Oxford academics partner with SBI Pharmaceuticals to improve cardiac surgery

6 February 2017

Researchers from the University of Oxford are collaborating with the Japanese pharmaceutical company, SBI Pharmaceuticals, to minimise deterioration of heart function outcomes after cardiac surgery.

The Trial of δ--Aminolevulinic Acid to Enhance Myocardial Protection (TALEN) will take place across the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

During coronary artery bypass surgery or aortic valve replacement, there is a period of time where the heart is without a blood supply, leading to long term damage in some instances. While surgical protocols are in place to limit this damage, TALEN seeks to improve on these established techniques by steeling the heart against injury, prior to surgery. This is the first UK-based clinical trial of its kind using proprietary compound δ--Aminolevulinic Acid (ALA) that SBI Pharmaceuticals has financed.

Read more (Radcliffe Department of Medicine website)

General anaesthesia should be available for dying patients - medical and ethical experts

21 April 2021

General anaesthesia should be more widely available for patients at the end of their lives, according to Oxford experts in ethics and anaesthesia, according to a paper published by Anaesthesia (a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists).

Human challenge trial launches to study immune response to COVID-19

19 April 2021

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has now been active for a year, not much is known about what happens when people who have already had COVID-19 are infected for a second time.

Risk of rare blood clotting higher for COVID-19 than for vaccines

15 April 2021

COVID-19 leads to a several-times higher risk of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) blood clots than current COVID-19 vaccines.

Alternating vaccines trial expands to include two additional vaccines

14 April 2021

Researchers running the Com-Cov study, launched in February to investigate alternating doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine, have today announced that the programme will be extended to include the Moderna and Novavax vaccines in a new study.

Asthma drug budesonide shortens recovery time in non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19

12 April 2021

Inhaled budesonide, a common corticosteroid, is the first widely available, inexpensive drug found to shorten recovery times in COVID-19 patients aged over 50 who are treated at home and in other community settings, reports the PRINCIPLE trial in 1,779 participants.

AIMday in Women's Health - registration for academics now open

8 April 2021

Are you an academic interested in finding out how your knowledge can be used to solve industry challenges? Would you like to widen your network? Meet potential collaborators / future employees? Gain insights into relevant funding schemes? If you answer YES to any of the above, now is the time to register for the AIMday in Women's Health.