Search results (19)
« Back to NewsBBSRC-funded Oxford-Cambridge consortium to close the gap in our understanding of human heart development
3 October 2023
A research consortium of DPAG/IDRM and University of Cambridge scientists have been awarded a major strategic grant by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to answer the pressing long-standing questions of how the human heart grows, how it is put together, and how the different heart cells communicate with each other during pregnancy.
Synthetic peptides mimic anti-inflammatory properties of tick saliva chemicals
19 September 2023
Short peptides derived from anti-inflammatory ‘evasins’ released by ticks could be used to develop new treatments for inflammatory diseases.
DPAG and IDRM researchers exceed fundraising target for BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride
22 June 2023
On Sunday 18 June 2023, a team of researchers based at the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM) took on the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) London to Brighton Bike Ride, raising more than £1300 and counting.
London Marathon to fund De Val and Vieira Lab research as two of eight handpicked BHF projects
14 February 2022
Two projects aimed at tackling heart failure led by Associate Professor Sarah De Val and Dr Joaquim Vieira are to be funded by the 2022 TCS London Marathon with the British Heart Foundation as its Charity of the Year. The BHF’s runners, who are raising £3 million in funding, will include De Val Lab postdoctoral researcher Dr Alice Neal.
Oxford-led research maps milestone stage of human development for the first time
25 November 2021
Scientists have shed light on an important stage of early embryonic development that has never been fully mapped out in humans before.
Richard Tyser and Jack Miller honoured by the British Society of Cardiovascular Research
14 September 2021
Dr Richard Tyser is this year’s winner of the Bernard and Joan Marshall Early Career Investigator Prize, and Dr Jack Miller has received a runner-up award, at the British Society of Cardiovascular Research Autumn Meeting.
Iron deficiency anaemia in early pregnancy increases risk of heart defects, suggests new research
8 June 2021
In animal models, iron deficient mothers have a greatly increased risk of having offspring with congenital heart disease (CHD). The risk of CHD can be greatly reduced if the mother is given iron supplements very early in pregnancy. Additionally, embryos from a mouse model of Down Syndrome were particularly vulnerable to the effects of maternal iron deficiency, leading to a higher risk of developing severe heart defects.
Nicola Smart to deliver John French Lecture
2 June 2021
The British Atherosclerosis Society's John French Memorial Lecture is named in honour of the Oxford-based pathologist, Dr John French, who made seminal observations and contributions to the field of cardiovascular pathology.
New target identified to develop treatment for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
30 March 2021
A new study from the Smart group has shed light on a key regulatory step in the initiation and progression of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm by revealing the protective role of a previously little known small protein.
Travels with Vignesh
9 February 2021
Vignesh Murugesan, a Postdoctoral Researcher in Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics (DPAG), describes how he found his way from the large metropolitan town of Chennai in India to studying regenerative medicine here in Oxford, via an 8 year stint in Sweden.
Paul Riley appointed Director of Oxford’s Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine
11 October 2020
Professor Paul Riley will lead the scientific vision of the first institute of its kind in the world to physically merge the disciplines of developmental biology and regenerative medicine in a common goal to treat some of the world’s most prolific diseases.
HCQ with antibiotics to treat COVID-19 could be dangerous for the heart
26 May 2020
DPAG researchers have collaborated on an international study that demonstrates a detailed mechanistic understanding of how the anti-malaria drug, Hydroxychloroquine, combined with antibiotics, can cause adverse cardiac side-effects in COVID-19 patients. This gives weight to US Federal advice against using this combined treatment.
DPAG and RDM researchers set to reveal the role of inflammatory cells in heart repair
29 April 2020
DPAG's Associate Professor Mathilda Mommersteeg and Professor Paul Riley, in collaboration with Professor Robin Choudhury from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, will perform single cell analysis of inflammation during heart regeneration with a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Heart scarring run by Runx1 gene
27 April 2020
New collaborative research from the Mommersteeg Group and MRC WIMM researchers shows that a protein called Runx1 plays a significant role in the formation of the cardiac scar that forms after the heart is injured, a scar that is known to inhibit heart regeneration. In the zebrafish, a freshwater fish known to be able to fully regenerate its heart after damage, they show that the absence of Runx1 results in enhanced regeneration. This indicates a potential new therapeutic target for heart repair.
Potential strategy identified to improve blood vessel growth after heart attack
22 July 2019
A collaborative paper from the De Val and Smart Groups has established multiple regulatory pathways responsible for the formation of blood vessels in the developing heart. In doing so they have identified a crucial pathway that is repressed in the adult heart after injury, which may hold the key to a new and improved strategy for repair.