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What is selective mutism? And is it a lifelong condition?

General Research

Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder characterised by a consistent pattern of silence in specific social situations where speech is expected (for example, at school or work) while the person is able to speak comfortably in other situations.

New Year's Honours 2024

Awards and Appointments General

Members of the Medical Sciences Division have been recognised in the New Year's Honours list for 2024

Early-life diseases linked to lifelong childlessness

General Research

A ground-breaking study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, reveals a significant association between 74 early-life diseases and the likelihood of remaining childless throughout one's life, with 33 of these diseases prevalent in both women and men.

Study shows diverse gut bacteria communities protect against harmful pathogens by nutrient blocking

General Research

A new study led by the the Departments of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, has demonstrated that diverse communities of resident bacteria can protect the human gut from disease-causing microorganisms. The researchers found that protective communities block the growth of harmful pathogens by consuming nutrients that the pathogen needs. The findings, published today in the journal Science, could help to develop new strategies to optimise gut health.

Researchers define new class of regulatory element in DNA

General Research

Researchers at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine's Laboratory of Gene Regulation, led by Professor Doug Higgs and Dr Mira Kassouf have published a study in the journal Cell, in which they reveal another piece of the puzzle of how the code in our DNA is read. In this study, the authors introduce the concept of “facilitators”, a newly identified type of non-coding DNA that can help to drive gene expression.

Ancient DNA reveals how a chicken virus evolved to become more deadly

General Research

An international team of scientists led by geneticists and disease biologists from the University of Oxford and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) have used ancient DNA to trace the evolution of Marek's Disease Virus (MDV). This global pathogen causes fatal infections in unvaccinated chickens and costs the poultry industry over $1 billion per year. The findings, published today in the journal Science, show how viruses evolve to become more virulent and could lead to the development of better ways to treat viral infections.

Report sets out recommendations for reducing inequities and improving care for babies of Asian and Black mothers

General

The Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across UK (MBRRACE) collaboration, which is co-led by The Infant Mortality and Morbidity Studies (TIMMS) group at the University of Leicester and the Nuffield Department of Population Health's Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU), has today published the results of a confidential enquiry into the care of Black and Asian babies born in the UK in 2019.

Blood collected through skin offers reliable testing method in children with type 1 diabetes

General Research

Transdermal sampling – collecting blood through the skin – is a reliable alternative to taking blood samples from a vein with a needle in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D), new research has found.

Oxford scientist to lead international transdisciplinary consortium towards delivering NetZero Healthcare

General Research

The European Union Horizon Europe (with joint funding from UK Research Innovation) has awarded NetZeroAICT Consortium major funding to develop a novel technology with great potentials to promote climate neutral and sustainable health care.

A Christmas miracle? No, it's business continuity, Lapland-style

General

It’s Christmas Eve, there are still millions of present to be delivered and the Alberta Clipper is wreaking havoc in Lapland. But don’t fear, Mary Christmas’s foresight saves the day…. good thing she was making a list and checking it twice, only this time she's looking strictly at key operational functions.

Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford receives £7.8 million in research funding to fight pandemic and epidemic threats

General Research

Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG), which led the rapid clinical development of the Oxford vaccine in COVID-19 in the pandemic, has been awarded a total of £7,788,783 by UK Aid for research into the prevention of five dangerous diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential. The awards will fund research into vaccines against: Chikungunya and mayaro virus, Marburg virus, Plague (Yersinia pestis), Q Fever (Coxiella burneti) and Sudan Ebolavirus.

Oxford University Hospitals launches new mRNA cancer vaccine trial for patients with head and neck cancers

General Research

The first patient in Oxfordshire has been treated in an mRNA cancer vaccine trial at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation trust (OUH). The trial, led locally by Dr Ketan Shah, consultant clinical oncologist at OUH, marks a significant milestone in the national cancer vaccine advance.

Antibiotic resistance genes are spread more widely between bacteria than previously thought

General Research

A new study published in The Lancet Microbe has found that the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between different bacteria is considerably more widespread than previously thought.

Race to cure type 1 diabetes gets a new boost

General Research

Radcliffe Department of Medicine (RDM) group awarded £2.55 million for diabetes research.

Winners of the Medical Research Foundation Festive Science Image Competition 2023

Awards and Appointments General

Winners of the Medical Research Foundation’s second Festive Science Image Competition, run in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC), were announced on Tuesday. Three winners were selected, with one researcher from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN) winning the second place and two researchers from the Department of Oncology were highly commended.

Researchers develop a blood test to identify individuals at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease

General Research

Research carried out at the University of Oxford has led to the development of a new blood-based test to identify the pathology that triggers Parkinson’s disease before the main symptoms occur. This could allow clinicians to screen for those individuals at high risk of developing the disease and facilitate the timely introduction of precision therapies that are currently at clinical trial stage.

Armed to the hilt: Study solves mystery behind bacteria’s extensive weaponry

General Research

A new study led by the University of Oxford has shed light on why certain species of bacteria carry astonishing arsenals of weapons. The new findings, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, could help us to engineer microbes that can destroy deadly pathogens, reducing our reliance on antibiotics.

Kennedy Trust gift to help drive forward research into inflammatory and musculoskeletal diseases at Oxford

General Research

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.

Clinicians, practices, and patients all have a part to play in dealing with risks of remote consulting, new Oxford-led study reveals

General Research

While most remote GP consultations are safe, the 'Remote by Default' study finds that GP consultations conducted remotely carry more risk for patients with some urgent conditions.

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