Dr Kerstin Timm in the Department of Pharmacology has been announced as one of the latest round of PIs to secure an AMS Springboard Award. The AMS Springboard award is highly competitive and is intended for new independent researchers in biomedical sciences, who have been in their role for less than 4 years and have not received more than \u00a3150,000 in grant money. The Springboard award thus allows new PIs to launch a new independent program of research, and awards are made for up to \u00a3100,000 over 2 years.
A new book is published this week by Oxford University Press written by Associate Professor John Parrington. \u2018Mind Shift\u2019 draws on new scientific evidence to offer a substantive material explanation of self-conscious awareness in humans.
In collaboration with the infectious disease units at the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals, the Vasudevan lab has identified a novel means of improving RT-qPCR sensitivity and efficiency for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 through the concentration of pooled patient lysates.
An international collaboration of the Potter Group with Solomon Snyder\u2019s Group in the USA and with Chinese and German colleagues has uncovered the myo-inositol polyphosphate pyrophosphate 5-InsP7 as a regulator of the Na\u207a/K\u207a- ATPase-\u03b11
Angela Russell, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Oxford Departments of Pharmacology and Chemistry, has been announced as one of the five recipients of the inaugural UK Rare Disease Scholar Award, presented by the Harrington Discovery Institute (HDI).
Professor Fran Platt has been appointed as the new Head of Department for Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. Fran took up her new post with effect from 1 June 2020 and will serve for an initial period of five years.
This summer three of the world\u2019s most distinguished neurochemists died; each was a member of the Department during their outstanding scientific careers.
There is an increasing body of genetic and biochemical evidence that points toward lysosomal dysfunction as a risk factor for developing age-related neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD).
The Galione Lab has a paper published in The EMBO Journal showing that local Ca2+\u2010nanodomains formed by two\u2010pore channels (TPCs) on endo-lysosomes are shown to drive phagocytosis in macrophages. Moreover, different endo-lysosomal Ca2+ channels do different jobs at phagocytosis (extreme compartmentation).
Daniel Anthony, Professor of Experimental Neuropathology in the Department of Pharmacology, is the scientific lead in a joint research team running a new clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness for the treatment of COVID-19 of Nafamostat. This existing medicine, manufactured by Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, is a well-established treatment in Japan for pancreatitis. The company has generously donated supplies of Nafamostat for the initial clinical evaluation.
John Harris, who started work in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford in 1969, was awarded an MA by the Vice-Chancellor Louise Richardson at a ceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre on Saturday 29 February 2020. John was described at the ceremony as \"an essential pillar on whom to rely, to lean on in times of need, a craftsman of skill and imagination, a stalwart friend and steward to some of our most important scientific endeavours\".
A collaboration between the Russell group (Chemistry and Pharmacology) and the Davies group (Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics) has identified, via a chemical proteomics and phenotypic profiling strategy, the arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as the molecular target of ezutromid, the utrophin modulator that recently completed a Phase 2 clinical trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients.
![\"Model](\"https://www.pharm.ox.ac.uk/news/vasudevan-lab-explores-key-link-between-sleep-pressure-and-circadian-rhythms/responsive_image?ratio=r16x9&scale=w760\")
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