Connects-UK launches to foster scientific collaborations between EU and UK researchers in a post-Brexit era
10 April 2024
Connects-UK, a new pan-European network dedicated to advancing scientific collaborations between researchers in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK), was officially launched at an event in London yesterday. The network, led by a diaspora of EU researchers working in the UK, seeks to bridge the gap created by Brexit and ensure that collaboration, innovative research, funding, and knowledge exchange continue to thrive in the post-Brexit era.
New study reveals how T cells gain and maintain tolerance to gut bacteria
3 April 2024
The immune system in the intestine maintains a careful balance, tolerating our long-term resident (commensal) gut bacteria while defending against invading pathogens. Under certain circumstances, dysregulation of our intestinal immune response to commensal and pathogenic microbes can drive inflammatory disease.
PD-1 gets an “A” for team-work
8 March 2024
A new understanding of the PD-1 axis (programmed death cell) could help shape ongoing efforts to improve treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Oxford-ZEISS Centre of Excellence officially opened
23 February 2024
ZEISS is partnering with the University of Oxford bringing ground-breaking microscopy imaging equipment, and analysis tools, to advance the study of global health and disease.
CRUK funding success for Audrey Gérard
14 February 2024
Audrey Gérard has received £ 1.5 million in funding from CRUK for a new research project to unravel the coevolving cancer and immune landscape.
BBSRC funding awarded to Kennedy researchers to understand how neutrophils develop
11 January 2024
A project led by Irina Udalova and co-led by Marco Fritzsche and Erinke van Grinsven, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Udalova laboratory, has received funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to uncover why and how neutrophils experience dramatic nuclear changes during their development, and the link between maladaptive neutrophil development and chronic inflammation.
Kennedy Trust gift to help drive forward research into inflammatory and musculoskeletal diseases at Oxford
30 November 2023
Two professorships in translational medicine have been endowed at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology thanks to a generous gift from the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research.
New PI will study the mechanical forces impacting cell fate decision-making and tissue dynamics in inflammatory diseases
23 November 2023
We welcome Adrien Hallou who has joined the Kennedy Institute as a new Principal Investigator. Adrien will be establishing his lab to better understand the role of mechanical forces on cell fate decisions and tissue dynamics in inflammatory diseases, with a particular focus on inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis or atopic dermatitis.
New discovery furthers our understanding of how critical immune cells are controlled during an infection
21 November 2023
A recent publication from Audrey Gérard’s lab looks at how a specific protein, called IFNγ, can coordinate CD8+ T cell responses during a flu infection.
New Principal Investigator will study the role of peripheral nerve-associated glial cells in health and disease
13 October 2023
We welcome Fränze Progatzky who joined us this month as a new Principal Investigator, establishing her research group to study how glial cells in the nervous system of the gut and the lungs maintain healthy organs and drive responses to infection and injury.
New research endoscopy service launches today
2 October 2023
The launch of a new endoscopy service at the Oxford Experimental Medicine Clinical Research Facility (EMCRF) will enhance the collection of data for research projects at NDORMS and across the University of Oxford.
Bioinformatician joins the Kennedy Institute to investigate shared patterns of inflammatory conditions
15 September 2023
We welcome Calliope (Calli) Dendrou who joined the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology this Summer as a Principal Investigator leading a research group. Calli is a leader in cross-disease multiomics and her research focuses on using omics (the study of totality of a molecular process in organisms) to find patterns shared by different inflammatory diseases, so that we can develop better treatments for these life-impacting conditions and repurpose existing treatments to help more people.
No link found between patient genetics and response to anti-IL17 therapy
4 September 2023
A new study looked at the effect of patient genetics on their response to secukinumab, an anti-IL17 therapy commonly used to treat inflammatory conditions including arthritis and psoriasis. No link was found between a patient’s genetic variants and their response to therapy. This study challenges the idea that genetics might significantly account for the variable responses to anti-IL17 therapy seen in the clinic.
Newly discovered cells could be responsible for atherosclerosis complications
27 June 2023
A new type of macrophages recently identified in atherosclerotic lesions could provide a missing link in understanding the inflammatory origins of the common yet fatal condition.
Mitochondrial protein synthesis identified as a potential therapeutic target in lymphoma
1 June 2023
A team led by Alex Clarke at the Kennedy Institute has identified how high mitochondrial activity regulates antibody responses crucial for immunity but is also necessary for the development of lymphoma.