New Smith/Refsum paper explores link between pollution and dementia
21 September 2023
A new study jointly published by Professors David Smith and Helga Refsum confirms that chronic exposure to air pollution in the elderly increases the risk of developing dementia a few years later.
Paolo Tammaro awarded the title of Professor of Pharmacology
14 September 2023
The University’s Vice-Chancellor has this week conferred the title of ‘Professor of Pharmacology’ on Paolo Tammaro.
New study from the Akerman group shows that synaptic inhibition changes dynamically to match brain state
4 September 2023
A new paper by the Akerman Group is published in the journal Neuron this week, and resolves a fundamental question in the field of neuroscience, by investigating how synaptic inhibition operates under undisturbed conditions. This new study demonstrates that GABA signaling in the brain is dynamic and adapts to control cortical functions depending on the state of the brain.
Professor Annette Dolphin presents 17th David Smith Lecture in Pharmacology
14 June 2023
The latest David Smith Lecture in Anatomical Neuropharmacology was held in the Department on Wednesday 14 June 2023. Professor Annette Dolphin from the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at University College London presented a highly engaging lecture entitled "Drugs and trafficking: lessons from voltage-gated calcium channels".
Innovative probe to unlock the secrets of a cellular messenger
1 June 2023
A collaborative study just published from the Potter group in the Department of Pharmacology, in collaboration with the Butler Group at Loughborough University, reveals the development of a small molecule Europium-based probe that could deepen our understanding of a crucial cellular messenger and potentially facilitate the development of new therapeutic drugs.
Emptage group successful with £1m MRC-AMED award
17 January 2023
Congratulations to the group of Professor Nigel Emptage who have been awarded an MRC-AMED grant, worth £1m, in conjuction with the University of Tokyo and the RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Burton group wins image competition at Oxford BHF CRE Annual Symposium
15 December 2022
This image of a blood clot composed of erythrocytes trapped by long fibrous chains of fibrin was judged the winner of the image competition at the BHF CRE 2022 Symposiium, held in December. In this image we can see false coloured erythrocytes (classic biconcave appearance around 5-10 µm in diameter) wrapped by fibrin network.
Understanding the brain at Didcot Girls School Science Club
13 December 2022
A group of researchers and students led by Dr Tim Viney visited Didcot Girls School to run a ‘hands on’ event about the brain at the school’s Science Club.
Raised intracellular chloride levels underlie the effects of tiredness in cortex
13 December 2022
The feeling of being tired is familiar to everyone. As we know from our own experience, an extended period of wakefulness results in a decline in our performance levels, and the desire to sleep becomes almost irresistible. When you then fall asleep, your sleep is deeper and more consolidated than usual. And yet after just one night of uninterrupted sleep, you can feel refreshed and “back to normal”!
Consequences of Tau pathology on hippocampal pyramidal neurons and network activity in ageing mice
17 November 2022
Pathological hyperphosphorylated forms of the microtubule-associated binding protein Tau (pTau) are commonly found in people with neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Corticobasal degeneration, and Progressive supranuclear palsy.
Welcome to the 2022/23 academic year in Pharmacology!
14 October 2022
At the start of this year, we have welcomed 23 new MSc in Pharmacology students, 13 new MSc(Res) and DPhil students and around a dozen additional project and visiting students from other Departments and other Universities. Some of these new starters joined existing staff, students and visitors in the Department for the first of a series of group photographs, to be taken every 6 months for our archives.
New Platt group paper explores links between Mycobacteria tuberculosis and Niemann-Pick Type C disease
14 September 2022
Congratulations to Yuzhe Weng, a DPhil student in the Platt lab, who is first author on new paper published by the group in Nature Communications. Mycobacteria tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), has the ability to invade, persist and replicate within host cells, which is key to its success as a pathogen. However, the mechanisms that underlie this strategy remain poorly defined.
PROFESSOR REBECCA SITSAPESAN 1959-2022
28 June 2022
We were sad to learn that our dear colleague Rebecca has died just a few days before what would have been her 63rd birthday.
New high-resolution imaging provides clue to SARS-CoV-2 leap to humans
24 June 2022
A new paper, published this week in the journal Science, highlights cutting-edge imaging techniques used by the group of Professor Ben Davis to investigate the binding of SARS-CoV-2 to human cells.
Dr Mehmood Khan joins Pharmacology as a Visiting Fellow
6 June 2022
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Mehmood Khan as a Visiting Fellow in the Department