Role-playing computer game helps players understand how vaccines work on a global scale
8 October 2020
Centre for Computational Biology MRC HIU RDM
A free game launched today allows players to role-play the deployment of a virtual vaccine to help to halt the global spread of a viral pandemic.
New antibody maturation technique yields high-affinity arginase-2 antibody
18 September 2020
A team of researchers at the MRC HIU have played a major role in the development and validation of an innovative approach to the discovery of potent therapeutic antibodies, which could help to lay the foundations for a new cancer drug.
Researchers target previously unknown ‘genetic vulnerability’ in breast cancer cells
10 September 2020
New Nature paper reveals discovery of a genetic vulnerability in nearly 10% of breast cancer tumours and how this can be targeted to selectively kill cancer cells.
Persistent immune memory of COVID-19 found in recovered patient T cells
4 September 2020
New Nature Immunology paper finds strong T cell responses in recovered COVID-19 patients
Professor Anne Goriely awarded Enriching Engagement (Round 2) funding
25 August 2020
The awardees for the second round of the University of Oxford’s Enriching Engagement funding scheme have been announced, including six projects from across the Medical Sciences Division.
How do invasive Salmonella isolates evade immune responses?
24 August 2020
Researchers have identified a mechanism by which multidrug-resistant Salmonella Typhimurium strains evade immune system detection. The strains recently emerged in sub-Saharan Africa and are a major cause of ill-health and death in the region. Harnessing this mechanism may offer a therapeutic strategy to improve immunity
Developing a rapid and cost-effective way to identify newborns at risk of leukaemia
21 August 2020
MRC WIMM researchers have developed a new method to quickly identify cancerous cells in babies at risk of leukaemia. The team hope that the new protocol could make rapid testing more accessible for clinical laboratories around the globe.
Defining targets to cure the incurable
5 August 2020
The discovery of an aberrantly expressed gene by a team of MRC WIMM researchers could lead to curative treatments for currently incurable childhood leukemias.
Study maps role CD8 T cells play in IBD
5 August 2020
Researchers from the MRC-Human Immunology Unit, supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, have used an ‘atlas’ of immune cells in the human colon to find evidence of the role of CD8 T cells in inflammatory bowel disease. The findings could pave the way for more targeted treatments for this chronic disorder.
How studying anti-viral immune responses led to a discovery about cancer
22 July 2020
Researchers at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine have recently discovered why a class of cancer drugs is beneficial only in a subset of patients. The results could pave the way for the future development of these drugs, known as PNP-inhibitors, as personalised medicines.
Genetic study reveals Polynesians and Native Americans made contact before European arrival
16 July 2020
Analyses of samples from the MRC WIMM archives conducted by Stanford Medicine researchers and collaborators have settled a long-brewing controversy about whether ancient Polynesians and Native Americans had contact.
Uncovering immune responses in COVID-19 patients
7 July 2020
A new study finds T cell immune response variation in recovered COVID-19 patients, including epitopes potentially important for vaccine design.
MRC WIMM researchers part of ground-breaking new study into long-term health impacts of coronavirus
6 July 2020
A major UK research study into the long-term health impacts of COVID-19 on hospitalised patients has been launched.