20190707~20190720 牛津學術醫學課程心得報告-郭俸志 牛津醫學課程內容說明
• 此學術課程由牛津大學聖艾德蒙學院的牛津中華 經濟計畫工作組(OXCEP)所主辦，今年度課程由 牛津大學極富盛名獲得過大英帝國官佐勳章 (OBE)的Prof. Trish Greenhalgh 與聖艾德蒙學院教 務長Prof. Robert Wilkins 共同策劃，課程內容以 精準醫學研究為主軸並整合各領域世界頂尖的牛 津大學專家教授，針對其最新研究主題給予演講 並與學員充分互動討論 課程特色
• 課程細部內容（請見PDF資料） 此課程未來可能的效益(Pros and Cons)？
Pros: -參加此課程不需英文檢定，錄取條件彈性 (主治醫師or講師) -充分感受並融入牛津大學及學院的文化 -提供與牛津專家學者直接面對面討論的機會，對於未來想申請博 士學程或短期進修會是不錯的機會 (OXCEP負責人Dr. Frank本身是 台灣人，很樂意安排學員與牛津教授單獨討論未來合作的機會) -課程結束後會頒發正式文憑(diploma)，並成為聖艾德蒙學院永久 校友 -有機會未來透過聖艾德蒙學院與牛津大學簽訂MOU • 1. Visiting Fellow Programme 客座教授項目 • 2. Visiting Student Programme 訪問學生項目 or 共同指導博士生 • 3. Academic Medicine Course 精準醫學研修項目 • 4. Distinguished Speaker Lecture Programme 牛津大講堂項目 此課程未來可能的效益(Pros and Cons)？
Cons: -課程費用昂貴，每位學員8000英鎊(包含學費和學院食宿 費)，另外國際機票需自理 -全程英文講授(雖然備有中英文翻譯)，並以英文進行提 問及討論，建議仍需有一定英文程度 -課程內容橫跨多個領域，且內容深入專精，學習吸收的 程度受限於每個人對於該領域瞭解的程度 -未來能否實際達成合作，或是否能共同進行相關研究， 仍需各憑本事
COURSE TIMETABLE
Arrival at London Heathrow Airport;
07/07 Sunday Transit to Oxford Check in at the William Miller Building
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:20 the William Miller Building Orientation 08:20-08:35 the William Miller Building Welcome Address; Introduction to University of Oxford and Course Outline 09:00-10:30 Prof. Trish Greenhalgh Lecture Room G, Manor Road Building 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break 08/07 Monday Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer 11:00-12:30 Prof. Adrian Harris Lecture Room G, Manor Road Building Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall 14:00-15:30 Walking Tour of Oxford 15:30-17:45 Free Time Welcome Dinner 18:00-20:00 Prof. Robert Wilkins & Prof. Trish Greenhalgh the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Running Large-scale Clinical Trials via Clinical Trials Units 09/07 Tuesday 09:00-10:30 Prof. Chris Butler Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break Circadian Rhythms and Neuroscience 11:00-12:30 Prof. Russell Foster Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Visit to Cancer Research Laboratory on Hypoxia and Angiogenesis 14:00-16:00 MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine Prof. Adrian Harris Free Time / Consultation on Academic Collaboration (Cardiology) 16:00 -17:00 Prof. Charalambos Antoniades JR2 Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Treating Obesity at Scale to Bring Public Health Benefits 09:00-10:30 Prof. Susan Jebb Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break Advanced Issues in Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity and Fatty Liver 11:00-12:30 Prof. Jeremy Tomlinson Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School Lunch 12:30-13:00 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Visit to Oxford Centre for Visit to Oxford Early Phase Diabetes, Endocrinology and Clinical Trials Unit (EPCTU) Metabolism (OCDEM) 14:00-15:15 Churchill Hospital 10/07 Wednesday Churchill Hospital Group 2 Group 1 Ms. Sandie Wellman Prof. Leanne Hodson 10-minute walk between OCDEM and EPCTU; 15:15-15:45 Short Tea / Coffee Break Visit to Oxford Centre for Visit to Oxford Early Phase Diabetes, Endocrinology and Clinical Trials Unit (EPCTU) Metabolism (OCDEM) 15:45-17:00 Churchill Hospital Churchill Hospital Group 1 Group 2 Ms. Sandie Wellman Prof. Leanne Hodson Dinner / Consultation on Academic Collaboration (Clinical Trials Units) 18:00-20:00 Prof. Chris Butler Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Towards Personalised Medicine using Neuroimaging and Brain Stimulation 09:00-10:30 Prof. Heidi Johanssen-Berg Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 11/07 Thursday 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break Metabolic Consequences of Obesity 11:00-12:30 Prof. Leanne Hodson Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall 14:00-16:00 Visit to the Wolfson Imaging Centre Dr Yinjie Wang Free Time / Consultation on Academic Collaboration 16:20-17:20 (Strategic Issues in Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit) Dr Sarah Blagden, Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Characterising Variation in Clinical and Immunological Responses to Immune Checkpoint Blockade 09:00-10:30 Dr Benjamin Fairfax Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break Exploiting Pluripotent Stem Cells for Drug Discovery and Immunotherapy 11:00-12:30 Prof. Paul Fairchild Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 12/07 Friday Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Visit to Oxford Gene Therapy Laboratory - Gill and Hyde Gene Medicine Group 14:00-16:00 Radcliffe Department of Medicine Dr Jack Tan Free Time / Consultation on Academic Collaboration 16:00-17:00 (Genetics) Prof. Hugh Watkins Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Visit to the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology 10:00 (optional) 13/07 Saturday 12:30-13:00 Lunch (packed lunch) Visit to Bicester Village 13:00-16:30 (optional) Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building 14/07 Sunday 08:30 London Excursion 12:30-13:00 Lunch (packed lunch) 16:00 Departure for Oxford Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Plastic Fantastic: Stem Cells in Bowel Regeneration and Colitis-Associated Cancer 09:00-10:30 Prof. Simon Leedham the Examination Schools Lecture Room 6 Tea / Coffee Break 10:30-11:00 the Examination Schools Lecture Room 7 New Frontiers in Alzheimer’s Disease Research 15/07 Monday 11:00-12:30 Prof. John Davis the Examination Schools Lecture Room 6 Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Visit to Target Discovery Institute 14:00-16:00 Old Road Campus Prof. John Davis 16:00-17:00 Free Time Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 07:30-07:45 the William Miller Building Consultation on Academic Collaboration (Haematology) 08:00-09:00 Prof. Paresh Vyas Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School Towards Personalised Cancer Care in the 21st Century: Using Blood Cancers as a Paradigm 09:00-10:30 Prof. Paresh Vyas Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break New Frontiers in Stem Cell Research 16/07 Tuesday 11:00-12:30 Prof. Claus Nerlov Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall New Technologies for Gene Therapy and Gene Editing 13:30-15:00 Prof. Steve Hyde Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 15:00-15:30 Tea / Coffee Break Clinical Translation of Gene Therapy for Rare Lung Diseases 15:30-17:00 Prof. Deborah Gill Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 17:00-18:00 Free Time Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building How Can We Catalyse the Discovery of New Medicines? 09:00-10:30 Prof. Chas Bountra Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break What Can We Expect Genomic Medicine to really Deliver in Cardiovascular Disease? 11:00-12:30 Prof. Hugh Watkins Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 17/07 Wednesday Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Visit to Structural Genomics Consortium Oxford 14:00-16:00 Old Road Campus Dr Cassandra Adams Free Time / Consultation on Academic Collaboration (Novel Drug Development) 16:00-17:00 Prof. Chas Bountra Structural Genomics Consortium Oxford Dinner 18:00-19:00 My Sichuan Restaurant, Gloucester Green
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Cognitive Neurology of Disorders of Memory & Motivation 09:00-10:30 Prof. Masud Hussain Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break Molecular Robotics 11:00-12:30 Prof. Andrew Turberfield Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 18/07 Thursday Lunch 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Visit to Tumour Genetics and Immunology Laboratory - Church Group 14:00-17:00 Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics Old Road Campus Prof. David Church Dinner 18:00-19:00 Paddyfields Restaurant
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building Artificial Intelligence and New Frontiers in Medical Imaging 09:00-10:30 Prof. Charalambos Antoniades Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School 10:30-11:00 Tea / Coffee Break Advanced Issues in Tumour Genetics and Immunology 11:00-12:30 Prof. David Church Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School Lunch 19/07 Friday 12:30-13:30 the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall Course Appraisal 14:00-14:30 Prof. Trish Greenhalgh the Old Dining Hall, St Edmund Hall Tea with the Principal 15:00-16:00 Principal Prof. Kathy Willis Senior Common Room, St Edmund Hall Group Photograph Session 16:30-17:00 Principal Prof. Kathy Willis Front Quad, St Edmund Hall Farewell Dinner 18:00-20:00 Principal Prof. Kathy Willis the Wolfson Hall, St Edmund Hall
Continental Breakfast 08:00-08:30 the William Miller Building 20/07 Saturday 10:00 Checkout from the William Miller Building Departure for London Heathrow Airport Departure for Taiwan
Notes: ü Venues: the Manor Road Building, 5 Manor Road, Oxford OX1 3UQ Oxford Martin School, 34 Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BD the Examination Schools, 75 - 81 High Street, Oxford OX1 4BG ü Each lecture session comprises up to one hour for the lecture and at least half an hour for discussion ü Lecturers are expected to use power-point presentations and lecture notes will be available after the Course ü Each lecture session would have an interpreter available if needed ü Dress Smart
THE LECTURERS
Trish Greenhalgh – Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences
Trish Greenhalgh is an internationally recognised academic in the clinical aspects of translational medicine. She is triple qualified, with degrees in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge, Clinical Medicine from Oxford and a Masters of Business Administration from University College London. After gaining her doctorate in the basic science of type 1 diabetes, she went on to develop a programme of research at the interface between the social sciences, medicine and business and management, with strong emphasis on the translational aspects of biomedical innovation. She leads the Partnerships for Health, Wealth and Innovation theme in the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and is Director of a new academic MSc and Doctoral programme in Translational Health Sciences, which (subject to approvals) will take its first cohort of students in 2020. She was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for Services to Medicine by Her Majesty the Queen in 2001.
Adrian Harris – Professor of Medical Oncology
Professor Adrian Harris is a leading researcher in cancer biology whose research aims to develop ways to improve the treatment of breast cancer and other tumour types by blocking the blood supply to tumours. His special interest is in breast cancer and mechanisms of resistance to therapy, regulated by hypoxic metabolism and tumour angiogenesis, when tumours cannot grow without a new blood supply developing from pre-existing blood vessels. His research focusses on tumour angiogenesis and the role of notch signalling, and on the biology of hypoxia and its regulation. His work has revealed new angiogenesis pathways involving notch signalling and G-coupled receptors, along with and therapeutic antibodies against them. His is now seeking to translate these basic discoveries to achieve clinical benefits.
Chris Butler – Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences
Chris Butler is Professor of Primary Care in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Professorial Fellow at Trinity College, and Clinical Director of the University of Oxford Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit. Chris is also the Director of the National Institute for Health Research MedTech and In Vitro Diagnostics Cooperative for innovative diagnostic and monitoring technology with the aim of supporting primary care based management of chronic disease. He has led or helped lead numerous randomised clinical trials and cohort studies (many of them international), and has also undertaken benchmarking systematic reviews and big data studies. His main research interests are in common infections (especially the appropriate use of antimicrobial drugs and prevention of antimicrobial resistance), and health behaviour change (especially the use of motivational interviewing to support smoking cessation).
Russell Foster – Professor of Circadian Neuroscience
Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience and the Head of Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford. He is also a Nicholas Kurti Senior Fellow at Brasenose College. Russell Foster’s research spans basic and applied circadian and photoreceptor biology with the main focus on the mechanisms whereby light regulates circadian rhythms. This covers such topics as how circadian rhythms are generated, the diverse functions these rhythms serve, how this system is regulated by light, the role of classical and novel photoreceptors in both visual and circadian light perception, and genetic disorders of these systems. This work includes a range of molecular, cellular, anatomical and behavioural aspects, as well as addressing the implications for human performance, productivity and health.
Susan Jebb – Professor of Nutrition and Population Health
Susan Jebb is a nutrition scientist whose research interests are focused on how what we eat affects the risk of gaining weight or becoming obese, and interventions to help people control their weight and reduce the risk of obesity- related diseases. Susan has conducted a series of randomised controlled trials to study the impact of dietary changes on the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In general, this work highlights that body weight is a more important risk factor for ill-health than differences in the nutritional composition of the diet. She is also very interested in how scientific evidence on diet is translated into policy and practice, by government, industry, the public health community and the media. She is the UK government’s adviser on obesity and was awarded an OBE in 2008 for Services to Public Health.
Jeremy Tomlinson
Jeremy Tomlinson is based in the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. His research focuses on trying to better understand and treat metabolic diseases. In particular, he addresses the role of steroid hormones and their metabolism in the development, assessment and treatment of metabolic diseases including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), obesity and type 2 diabetes. His previous work has shown that altering steroid hormone metabolism can have a potent impact on the function of both liver and adipose tissue to store fat. Jeremy’s future work will use steroid biomarkers not only to stage disease severity, but also to predict progression. In addition, by altering tissue specific- metabolism, his group hopes to limit the side effects of prescribed steroids.
Heidi Johansen-Berg – Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
Heidi Johansen-Berg is the head of the Plasticity Group at the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain. Her research focuses on how the brain changes with learning, experience, and damage. As well as shedding light on how the healthy brain responds to change, her work also has implications for understanding and treating disease. For example, her group is testing new methods for rehabilitation after stroke and they are assessing the extent to which exercise could slow the effects of age on the brain.
Leanne Hodson – Professor of Metabolic Physiology
Leanne Hodson is the co-head of the Metabolic Research Group, and her group studies the hepatic processes in humans, looking at the accumulation of liver fat and diseases associated with this. The liver is a major player in fat metabolism as it integrates endogenous and exogenous fatty acids. Perturbations in liver fatty acid metabolism have the potential to impact widely on metabolic health. Leanne is interested in the fatty acid metabolism and their use as biomarkers of dietary intake. Her work involves the use of stable-isotope tracers to further advance understanding of postprandial hepatic fatty acid metabolism in humans.
Benjamin Fairfax – Consultant in Medical Oncology
Benjamin Fairfax’s research focuses on the genetic and epigenetic determinants of inter-individual variation in immune responses. His current projects involve the use of bulk and single cell RNA sequencing to explore the interplay between divergent immune stimuli and genetic variation across multiple cell types; exploring the effect of immune stimuli on DNA methylation in human primary immune cells with reference to underlying genetic variation; and identifying parameters that define clinical benefits and predict adverse responses in immunotherapy.
Paul Fairchild – Professor and University Lecturer in the Immunobiology of Stem Cells
Paul Fairchild was Co-Director of the Oxford Stem Cell Institute from 2008-2015, and currently teaches immunology and stem cell biology at various levels of the medical curriculum. Paul's research addresses the immunological barriers to stem cell therapies. At the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, he has applied his immunological training to the emerging field of cell replacement therapy and regenerative medicine to investigate the immune response to tissues differentiated from embryonic stem cells, the rejection of which threatens to undermine the success of regenerative medicine in the future. He has developed strategies that seek to promote the indefinite survival of stem cell-derived grafts and is currently collaborating with Geron Corporation to bring such technology to the clinic.
Simon Leedham – Professor of Gastrointestinal Stem Cell Biology
Simon Leedham is a Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist. His work has examined the clonality and genetic mutation burden of pre- neoplastic gastrointestinal disease. His group currently focuses on the homeostatic cell-signalling pathways that control intestinal stem cells and the dysregulation of these pathways in carcinogenesis. The Wnt pathway is the best characterised system and promotes the maintenance and proliferation of stem cells, however other signalling pathways such as the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) and Notch pathway cross-talk and interact with Wnt signaling. Recent work from his team on hereditary polyposis syndromes and genome-wide association studies in sporadic colorectal cancer patients has implicated the BMP pathway’s involvement in predisposition to colorectal cancer. Simon Leedham has been the Director of the Centre for Personalised Medicine since 2016.
John Davis – Chief Scientific Officer, Oxford Drug Discovery Institute
John Davis is the Chief Scientific Officer at the Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, which couples the deep disease knowledge and biology expertise of the academic community with high quality, innovative drug discovery technologies. This initiative is based on juxtaposing high-quality drug discovery expertise alongside a deep scientific and academic understanding of patients, disease mechanisms, and model systems. John has 20 years of drug discovery expertise from target to phase IIa and has helped steer numerous drug candidates into clinical development and positive proof of concept.
Paresh Vyas – Professor of Haematology
Paresh Vyas is Professor of Haematology at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. He is also the co-Lead of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre Haematology and Stem Cells Theme, Vice-Chair of the Medical Research Council Clinical Training Panel and Translational Lead for the UK Therapy Acceleration Program. His research aims to better understand the populations of leukaemia cells in acute myeloid leukaemia at functional, genetic, epigenetic and molecular levels, eventually at a single cell level, to improve our basic understanding of leukaemia initiation and propagation. The ultimate aim is to translate this knowledge to improve survival rates in patients.
Claus Nerlov - Professor of Stem Cell Biology
Claus Nerlov’s research uses genetic methods, combined with genome-wide gene expression and chromatin profiling, to address the complexities of the hematopoietic stem cell population. His group investigates the regulators that control the lineage commitment of multi-potent hematopoietic progenitors, as well as the cellular pathways that they specify. The group also models how mutations affecting the normal transcriptional control of myelopoiesis result in acute myeloid leukemia, and addresses how the leukemic stem cells responsible for the disease are maintained. The ultimate goal of this research is to understand the molecular basis for and spatial organization of normal, aging and malignant hematopoiesis, and to use this knowledge to devise cell based and molecular therapies that can be used to treat hematopoietic insufficiencies and malignancies.
Stephen Hyde – Professor of Molecular Therapy
Stephen Hyde is Co-Director of the Gene Medicine Research Group. His research addresses the application of gene therapy technologies to provide therapeutic interventions for human disease. His current research is focused on the development of CpG-free non-viral gene transfer formulations; adeno- associated virus and lentiviral gene transfer vectors pseudotyped for efficient lung gene transfer and precise genome engineering to enhance vector production and performance. Stephen has acted as specialist advisor on the clinical safety of gene therapy vectors to both the Department of Health's Gene Therapy Advisory Committee and the Committee on the Safety of Medicines, and advised the Department of Health on the procurement of gene transfer vectors.
Deborah Gill – Professor of Gene Medicine
Deborah Gill is Co-Director of the Gene Medicine Research Group, which is investigating the potential for gene therapy to treat acute and chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, emphysema, asthma, lung cancer and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The group was the first to demonstrate that the fundamental defect in cystc fibrosis could be corrected by gene therapy and has subsequently run clinical trials in cystic fibrosis patients. Together with colleagues at the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London the group formed the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium, which is aimed at making gene therapy a reality for cystic fibrosis patients. Much of Deborah's current research is focused on development of Lentiviral and adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors for translation of new gene therapies to the clinic.
Chas Bountra – Professor of Translational Medicine
Chas Bountra is Professor of Translational Medicine and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Oxford. Prior to joining the University, Chas was Vice President and Head of Biology at GlaxoSmithKline. He was involved in the identification of more than 40 clinical candidates for gastro- intestinal, inflammatory and neuro-psychiatric diseases. His current research interests include: i) using X ray structures of novel human proteins to generate small molecule inhibitors, screening in human cells to identify novel targets for drug discovery, and then developing clinical candidates for evaluation in patients. ii) Focussing on epigenetic and genetically identified proteins, which are likely to represent better targets for drug discovery. iii) Working with colleagues to build major programmes in rare diseases and in Alzheimers Disease, and creating a “BioEscalator” for the rapid translation of SGC science. He is passionate about ensuring that the early stages of new drug development are pre-competitive and is a leading protagonist for open science. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 for Services to Translational Medicine.
Hugh Watkins – Radcliffe Professor of Medicine
Hugh Watkins is a world-leading geneticist, Director of the British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence and Head of the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is interested in using molecular genetic analysis of cardiovascular disease as a tool to define disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. He focuses on inherited heart muscle diseases, in particular hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a relatively common Mendelian condition that puts affected individuals at risk of sudden cardiac death. His group uses molecular biological, model organism and clinical research approaches, leading to the idea that energy compromise is a key disease mechanism, and is undertaking clinical trials to test new medical therapies based on this finding. His research group's work on genetic causes of sudden cardiac death syndromes has been translated into clinical practice through the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, leading to a national DNA diagnostic service for the UK National Health Service. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2017.
Masud Hussain – Professor of Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience
Masud Hussain is Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. He leads the Neurological Conditions theme of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. His research focuses on the memory in healthy individuals and patients with memory disorders; and on motivation and apathy in healthy people and patient groups. In 2013, he was awarded a Principal Fellowship by The Wellcome Trust and moved to Oxford where he is a Professorial Fellow at New College. Previously he was Professor of Clinical Neurology at University College London.
Andrew Turberfield – Professor of Biological Physics
Andrew Tuberfield has a background in solid-state physics, and he lectures Biological Physics at the Department of Physics. His interdisciplinary research group works on nanofabrication by biomolecular self-assembly. The information storage capacity of DNA is the key to its use in nanofabrication: by designing the base sequences of synthetic oligonucleotides (short strands of DNA), it is possible to control the interactions between them and thus the structures that they form by hybridization (base pairing). Through the DNA Nanostructures research group in Oxford Physics, he works with colleagues in biochemistry, physiology, chemistry and computer science departments around the world to develop and exploit the ability to make molecular-scale structures by self- assembly.
Charalambos Antoniades – Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine
Antoniades Charalambos is Deputy Head of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford. His research group studies the mechanisms by which different adipose tissue depots in the human body affect vascular and myocardial redox state in atherosclerosis. They also search for novel therapeutic strategies, targeting vascular and myocardial redox signalling directly or through changes in the crosstalk between adipose tissue and cardiovascular system. His group has a strong programme of translational research, driving discoveries from bench to bedside and ensuring that clinical concerns influence laboratory science. They apply various clinical research tools, such as non-invasive imaging, for the evaluation of vascular and myocardial function. They also use genetic tools to identify patients with pre- specified genetic traits, enabling them to apply a “recruit-by-genotype” approach to address biological questions related to the cross-talk between adipose tissue and vascular/myocardial redox signalling in human cardiovascular disease.
David Church – Principal Investigator on Cancer Genomics and Immunology
David Church is an oncologist; he holds a prestigious Wellcome Trust Clinician Scientist Award. He studies the interaction between tumours and the host immune system, with a particular focus on those with a very high mutational load as a result of polymerase proofreading domain mutations. His group has recently shown that ultramutated POLE-mutant colorectal and endometrial cancers have an excellent prognosis, plausibly because they elicit a strong anti-tumour T cell response against the many neoantigens they generate. Further study of these and other highly mutated cancers may provide novel insights into mutation as a cancer biomarker and therapeutic target.
ACADEMIC VISITS AND LABORATORY OBSERVATIONS
John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital (JR) is Oxfordshire’s main accident and emergency site. The JR provides acute medical and surgical services including trauma, intensive care and cardiothoracic services. It is situated in Headington, about three miles east of Oxford city centre. It is the largest of the Trust’s hospitals, covering around 66 acres, and includes: The Children’s Hospital, Eye Hospital, Hear Centre, West Wing and the Women’s Centre. The John Radcliffe site also houses many departments of Oxford University Medical School, is home to the George Pickering Education Centre and is the base for most of the medical students who are trained throughout the Wellcome Trust.
Churchill Hospital
Churchill Hospital is a major centre for healthcare research, housing departments of Oxford University Medical School and Oxford Brookes University’s School of Healthcare Studies. It is renowned for its excellence for cancer services and other specialties, including renal services and transplant, clinical and medical oncology, dermatology, haemophilia, chest medicine and palliative care. It also houses the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) which focuses on clinical research on diabetes, endocrine and metabolic disorders, along with clinical treatment and education.
MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine
The mission of the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) is to undertake internationally competitive research into the processes underlying normal cell and molecular biology and to determine the mechanisms by which these processes are perturbed in inherited and acquired human diseases. The research is translated to improve human health. It is uniquely placed among biomedical institutes throughout the world in its pioneering vision of combining outstanding clinical research with excellent basic science. The WIMM Faculty currently includes an equal mixture of scientists and clinicians working together and in collaboration with the National Institute of Health Research, the NHS and commercial companies with the aim of improving the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. Its major topics of current research include haematology, immunology, stem cell biology, oncology and inherited human genetic diseases.
Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism
The Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism is a pioneering centre that combines clinical care, research and education in diabetes, endocrine and metabolic diseases. By promoting world-class research, it aims to enhance understanding of these diseases and to accelerate the search for new treatments and cures. It is one of the largest dedicated research centres in diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism in Europe, hosting a large number of world-leading scientists and a total of about 110 academic staff. Its work spans the spectrum of basic, translational and on to patient-orientated research. The Centre is closely integrated with excellent clinical care for patients with diabetes, metabolic and endocrine conditions.
Oxford Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit
The Oxford Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit is a specialist, dedicated clinical trials unit, supporting early phase research integrating oncology and haematology as a seamless service. The Unit works closely with researchers from the University of Oxford, Cancer Research UK Oxford Centre and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. It also links with industry to trial new treatments such as cancer immunotherapy, so that discoveries can benefit patients not just in Oxfordshire but throughout the world. Clinicians at the Unit work with the University of Oxford's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics on the same site, taking samples from patients for genetic sequencing which helps improve their patient care.
Wolfson Imaging Centre
The Wolfson Imaging Centre houses a variety of state-of-the art widefield and confocal microscopes, accessible to both internal and external users. Uniquely, the Centre houses the only STED microscope open to users at the University of Oxford, offering advanced, super- resolution imaging solutions for cutting-edge research projects. The Centre staff provides training to allow independent use of the equipment, and is also available for advice regarding experiment design, data acquisition and analysis.
Oxford Gene Therapy Laboratory - Gill and Hyde Gene Medicine Group, Radcliffe Department of Medicine
The Group is developing gene therapy for lung conditions, such as cancer, emphysema and surfactant deficiencies, which have the potential to be treated with gene therapy. In particular, the Group has focused on gene therapy for the recessive genetic disease Cystic Fibrosis and it comprises one third of the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium. The Group is also evaluating whether the lung can be used as a ‘protein factory’ to make therapeutic proteins such as antibodies. The aim is to exploit its expertise in gene transfer and gene editing technologies and design new disease treatments, both depend on efficient delivery to cells, selecting the right delivery vector, whether non- viral or viral-based.
Target Discovery Institute
The Target Discovery Institute (TDI) is a major new collaborative research initiative led by Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe, FRS. The TDI now encompasses several groups including Chemical Biology, Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry and Medicinal Chemistry. The Institute investigates drug target discovery across various diseases drawing on the expertise of the research staff on the campus, Medical Science Division and wider university, capitalising on existing strengths in genetics and genomic medicine, molecular and cell biology, structural biology, chemistry, pharmacology and medicine. The centre aims to link recent advances in genetics, genomics and cell and chemical biology for improved drug target discovery. A more specific focus for refining and validating such targets will provide a better link between traditional ‘open ended’ academic processes to biomedical research and the need of the pharmaceutical industry for accurately defined targets for drug development.
Structural Genomics Consortium Oxford
The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) at the University of Oxford is a unique international not-for-profit public- private partnership. Its directive is to promote the development of new medicines by carrying out the basic science relevant to drug discovery. It places all information, reagents and know-how into the public domain without restriction, and without filing for patent protection on any of its research outputs. The core mandate of the SGC is to determine 3D structures of medically relevant proteins on a large-scale and cost-effectively. To date it has solved more than 1,400 structures and contributes 25% of the novel human protein structures deposited into the protein data-bank each year. The SGC combines structural and medicinal chemistry expertise to produce structures, chemical probes and assays. All this output is used by the SGC and its collaborators to successfully explore new classes of proteins with therapeutic potential. The SGC’s commitment to collaborations that are unrestricted by patents is revolutionising the way drug discovery research is conducted. The SGC laboratories in Oxford host a multi-talented and multi-cultural team of cross-disciplinary scientists including molecular biologists, biochemists, structural biologists, medicinal chemists, computational biologists, physicists and engineers; all working together to produce innovative knowledge, tools and reagents, and to promote a complete revolution in the way people discover new medicines.
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and Nuffield clinical Medicine
The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (WTCHG) is a research institute of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford funded by the University, Wellcome Trust and numerous other sponsors. It is based in purpose- built laboratories on the University of Oxford’s Biomedical Research Campus in Headington, one of the largest concentrations of biomedical expertise in the world. The WTCHG aims to gain a clearer insight into the mechanisms of health and disease by looking across all three billion letters of the human genetic code and pinpointing variant spellings to discover how they increase or decrease an individual’s risk of falling ill. With more than 400 active researchers and around 70 employed in administrative and support roles, the centre is an international leader in genetics, genomics and structural biology. It collaborates with research teams across the world on a number of large-scale studies in these areas.