The NIHR has awarded three new Blood and Transplant Research Units (BTRUs) to the University of Oxford. The £20m programme, co-funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), are aimed at providing new technologies, techniques or insights that will benefit donation, transfusion, and transplantation, and that … Read more
News for Haematology and Stem Cells
Spin-out company Alethiomics launched
A new Oxford-based drug-discovery company has been launched with the aim of developing targeted therapies for a specific family of blood cancers. Alethiomics was founded by Oxford BRC-supported researchers Professor Adam Mead and Professor Beth Psaila, with support from Oxford University Innovation. Alethiomics aims to apply innovations in single-cell multi-omic analysis to the development of novel … Read more
New atlas reveals pre-birth development of blood cells in bone marrow
A new study has provided the most detailed analysis so far of the prenatal development of blood and immune cells in the bone marrow. The study, published in Nature, is part of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) initiative to provide comprehensive reference maps of every cell type in the human body. The research team include … Read more
Researchers develop algorithm to diagnose deep vein thrombosis
Researchers are developing an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to diagnose deep vein thrombosis (DVT) more quickly and as effectively as traditional radiologist-interpreted diagnostic scans, potentially cutting down long patient waiting lists and avoiding patients unnecessarily receiving drugs to treat DVT when they don’t have it. The study, published in the journal Digital Medicine, is the … Read more
Study investigates responses to COVID-19 treatment in chronic lymphoid leukaemia patients
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to understandable anxiety within the blood cancer community about how their illness may affect their ability to overcome COVID-19 infection. Members of the Oxford Centre for Haematology have led a collaborative research project looking at the response of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) who were infected with COVID-19. The … Read more
Impaired antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination in patients with myeloid blood cancers
Oxford researchers have found that antibody responses to the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine in people with chronic myeloid blood cancers are not as strong as those among the general population. While this is expected to improve with the second dose, this important finding may help influence the design of future vaccination strategies, with further … Read more
New trial PROMises hope for patients affected by myelofibrosis
A new clinical trial has been launched to offer a novel treatment option for patients with the blood cancer myelofibrosis (MF). The PROMise trial, launched by the Cure Leukaemia-funded Trials Acceleration Programme, will involve patients aged 16 or over at 15 NHS centres, including Oxford’s Churchill Hospital. Its Chief Investigator is University of Oxford Professor … Read more
What Matters Most: A workshop methodology to hear patients’ priorities
Oxford researchers meet patients to discuss new Advanced Cellular Therapies Centre
Oxford researchers have met with members of the Oxford Blood Group to discuss plans for an Advanced Cellular Therapies Centre. Plans for the creation of an Oxford Advanced Cellular Therapies Centre have been supported by NIHR Research Capability Funding. The proposed centre will bring together scientists, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, and a treatment centre for the … Read more
Eight BRC projects get RCF funding
Eight Oxford BRC proposals, many covering a number of themes, have been awarded NIHR Research Capability Funding (RCF) funding to take forward key areas of research. The selected projects that will be supported include: Developing a research centre devoted to urgent and acute care The creation of a state-of-the-art imaging centre; and of a new … Read more
Test developed to identify new-borns at risk of leukaemia
Oxford researchers have developed a new method to quickly identify cancerous cells in babies at risk of leukaemia. The team hope that the new protocol could make rapid testing more accessible for clinical laboratories around the globe. Until now, the only reliable way to know if a baby with Down’s syndrome is at risk of … Read more
Serum iron may be useful biomarker to identify COVID-19 disease severity
A new study led by University of Oxford researchers has found that patients with severe COVID-19 respiratory failure have very low levels of iron, compared to those with less severe disease. Changes in iron levels have been associated with worsening disease for other viral infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C, but this is the … Read more
BRC funds three further COVID-19 studies
Three more studies are being funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) to look at the way the body interacts with COVID19; these include assessing the safety of a new vaccine; the role that antibodies might play in plasma therapy; and blood biomarkers that determine adverse reactions in those that have been infected. … Read more
Seven new Senior Fellows named
The Oxford BRC is delighted to announce the appointment of seven new Senior Research Fellows, the second cohort of emerging research leaders to receive the accolade. The selection process was a coordinated effort by the Oxford BRC and its partners in the NIHR Oxford Health BRC, which focuses on mental health and dementia, and the … Read more
Oxford haematologists win national awards to further their research
Two consultant haematologists at the Oxford Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre (OHTC), based at the Churchill Hospital, have been awarded funding for their research as part of a new national scheme. Dr Nicola Curry and Dr Susie Shapiro were among the recipients of the new Clinical Academic Research Partnerships (CARPs), awarded by the Medical Research Council … Read more
Study discovers genetic changes linked to leukaemia in children with Down’s syndrome
Researchers at the University of Oxford have discovered the specific gene mutations that are required for the development of leukaemia in children with Down’s syndrome. Children with Down’s syndrome have a 150-fold increased risk of myeloid leukaemia, and while some of the genetic causes of this have been previously established, this is the first study … Read more
Oxford Blood Group: Exchange Newsletter Issue 3 vol 1 / June 2019
Patient involvement partnership sets priorities for rare inherited anaemias
On the occasion of Rare Diseases Day, marked every year on the last day of February, we are sharing this article about how patients, carers, clinicians and researchers are collaborating to decide key questions to shape future research into rare forms of anaemia. Patients with anaemia lack red blood cells, or haemoglobin, which means that … Read more
Oxford researchers develop new technique to analyse cancer cells’ life history
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford has developed a new technique that allows scientists to reliably track genetic errors in individual cancer cells, and find out how these might lead to uncontrollable growth. The research by the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, could … Read more
