Research

Groups
Themes

Our group studies the principles underlying synaptic circuit formation and plasticity. These processes are fundamental to normal brain function, and are implicated in disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and dementia.

Akerman Group

Anthony Group | Experimental Neuropathology

Anthony Group | Experimental Neuropathology

We investigate sub-cellular anatomy, especially spatial localisation of organelles, and the role of lysosome mediated calcium signalling in normo- and patho-physiology. Some of the techniques employed in our research include confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, MRI and optogenetics and high-speed optical mapping.

Burton Group | Cardiac Dynamics and Pacemaking Research

We identify and develop small molecules, as either chemical tools to explore basic biology or as drugs to treat disease. We pursue mechanisms controlling calcium signalling and treatments for psychological disorders such as bipolar.

Churchill Group | Chemical Tools and Drugs Discovery

We use electrophysiological and live cell imaging techniques to investigate the fundamental mechanisms controlling the diameter of small arteries and arterioles in health and disease.

Dora Group | Vascular Pharmacology Research

We work to understand the principles underlying the development and function of neuronal circuits - with a focus on the basal ganglia; a network of interconnected subcortical nuclei important for cognition and motor control

Ellender Group | Neuronal Circuit Research

We are interested in synaptic transmission. We wish to understand the way in which synapses behave when functioning normally but also how they change during memory formation or when struck by diseases such as Schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s.

Emptage Group | Synaptic Pharmacology

Galione Group | Organellar Ca²⁺ Channels & Signals

Galione Group | Organellar Ca²⁺ Channels & Signals

We use electrophysiological and live cell imaging techniques to investigate the fundamental mechanisms controlling the diameter of small arteries and arterioles in health and disease. These blood vessels regulate tissue blood flow and pressure.

Garland Group | Vascular Pharmacology Research

Lei Group

Lei Group

We work to find molecular mechanisms that control the activity of nerve cells involved in cognitive processes such as learning and memory, motor behaviour and metabolism.

Minichiello Group | Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

The group’s principal research interest is in using molecular approaches to study how calcium signalling governs key physiological events.

Parrington Group | Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Signalling

Our interests are in lysosome biology and how diseases result from lysosomal dysfunction. Our research spans basic cell biology, disease mechanism and therapy. We have successfully developed drugs that are in clinical use.

Platt Laboratory | Lysosomal and Sphingolipid Disorders

We design, synthesise and evaluate biologically active molecules and work at the interfaces of Chemistry with Biology and Medicine. Our synthetic tools probe cell signalling and in Medicinal Chemistry our drugs have reached numerous clinical trials, with clinical benefit for cancer patients.

Potter group | Medicinal, Biological Chemistry & Drug Discovery

Our work focuses on understanding the organisation and function of certain neural pathways in the brain that are linked to psychiatric disorder. We are using this knowledge to help identify drugs to improve the treatment of psychiatric disorder.

Sharp Group | Neuropsychopharmacology Research

The release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores is of fundamental importance in cell biology, initiating and regulating a wide variety of cellular functions including muscle contraction, fertilisation, cell division and neurotransmitter release. The focus of our laboratory is the study of intracellularly located ion-channels, particularly in regard to cardiac physiology and disease.

Sitsapesan Group | Intracellular Ion Channels and Ca²⁺ Release

The Group investigates the role of micronutrients, especially B vitamins, in relation to functioning of the brain, in particular in prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia, and in the causation of obesity.

Smith Group | Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) and B Vitamin Research Group

Co-ordinated neuronal activity is intrinsically linked with behaviour and malfunction of neuronal coordination results in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Timing is crucial for neuronal integration including events lasting from milliseconds up to several seconds. Much of the neuronal activity is rhythmic in the brain, as rhythmicity facilitates local and global interactions and enables the representation of temporal sequences.

Somogyi Group

Our research aims are two-fold: i) to determine the molecular mechanisms that underlie the function of vascular ion channels, and ii) to identify new ion channel targets and specific drug compounds with the goal of modulating blood vessel function for therapeutic benefit.

Tammaro Group | Molecular and Systems Pharmacology of Vascular Ion Channels

Vasudevan Group

Vasudevan Group

We are interested in the biological roles of the many kinds of nerve cells that make up the limbic thalamus, a group of anterior and midline thalamic nuclei with strong connectivity to brain regions involved in spatial memory, cognition and emotion. Circuits of the limbic thalamus are affected in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and are also involved in drug dependence. We study the structure and function of the limbic thalamus in rodents and humans using neuroanatomical and neurophysiological techniques.

Viney Group | Neuroanatomy & In Vivo Neurophysiology

Research using advanced imaging and electrophysiological techniques to examine the cellular and intracellular mechanisms of the heart and microcirculation

Cardiovascular Pharmacology

Work in the Medicinal Chemistry Group concerns the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of active organic molecules at the interfaces of chemistry and biology

Medicinal Chemistry

Neuropharmacology is the study of the effects of drugs on the nervous system, aiming to develop compounds to benefit humans with psychiatric and neurological disease

Neuropharmacology

Work in the Department includes state of the art subcellular imaging, ion channel electrophysiology (including single channel studies), and the generation of novel molecular and chemical probes to dissect signaling pathways

Signalling