The Bukhman Centre for Research Excellence in Type 1 Diabetes will bring together experts from across Oxford – including in Medical Sciences, Chemistry, Bioengineering and Computer Science - to drive collaborative, cross-disciplinary research. By leveraging Oxford's unique breadth and depth of expertise, alongside cutting-edge technology and infrastructure, the Centre will serve as a catalyst for innovative breakthroughs that can be translated rapidly into life-changing advances for patients.
Within its overarching goal of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D), the Centre will focus on three integrated research themes: identifying individuals at risk of T1D to enable selection for cutting-edge immunotherapy trials to delay disease progression; developing immune strategies to prevent T1D from occurring in the first place; and producing more effective cell-based therapies to help patients live well with T1D.
Professor Paul Johnson of the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences (NDS), who is leading the Cell-Based Therapy Theme said: 'This is a very exciting opportunity for Oxford and for NDS. We have a well-established Pancreatic Islet Transplant clinical and research programme in Oxford, and the University of Oxford has one of only a few purpose-built GMP human islet isolation facilities in Europe. We have demonstrated that it is possible to reverse type 1 diabetes in selective adults with severe disease, but this new cross-disciplinary University programme will enable us to build on this to eventually reverse diabetes in children soon after diagnosis or prevent it altogether.
Read the story on the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences website.