
Unique Oxford study of vascular disease welcomes 10,000th participant
Peter Casey was the study's 10,000th patient The only project of its kind anywhere that studies all acute vascular events, such as strokes and heart attacks, to develop better treatments has recruited its 10,000th Oxfordshire ... READ MORE
Parents back genetics project at one year milestone
Parents who want to understand the cause of their infant daughter’s immune deficiency are among more than 1,000 people who participated in the first full year of a ground-breaking NHS genetics project in Oxford. Kevin and Corinne Kirk hope a simple blood sample from daughter Evie, ... READ MORE
Improved analysis of genetic testing could lead to more patients with inherited conditions being diagnosed
A groundbreaking study, led by experts from Royal Brompton Hospital and the University of Oxford, has discovered better methods to interpret the significance of gene mutations in patients who are tested for genetic conditions. The findings mean that, in future, more diagnoses could be made through ... READ MORE
Guidelines published on measuring gender inequality in medical research
Guidelines on how to measure more accurately the involvement of women researchers in medical research have been published by a group of senior international academics led by the University of Oxford. The paper sets out steps that should be taken to measure the under-representation of women in the ... READ MORE
New hope for shock patients in intensive care
Care for critically-ill patients with shock could be improved, it is hoped, after the first successful testing by University of Oxford scientists of a new machine to record oxygen consumption in real time. The new technology has arisen through a collaboration between Professor Peter Robbins in ... READ MORE
Students learn about John Radcliffe brain research
Students pursuing a career in science and medicine visited Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital in an event supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). A total 24 students aged 16 to 32 attended talks and interactive sessions on BRC-supported research by the University of Oxford on ... READ MORE
BRC researcher to lead NIHR funding board
An Oxford BRC-supported researcher is to chair a new national NIHR board to assess funding applications. Prof Andrew Farmer will assess applications to the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR-HTA). The NIHR HTA Programme is the biggest of the NIHR research programmes and assesses ... READ MORE
Discoveries offer hope for managing ovarian cancer
Oxford University researchers have found a way to detect ovarian cancer early and identified an enzyme that is key in making ovarian cancer more deadly. Their results, published in two journals and co-funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, provide new research routes for scientists ... READ MORE
Training camp success for BRC student
A student funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre led the winning team at a research training camp hosted by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Dr Gurdeep Singh Mannu led the team at the NIHR’s Biomedical Research Centre Research Training Camp at Ashridge Business ... READ MORE