Medical Sciences Division

The Division comprises over 2200 academics and staff, 800 graduate students and 900 undergraduates; about 350 NHS Clinicians and GPs contribute to our teaching activities. In total over 2500 individuals are involved in research. Medical sciences research at Oxford has maintained its pre-eminent standing, as demonstrated by the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). Analysis of the preliminary results published in December 2008 places Oxford medical sciences research as being of the highest quality in the UK in four separate medical science disciplines.

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
'Senses' Part 2 - Getting a feel for surgery	How do you train surgeons to do complex surgeries? How do you measure a trainee's progress? How can you accurately simulate the look and feel of surgery?	Patrick Garfjeld Roberts	29 June, 2016
'Senses' Part 1 - When the senses collide	Can sounds change how things taste? How can we alter our experiences by taking advantage of how our senses mingle?	Charles Spence	27 June, 2016
The point of qualitative research	Prof Aksel Tjora, Professor of Sociology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, gives a talk for the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care programme.	Aksel Tjora	23 June, 2016
'Land, Sea and Air' Part 3 - What happens when we fly	Oxygen levels are slightly lower when you fly on commercial airlines, so what effects does this have on people? Can it cause any problems?	Thomas Smith	17 June, 2016
'Land, Sea and Air' Part 2 - The state of the oceans	What's in the deep ocean? And how can we study these remote and extreme ecosystems? And how is climate change affecting ocean ecosystems?	Alex Rogers	10 June, 2016
Evidence informed decision making? (Know your cognitive biases)	Prof Neal Maskrey gives a talk for the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine seminar series.	Neal Maskrey	1 June, 2016
Why on earth do we waste so much research?	Dr Kamal Mahtani is an NHS GP, NIHR Clinical Lecturer and Deputy Director at the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine. His talk explores why so much research is wasted.	Kamal Mahtani	1 June, 2016
'Land, Sea and Air' Part 1 - How mountains are made	How do we discover the origins of mountains?	Mike Searle	27 May, 2016
'Learning' part 3 - Learning from Nature	How can Chemistry take inspiration from nature to create cleaner and more efficient ways of producing and using Hydrogen as a source of clean energy?	Kylie Vincent	24 May, 2016
'Learning' part 2 - Stimulating learning	Can a little electrical stimulation help people learn quicker? And how would technology that does this be used? And why would you want to use this over medicines?	Roi Cohen Kadosh	13 May, 2016
'Learning' part 1 - Sleep for success	Sleep is really important. But do we realise how important it is, particularly for helping us think straight? Are teenagers lazy? Are their body clocks different?	Christopher-James Harvey	5 May, 2016
Power People: what are we doing with all that energy?	Did you know that you are in charge of a power station? It's true. Every time you flick a light switch, a power station somewhere in the UK will respond and generate that little bit of extra power you need for your light.	Phil Grunewald	5 May, 2016
Overdiagnosis and Too Much Medicine How did we get here and how do we get out of the mess	Professor Carl Heneghan gives a talk for the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care programme	Carl Heneghan	3 May, 2016
Breathalysers, babies and bumps on the road: delving into diagnostic studies	Talk by Dr Helen Ashdown regarding three rather different diagnostic studies People: Helen Ashdown	Helen Ashdown	3 May, 2016
'Relationships' part 3 - Networks: the science of connections	What is a network and how can you use mathematics to unravel the relationships between a variety of different things? How can this understanding then be applied to a range of different settings?	Mason Porter	29 April, 2016
'Relationships' part 2 - New fathers	How do new fathers form relationships with their children? What is the unique role of a father? What do they contribute to the development of their children? What is male post-natal depression?	Anna Machin	22 April, 2016
Run for Your Light	You may have heard the word “quantum” bandied around a lot. But what does it mean? In this animation we take a look at how the photon – the quantum particle of light – is being harnessed to help create new technologies like quantum computers.	Robert Taylor, Steven Kolthammer, Josh Nunn	12 April, 2016
What Makes You Tick?	How do you know when it's time to wake up or go to sleep? More powerful than any alarm are your circadian rhythms.	Christopher James-Harvey, Stuart Peirson, Russell Foster	12 April, 2016
Shedding Light on the Situation	Light is more than just light bulbs and sunshine! Researchers at the University of Oxford use different types of light to learn more about all sorts of interesting things.	Jena Meinecke, Chris Rennick, Brianna Heazlewood, Clarence Yapp, Matthew Friedman	12 April, 2016
'Relationships' part 1 - People and plants: balancing conservation and commerce	How can working with people to understand how they use their local plants be used to protect them when industry moves in? How do we find and conserve areas of high 'bioquality'?	William Hawthorne	12 April, 2016
'Killers' part 3 - Mental illness and violence	Forensic psychiatry can help us understand the causes and best treatments for mentally disordered offenders inside and outside of the prison system	Seena Fazel	23 February, 2016
'Killers' part 2 - Keeping water flowing with smartphones	Water pumps are a lifeline for many communities in developing countries. But how can you monitor them all to know whether they're in working order? And can you collect data based on pump usage to provide useful insights into community health?	David Clifton	29 January, 2016
10 Top tips for doing applied healthcare research: How to get started	Carl Heneghan gives a talk held on January 11th 2016 Kellogg College.	Carl Heneghan	29 January, 2016
'Killers' part 1 - Mosquito genomes and malaria control	Can studying Mosquito population genomes help to stop the spread of Malaria?	Alistair Miles	15 December, 2015
'Clues' part 3 - Picking apart the genetics of speech and language disorders	How do you start to pick apart speech at the genetic level? Dr Dianne Newbury explains what Specific Language Impairment is and how her research is unravelling a pretty complicated picture.	Dianne Newbury	1 December, 2015
'Clues' part 2 - Watching penguins	How do you understand how large populations of penguins on Antarctica change? And how can you use this information to protect penguins?	Tom Hart	16 November, 2015
'Clues' part 1 - Predicting volcanic eruptions	From people on the the ground to satellites in the air - how do we monitor and understand volcanos in an attempt to understand when they might erupt?	David Pyle	22 October, 2015
What has EBM done for healthcare?	Professor Carl Heneghan gives a talk for the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine podcast series.	Carl Heneghan	22 October, 2015
Medical science needs you! Human clinical trials	Clinical trials for vaccines: how they work and what's involved for volunteers.	Sean Elias, Natalie Lella	19 October, 2015
How clean is a clean room? Human vaccine manufacture	The stringent processes that ensure new vaccines are clinic-ready	Sean Elias, Emma Bolan	19 October, 2015
Maladies and mice. Pre-clinical vaccine development	Approaches used to target particularly tricky diseases to treat, such as malaria, HIV, Flu and TB.	Sean Elias, Lynda Coughlan, Rachel Tanner	19 October, 2015
Why vaccinate? The history and science of vaccination	Vaccine origins, science behind how vaccines work and how outbreaks of diseases can occur if vaccination levels drop too low.	Sean Elias	19 October, 2015
Theorising with narrative: How careful analysis of stories can help us rise above the ontological desert of ‘behaviour change’ research	Professor Trish Greenhalgh gives a talk for the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine.	Trish Greenhalgh	5 August, 2015
'Artificial Intelligence' part 3 - Understanding how we learn language	Professor Kim Plunkett explains how neuroscientists use artificial intelligence as a tool to model processes in the brain – in particular to understand how infants acquire language.	Kim Plunkett	12 June, 2015
Translating Image from the Research Lab to the Clinic	How imaging is used in translational neuroscience.	Clare Mackay	21 May, 2015
Gait or Cognition: The Chicken or Egg Story	Movement and exercise and it's relation to thinking and cognition.	Helen Dawes	21 May, 2015
Join Dementia Research: Help Beat Dementia	A short overview of 'Join Dementia Research', a national service in collaboration with Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society & the National Institute of Health Research.	Jennifer Potts	21 May, 2015
Biomarkers: Detecting Alzheimer's Early Enough to Treat it.	What are Biomarkers? And why are they useful in Alzheimer's Disease Research.	Alejo Nevado-Hogado	21 May, 2015
Using Stem Cells to Understand Dementia	Dr Angela Bithell of Reading University explains the importance of Stem Cells in trying to understand Dementia and finding new treatments	Angela Bithell	21 May, 2015
Funding World Class Dementia Research	An overview on Dementia and why Alzheimers Research UK is here	Emma O'Brien	21 May, 2015
Welcome and Introduction	Principal Investigator, Richard Wade Martins, gives a brief introduction to the work of the Oxford Alzheimer's Research UK Network	Richard Wade Martins	21 May, 2015
How can skin cells help us understand Parkinson's?	Richard Wade Martins, OPDC Principal Investigator, discusses his current research into Skin cells and Stem cells	Richard Wade Martins	21 May, 2015
Overview: The Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (OPDC) Cohort	Michele Hu, co-Principle Investigator of the OPDC, gives an overview of the Centre's vision and research themes	Michele Hu	21 May, 2015
From Dreams to Neurodegeneration	REM sleep behaviour disorder and Parkinson's Disease	Michal Rolinski	21 May, 2015
Using novel technologies to assess Parkinson's	Mathematician & Engineer, Max Little, discusses how modern technology, such as smart phones, can aid recording behavioural & environmental factors in Parkinson's research	Max Little	21 May, 2015
Parkinson's: More than a tremor	Fahd Baig discusses the non motor symptoms of Parkinson's.	Fahd Baig	21 May, 2015
Neuropathology: the CSI of Parkinson's Disease	The crucial role of Brain Donation to understand the mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease	Claudio Ruffman	21 May, 2015
'Artificial Intelligence' part 2 - How to create machines that learn	Professor Nando de Freitas explains that understanding how our brains work has helped us create machines that learn, and how these learning machines can be put to completing different tasks.	Nando de Freitas	19 May, 2015
Give us a hand	Oxford Sparks explore what chirality is.	Jo Dunkley, Alain Goriely, Robert Llewellyn	18 May, 2015
Managing large scale international clinical trials	Managing clinical trials, of whatever size and complexity, requires efficient trial management. Barbara Farrell shares from her wide experience.	Barbara Farrell	6 May, 2015
Vaccines for Malaria and Ebola	Weatherall lecture 2015, delivered by Professor Adrian Hill.	Adrian Hill	6 May, 2015
'Artificial Intelligence' part 1 - Using artificial intelligence to spot patterns	Professor Stephen Roberts explains how machines, whose job it is simply to learn, can help researchers spot scientific needles in data haystacks, which will help us solve some grand challenges.	Stephen Roberts	15 April, 2015
Genomic Medicine - hype or hope?	For the Inaugural Radcliffe Lecture 2014 Professor Hugh Watkins explores the success and limitations of genome sequencing in simple Mendelian diseases and in complex disorders, against the backdrop of his ground breaking research into heart disease.	Hugh Watkins	13 April, 2015
Storytelling in diabetes: a mixed-methods study	The patient as storyteller and the story as ‘self management’	Trish Greenhalgh	7 April, 2015
'Explosions' part 3 - Health and Big Data	Professor Gil McVean explains what Big Data is and how it can be used to better understand and treat complex conditions, such as heart disease and dementia.	Gil McVean	30 March, 2015
Research impact: the new jargon for knowledge to action	If we are going to take impact seriously, we need to be clear about the philosophical assumptions underpinning different kinds of research and also the different kinds of links between research, practice and policy.	Trish Greenhalgh	26 March, 2015
The Campaign for Real EBM Evidence Based Medicine	Professor Trish Greenhalgh gives a talk on the crisis facing evidence based medicine and offers a solution for its rennaissance within healthcare.	Trish Greenhalgh	24 March, 2015
'Explosions' part 2 - The origin of animal diversity	Dr Allison Daley describes what fossils can tell us about the Cambrian Explosion; a period of time 540 million years ago, where there was a vast increase in the different types of animals that existed.	Allison Daley	16 March, 2015
You've Got a Nerve	In the early 1900s, Charles Sherrington examined microscope slides of muscles, nerves, the spine and the brain and traced the connections between them building a picture of how muscles are controlled. Researchers today still use principles he established.	Jo Dunkley, Robert Llewellyn	5 March, 2015
Give Peas a Chance	Nitrogen could be one of the most interesting elements in the periodic table. Find out more about this fascinating element and how research into peas and beans at Oxford could help feed the world! www.oxfordsparks.net/nitrogen.	Jo Dunkley, Robert Llewellyn	5 March, 2015
A Case of Crystal Clarity	Oxford Sparks presents an adventure in X-ray crystallography. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/crystal.	Mel Giedroyc	5 March, 2015
Jet Plight	Take a journey through a jet engine with Ossie from Oxford Sparks. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/jet.	Elliott Webb	5 March, 2015
A spin around the brain	Take a journey around the brain with Ossie from Oxford Sparks. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/mri.	Ruby Wax	5 March, 2015
"Explosions" Part 1 - Oppenheimer: father of the atomic bomb	Professor David Wark, who was scientific adviser for the play ‘Oppenheimer’, explores the science and broad implications of one of the most explosive ideas in Human history: the atomic bomb.	David Wark	4 March, 2015
"Anomalies" Part 3 - Placebos and pain	Professor Irene Tracey explains the placebo effect and how it is a normal part of our pain system.	Irene Tracey, Chris Lintott	10 February, 2015
"Anomalies" Part 2 - Turing Patterns	Dr Christian Yates describes a phenomenon first noticed by the World War II code-breaker, Alan Turing.	Christian Yates, Chris Lintott	26 January, 2015
"Anomalies" Part 1 - Tinnitus	Researcher Joshua Gold explains a condition called tinnitus, most often described as a persistent and annoying sound in one or both ears.	Joshua Gold, Chris Lintott	21 January, 2015
"Hidden Worlds" Part 3 - The virtual universe	Dr Andrew Pontzen explains how chains of computers can be set up to simulate billions of years of development of the universe, but in a time period of weeks.	Andrew Ponzen, Chris Lintott	5 January, 2015
"Hidden Worlds" Part 2 - Robert Robinson’s chemical box	Edward Imrie and Dr Stephen Johnston Edward Imrie and Dr Stephen Johnston talk about a surprising discovery – a collection of boxes, originally containing chocolates and soap, now full of tiny chemical vials thought to date back to the 1930s.	Edward Imrie, Stephen Johnston	5 January, 2015
"Hidden Worlds" Part 1 - Parallel Worlds	Dr David Wallace discusses the concept of the multiverse – a physical reality that contains lots of universes, each of which inhabited by different versions of ourselves.	David Wallace	15 December, 2014
"There's no place like home" Part 3 - Exoplanets	Ruth Angus talks about the search for life outside our solar system. In our own solar system, we have rocky planets towards the centre and gas giant planets further out.	Ruth Angus	15 December, 2014
"There's no place like home" Part 2 - The People of the British Isles	Bruce Winney describes the influx of humans to the British Isles, including the Romans, Anglo Saxons and Vikings. By comparing and contrasting the genetic make-up of patients, researchers can explore how genetics can influence disease.	Bruce Winney	15 December, 2014
From inspiration to publication: bumps along the road (as part of the Postgraduate Programme in Evidence-Based Health Care)	Dr Helen Ashdown is a GP and Clinical Researcher in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.	Helen Ashdown	3 December, 2014
Realist Review: Mixing Method	This talk will introduce the realist review methodology as a strategy for combining qualitative and quantitative data to answer the question “what works, for whom, and in what circumstances”	Janet Harris	1 December, 2014
Systematic Reviews, the need for change	The need to generate systematic reviews is relatively uncontroversial and until recently so were the methods of production.	Jon Brassey	1 December, 2014
EBM - What it is, what it isn't, how might you contribute?	Carl Heneghan is a Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and a Primary Care Physician and has over 20 years experience of using evidence in practice for changing health care.	Carl Heneghan	1 December, 2014
"There’s No Place Like Home" Part 1 - Wytham Woods	Professor Ben Sheldon describes one of the World’s longest-running ecological studies, into birds in their natural environments.	Ben Sheldon, Chris Lintott	20 November, 2014
"Matters of Scale" - Complete Episode	The issues of scale are investigated – from how properties change at very small scales, to the vastness of the Universe. Includes parts 1, 2 and 3.	Pedro Ferreira, Alan Barr, Sylvia MacLain, Sonia Trigueros	9 October, 2014
"Origins" - Complete Episode	The subject of origins is explored - from human fertilisation to the Big Bang. Includes parts 1, 2 and 3.	Jo Dunkley, Alex Halliday, Suzannah Williams, Dagan Wells, Chris Lintott	9 October, 2014
"Matters of Scale" Part 3 - Nanomedicine	Dr Sonia Trigueros explains how she is using nanotechnologies to create targeted drug delivery systems. Chemotherapy is a particularly harmful treatment, with patients losing their hair and suffering from infections due to damage to their immune systems.	Sonia Trigueros, Chris Lintott	8 October, 2014
"Matters of Scale" Part 2 - Biology and the Problem with Scale	Dr Sylvia MacLain talks about how water creates a problem when researching biology. Structures can be studied when they are in solid form, but approximately 60% of our bodies are made of water.	Sylvia MacLain, Chris Lintott	8 October, 2014
"Matters of Scale" Part 1 - Extremes of Scale	Professors Pedro Ferreira and Alan Barr explain what scale means to them, from particle physics to the visible universe. At the subatomic level, gravity has a surprisingly large effect and particles are so small that they have no size.	Alan Barr, Pedro Ferreira, Chris Lintott	8 October, 2014
"Origins" Part 3 - Origins of Human Life	Drs Suzannah Williams and Dagan Wells explore the secrets and processes behind human fertilisation. Sperm and eggs must face huge challenges before they even meet. After fertilisation, they go on to form a small ball of cells with huge potential.	Suzannah Williams, Dagan Wells, Chris Lintott	7 October, 2014
"Origins" Part 2 - Origins of Earth and the Solar System	Professor Alex Halliday explains how planets form from nothing but an area of space full of dust. Tiny differences between the elements that make up meteorites can give you an idea of how old they are and which part of the solar system they came from.	Alex Halliday, Chris Lintott	7 October, 2014
"Origins" Part 1 - Origins of the Universe	Professor Jo Dunkley explains how we can look back in time at the light from the early Universe. This ultra-cold light can be used to create a picture from soon after the Big Bang.	Jo Dunkley, Chris Lintott	7 October, 2014
An introduction to Medical Statistics with Carl Heneghan and Rafael Perera	Dr Carl Heneghan talks to Rafael Perera about medical statistics and gives an introduction to the subject.	Carl Heneghan, Rafael Perera	9 August, 2013
A behavioural perspective of translating evidence to policy and practice	Susan Michie, Professor of Health Psychology, UCL, gives a talk at Kellogg College for the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine.	Susan Michie	16 July, 2013
How Youtube is being used as a platform to share opinions and experiences of a controversial treatment for Multiple Sclerosis	Brandon O'Neill, DPhil Candidate, PCHS, gives a lecture on treating Multiple Sclerosis and how social media is being used to share experiences of patients.	Brandon O'Neill	16 July, 2013
Dr Carl Heneghan and John Balla discuss the evidence relating to diagnostics	Dr Carl Heneghan and John Balla discuss the evidence relating to diagnostics.	Carl Heneghan, John Balla	26 June, 2013
MSc in EBHC: Introduction to the Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care	Annette Pluddermann, Senior researcher DPCHS, gives an introduction to the Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care	Annette Pluddermann	28 May, 2013
Towards an HIV vaccine: understanding immunity to HIV infection	Sarah Rowland-Jones, Professor of Immunology, gives the 2013 Weatherall Lecture on understanding immunity to HIV infection.	Sarah Rowland-Jones	25 April, 2013
Rogue planet	Oxford Sparks presents a journey around the planets. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/planet.	Chris Lintott	15 April, 2013
Underwater volcano disaster	Oxford Sparks presents a visit to the Stromboli volcano. Find out more and explore other volcano resources at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/volcano.	David Pyle	15 April, 2013
Another case of heart trouble	Oxford Sparks presents a look at how a single change in DNA can cause the human heart to go wrong. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/heart.	Hugh Watkins, Anna Michell	15 April, 2013
Towards absolute zero - a low temperature journey	Oxford sparks presents a ride to the land of the extremely cold. Find out more, and read the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/coldchem.	Tim Softley	15 April, 2013
A quick look around the Large Hadron Collider	Oxford Sparks presents a visit to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. Find out more and explore other LHC resources at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/lhc No protons were harmed in the making of this animation.	Alan Barr	15 April, 2013
A Welcome to the Programme in Evidence-Based Health Care	Dr Carl Heneghan, the Director of the Centre of Evidence-Based Medicine, gives a brief welcome to the Programme in Evidence-Based Health Care.	Carl Heneghan	7 February, 2013
An introduction to the Masters in Evidence-Based Health Care	Sharon Mickan, a Knowledge Translation Fellow in the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, gives an introduction to the Masters in Evidence-Based Health Care.	Sharon Mickan	7 February, 2013
The causes of Specific Language Impairment	Professor Dorothy Bishop gives a talk for the RALLI (Raising Awareness of Language Learning Impairments) Campaign on Language Impairments.	Dorothy Bishop	23 July, 2012
When Should We Be Worried About Late Talkers?	Professor Dorothy Bishop gives a talk for the RALLI (Raising Awareness of Language Learning Impairments) Campaign.	Dorothy Bishop	23 July, 2012

Medical Sciences Division

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