Contact information
Colleges
BIOGRAPHY
Kanmin Xue, MB BChir PhD FRCOphth, is a Wellcome Trust clinician scientist fellow at the University of Oxford and Honorary Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Oxford Eye Hospital. He previously held the role of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer in Oxford between 2014 and 2018, conducting laboratory and clinical research into gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases, robotic eye surgery and artificial retinal implant with Professor Robert MacLaren. He has completed the UK specialist training in ophthalmology and a vitreoretinal fellowship at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He previously conducted PhD research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge into how DNA editing brings about antibody class switching, underwent clinical training at Trinity College Cambridge, and pre-clinical training at Brasenose College Oxford, where he was awarded Martin Wronker Prize for the top First Class in Medicine.
AWARDS
Ruskell Medal 2019
Ian Fraser Cup 2017
Luigi Barca Award 2017
Martin Wronker Prize in Medicine 2003
Websites
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Modern Retina
Shedding light on retinal inflammation after gene therapy
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Fight for Sight
How gene therapy can be applied to a multitude of sight loss conditions
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Retina UK Conference Talk
Practical example of gene therapy
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Retina UK Podcast
Cataract surgery for patients with inherited retinal degenerations
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Oxford Medicine Magazine
Summer 2024 - Gene Therapy for Retinal Disease
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BBC News
AI assistant, Dora, eases NHS pressure in cataract care
Kanmin Xue
MA MB BChir PhD FRCOphth
Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow
- Honorary Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London
- Member of SCR (previous Medical Research Fellow), Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Research
The retina is an accessible part of the central nervous system and an ideal organ for studying neurodegeneration and assessing novel gene therapies. Kanmin leads the Retinal Disease and Repair Group, which is currently focused on investigating the mechanisms of retinal degeneration and inflammation in the context of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and uveitis. Improved understanding of these diseases supports the development of novel therapeutic approaches, including viral and non-viral vector-mediated gene delivery, gene editing, and antisense oligonucleotide therapies. Clinical translation is aided by a multi-disciplinary approach, involving patient cohort studies, interventional clinical trials, and application of artificial intelligence (AI).
Team members
Joel Quinn, DPhil candidate & MRC Scholar (Merton College Oxford)
Molly John, DPhil candidate (Exeter College Oxford)
Monica Hu, DPhil candidate & Clarendon Scholar (Merton College Oxford)
Celia Sourd, Post-doctoral Research Scientist
Emer Chang, Academic Foundation Doctor (St Hugh's College Oxford)
- Early Career Researcher Award, Oxford Ophthalmological Congress 2024
Past students
Laurel Chandler, DPhil (Merton College Oxford)
- Thomas Willis Poster Prize 2019
- Oxford-Bristol-Cardiff-Southampton Alliance in Vision Research Best Poster Prize 2017
Ayesha Musa, FHS student 2020 (Jesus College Oxford)
James Aylward, BM-BCh (St Hilda's College Oxford)
Dun Jack Fu, BM-BCh PhD (St Hugh's College Oxford)
Olivia Parham, FHS student 2016 (New College Oxford)
Howell Fu, FHS student 2015 (Exeter College Oxford)
Research groups
- Ageing, Geratology and Degenerative Diseases
- Bioinformatics, Statistics and Computational Biology
- Genes, Genetics, Epigenetics and Genomics
- Immunology
- Molecular, Cell, Systems and Structural Biology
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology, visual and circadian sciences
- Primary Care, Clinical Epidemiology, and Health Care Delivery
- Translational Medicine and Medical Technology