The international workshop "Questioning Human Technogenesis" begins with the premise that humans have always been technological beings, and that the essentialist distinction between the natural and the artificial is more a cultural construct than an empirical fact. Human technogenesis refers to the co-evolutionary process in which humans and their technological creations develop in tandem, continuously shaping and transforming one another. This concept has re-emerged as a subject of debate, particularly following the work of Bernard Stiegler, who argues that human evolution is inseparable from the externalization of knowledge into technical artefacts: a process he terms exosomatization. From the earliest systems of measurement and calculation to contemporary advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, humans have always depended on external devices and techniques to enhance their cognitive and physical capacities. Within this framework, however, humanity’s defining characteristic is not merely the ability to use external tools to compensate for our inherent structural incompleteness, but rather our reliance on externalized systems of memory, knowledge, and agency. The workshop will encourage participants to reflect on how technogenesis shapes not only human biology but also culture, society, and politics — creating space and time but also power dynamics. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, we will critically examine how this anti-dualist framework can elucidate the intricate relationships between technological and human development. Ultimately, the workshop asks: in what ways does technogenesis reveal what it means — and does not mean — to be human animals?
The UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation envisions 2030 as the end of this egregious abuse. Evaluation of progress toward, and obstacles preventing, this ambitious objective constitutes the central theme of a gathering of international, interdisciplinary scholars who contributed to The Routledge International Handbook of Harmful Cultural Practices (2024). The editors invite all contributors as well as other scholars in the field to come together in Oxford on 9 December 2024 to discuss reception of the Handbook and review the impact of academic scholarship on concrete grassroots initiatives, political and public will, medical and legal practice, immigration studies, cross-border engagement, inter-generational cooperation, religious or ritual dimensions, literary initiatives and more relevant vectors to illuminate a complex as well as controversial issue. It is controversial by virtue of conflicting viewpoints as to appropriate and effective opposition. It is of enduring complexity as it raises questions relating to politics of identity, legitimacy of voice, epistemic injustices, and pedagogy of change. To attend PLEASE RESPOND to Dr. Tobe Levin von Gleichen tlevin@fas.harvard.edu of UnCUT/VOICES Press and Dr. Ruhina Jesmin Ruhina.khulna@gmail.com There is no fee for attendants. Donations for refreshments will be appreciated but left to participants’ discretion. Regarding virtual attendance, given our contributors’ vast geographical spread, this is at present not envisioned, but we are looking at options. Participants’ interests and specialties, as expressed in your responses, will inspire the format and scope of the programme.
Carolina Osorio Gil is a PhD candidate in Development Sociology at Cornell University’s Department of Global Development where she studies epistemic and ontological strategies of resistance by rural communities (campesina/os) to large-scale development in Latin America. Carolina will present on her dissertation research project, a participatory and ethnographic study in partnership with the Movimiento Ríos Vivos (Living Rivers Movement), a campesina/o movement that is in resistance to Hidroituango, the largest hydroelectric project in Colombia. Approaching this case as one of epistemic injustice, Carolina utilizes a set of liberatory praxes, including a Story-Based Theater methodology that she developed, to actively contribute towards epistemic justice in her research.
Live cell imaging of immune cells in their natural in vivo environment can often unveil novel unexpected biology. We use mouse model systems to study how the innate immune system integrates into complex tissues and maintains homeostasis. We also study how perturbations can induce massive changes in the immune system that can lead to either a return to homeostasis or down a path of chronic disease. I will use the liver and peritoneal cavity macrophages to highlight how important these cells are to the local environment and how under some conditions the system is hijacked to the benefit of invaders.
Francesca Levi-Schaffer is a Professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine. She holds the Isaac and Myrna Kaye Chair in Immunopharmacology. Prof. Levi-Schaffer was born in Italy and completed her PharmD degree at the University of Milano, her PhD degree in Immunology at the Weizmann Institute, Israel, and her post-doctorate at Harvard Medical School. Prof. Levi-Schaffer has published 186 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 114 reviews and editorials and 27 book chapters. She has three patents and three provisional patents. She is currently President of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) (2024-2026) and chairperson of the National Committee of IUPHAR representing the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She was instrumental in the establishment of an Immunopharmacology Section in the IUPHAR and served as its first Chair. Prof. Levi-Schaffer is a member of the Israeli Ministry of Health Committee for Human Experimentation of New Drugs; Past-President of the European Mast Cell and Basophil Research Network (EMBRN) (2019-2024); Associate Editor of Pharmacological Reviews (2022-2025); Associate Editor of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.; and member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2019-2024). Francesca Levi-Schaffer’s expertise is in the area of immunopharmacology of allergy focusing on mast cells and eosinophils, their activating and inhibitory receptors, their cross-talk ("The Allergic Effector Unit") for a better prophylaxis/treatment of allergic diseases. Moreover, her lab studies the role of mast cells and eosinophils in hypoxia (allergy, COPD), in mastocytosis, and in candidiasis; the crosstalk between atopic dermatitis and asthma with the microbiome; and the role of mast cells in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Her lab is also developing novel monoclonal antibodies and bispecific antibodies against activating and inhibiting receptors on mast cells and eosinophils for the treatment of allergy and in non-allergic diseases with different pathogenesis.
Taxes and jobs within multinational firms. The paper investigates how employment and wages within multinational enterprises (MNEs) are affected by taxes on labour and capital. The analysis uses detailed data on employment and wages within foreign-owned enterprises located in the United Kingdom combined with tax reform variation in the country of the MNE headquarter. By investigating how taxes at the headquarter level affect employment within the UK we can disentangle international relocation of jobs from the loss of jobs due to taxation. We find that especially taxes on labour lead to international relocation of jobs within multinational firms. In preliminary analysis, we further find a strong negative effect of both labour and corporate taxes on wages.
Are you applying for the Master of Public Policy? Do you want to find out more about what it's really like being a student at the Blavatnik School and Oxford? The deadline for admissions to our graduate programmes is fast approaching on Thursday 9 January 2025 and we know you might still have questions about what it's like to study here. Hear from our fantastic current MPP students about their classes and academic work, life at the School, and the exciting opportunities available to you as a student at Oxford University. Don’t forget to submit your questions in advance! Please note the Student Life Q&A is taking place online only.
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images; and plan, prepare and present your poster. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Dr Wahl's research focuses on developing strategies to overcome treatment resistance in aggressive brain tumors. He has a particular interest in understanding and interrupting the links between altered metabolism and radiation resistance in glioblastoma. https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/cancer-biology/daniel-wahl-md-phd
This event marks the launch of a collaboration between early career research networks at the University of Oxford ZERO Institute and the University of Glasgow Centre for Sustainable Energy. The roundtable will examine the social dimensions of infrastructure change and the political cultures influencing energy transitions and community-driven sustainability. Date: Monday, 09 December 2024 Time: 4-5.30 pm Location: Online (Teams link to be shared with registered participants) Running order: - Welcome by the ZERO Institute - Prof Tinka Marquardt - Introduction to Glasgow Centre for Sustainable Energy - William Nibbs - Presentation 1 - Harry Pitt Scott: "The social dimensions of infrastructure change and the political cultures of energy transitions." - Presentation 2 - Simon Nazarenus: "Exploration and Development of Pathways Towards Community Energy for the Parish of Milton under Wychwood" - Presentation 3 - Nicola Tait: Can Glasgow survive on renewables?: A case study using Geographic Information Systems. - Networking in breakout rooms Event co-chaired by Anastasiia Rudkovska, William Nibbs. The list of participants and contact details will be shared with those present at the reception to facilitate further connections and network-building. Who will be attending? The event is open to ECRs at all stages engaged in energy transition research at the nexus of disciplines, including engineering, geography, policy, international development, and sustainable finance. The event will allow engaging with researchers and industry representatives spearheading energy transition policy, technology, and financing solutions. If you wish to attend, please RSVP by Monday, 08 Dec 2024. For further queries about this event and the Energy Nexus Series, please contact ZERO Institute ECR Network Organiser Ms Anastasiia Rudkovska on anastasiia.rudkovska@hmc.ox.ac.uk. For questions regarding the activities of the ZERO Institute and its ECR Network, please get in touch with ZERO Institute Research Associate Dr Katharina Marquardt, leading the ECR Network, on katharina.marquardt@materials.ox.ac.uk. Find the Energy Nexus Series on Oxford Talks https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/series/id/4f7e4c28-2d75-4327-b53b-4db6f3cfda8c?show_all=true
The creation psalm, Psalm 104, has remarkable parallels with the Priestly creation narrative in Genesis 1. Parallels come in all six days of creation and occur in the same order. There are also many parallels in vocabulary. The question is, which came first? I shall put forward five arguments supporting the priority of Psalm 104. 1) Psalm 104 is more mythical; e.g. God has a battle with the sea, whereas in Genesis 1 God’s control of the sea is simply a job of work. 2) The rare form of the word for ‘beasts’ in Gen. 1:24, ḥayetô, is attested elsewhere only in poetry, including Psalm 104:11, 20. 3) If Psalm 104 was dependent on Genesis 1:1-2:3 it has curiously omitted two of its most important themes, the creation of humanity in God’s image and the sacredness of the seventh day. 4) Psalm 104:9 states that the waters defeated at creation will never flood the earth again. Clearly the psalmist was unaware of the Genesis flood narrative, which he surely would have known if he was heavily dependent on Genesis 1, as some suppose. 5) Every verse of Psalm 104:20-30 has remarkable parallels with pharaoh Akhenaten’s hymn to the sun, all coming in the same order, with one exception. Clearly the psalm is dependent on Akhenaten, and there would be little scope for it to be also dependent on Genesis 1 here.
REGISTER BY 25TH NOVEMBER On Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th December 2024, join us for the OxCODE symposium 2024 to hear about the latest research in early cancer detection and prevention from Oxford and elsewhere. We are delighted to have Victor Velculescu (Johns Hopkins University), Molly Stevens (University of Oxford), Sam Janes (University College London) and Georgia Black (Queen Mary’s University of London) as our keynote speakers and there will be sessions themed on: • Technology in cancer early detection/prevention, featuring Sarah Blagden, Fergus Gleeson, Michael Pavlides, Molly Stevens and Victor Velculescu (Johns Hopkins) • Preventive cancer vaccines, featuring David Church, Zinaida Dedeic, Catriona Gilmour Hamilton, Nancy Zaarour, and a patient and public representative (TBC) • Early Cancer Biology, featuring Asger Jacobsen, Sam Janes (UCL) and Simon Leedham • Risk identification and stratification, featuring Pradeep Virdee and Ling Yang • Diagnosing patients with non-specific symptoms, featuring Georgia Black (QMUL), Claire Friedemann Smith, Julie-Ann Moreland, and Aduke Onafowokan (Inclusivitii) The Symposium will also feature: • Panel discussions on translating research for patient benefit, and getting funding for cancer early detection and prevention research • Lightning talks (abstract submission deadline, 8th November). • Poster session (abstract submission deadline, 8th November). At the end of the first day, there will be a drinks and canapés reception to give you an opportunity to network and build connections. More information: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-centre-for-cancer-early-detection-and-prevention-symposium-2024-tickets-1001410996247
For our next talk, in the BDI/CHG (gen)omics Seminar series, we will be hearing from Prof. Gilean McVean, Principal Scientist, Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford. We’re delighted to host Gil in what promises to be a great talk! Date: Tuesday 10 December Time: 9:30 – 10:30 Location: BDI/OxPop Seminar Room 0 Title: The trajectories of human disease Abstract The analysis of longitudinal data from electronic health records (EHRs) has the potential to improve clinical diagnosis and enable personalised medicine, motivating efforts to identify disease commonalities and subtypes from patient comorbidity information and other modalities. We have developed an age-dependent topic-modelling (ATM) method that provides a low-rank representation of longitudinal records of hundreds of distinct diseases in large EHR datasets and applied it to c. 300,000 individuals from UK Biobank and >200,000 individuals from the All of Us program. A surprisingly small number of disease trajectories capture known and novel combinations of disorders that occur throughout life and identify disease subtypes that occur in multiple topics, with differential genetic risk profiles. Such stratification improves understanding of patient risk and heterogeneity, leading to better identification of genetic risk, characterisation of pathological pathways and the discovery of new therapeutic targets. Bio Gil McVean is Principal Scientist at the Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford, working with the Pathogen Mission and other programs to drive innovation and delivery in the use of genomic data to improve health. Previously, he was Founder and President of Genomics plc, a spin-out from Oxford University, that uses vast genomic resources to provide the services and products to support drug development and improve healthcare through enhanced prevention and early detection. With a background in genomics, statistics and evolutionary biology, Gil has played a leading role in driving the science and application of population-scale genomics. He had central roles in the International HapMap and 1000 Genomes Projects, contributed to the development of UK Biobank and Genomics England and has worked with industrial, academic and clinical organizations across the world to realize the value of genomics. He was the founding director of the University of Oxford's Big Data Institute and has worked on problems from dissecting the molecular basis of pathogenesis in multiple sclerosis, to the genomic surveillance of malaria and the landscape of human recombination. Gil’s contributions to science have been recognized through election as a fellow to both the Royal Society (2016) and the Academy of Medical Sciences (2016) and through the role of President of the Genetics Society (2025-2028). He won the Francis Crick Prize in 2010 and was awarded the Weldon Memorial Prize in 2012. ————————————————————— All members of the University are welcome to join. We also now have a mailing list – To be added, ping genomics_bdi_whg-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk (with any message), you should get a bounce-back with three options to confirm your subscription. Follow any of those options, and with a bit of luck you should be signed up! As a reminder, the (gen)omics seminar series runs every other Tuesday morning and is intended to increase interaction between individuals working in genomics across Oxford. We encourage in-person attendance where possible. There is time for discussion over, tea, coffee and pastries after the talks. Hybrid Option: Please note that these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford to encourage sharing of new and unpublished data. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the university. Microsoft Teams meeting – Meeting ID: 386 186 046 170 Passcode: osyPNT ——————————————————————————————————— If you wish to know more or receive information related to trainings and events at BDI, please subscribe by emailing bdi-announce-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk. You’ll then receive an email from SYMPA and once you reply you’ll be on the list!
Common mental disorders and problems in young people aged 16 to 25 years have been increasing and now recognized to be a public health crisis. University students show parallel trends to the general population the same age, especially in females and minoritized subgroups. The causality appears complex related to an interplay of psychological, sociocultural and biological challenges around consolidating self-identity, making new social connections, navigating higher education, and assuming more responsibilities for decisions and lifestyle - all whilst brain development remains a work in progress. This generation of young people are also facing more economic uncertainty, higher competition for fewer positions and the future burden of the climate crisis. This presentation will describe mental health outcomes and access to care from the U-Flourish Student Well-Being study, a biannual electronic survey study enrolling and following successive large cohorts of undergraduate students from 2018 at Queen's and 2019 at Oxford Universities. In addition, salient targets suitable for early intervention will be discussed and pilot findings informing feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of stepped digital interventions shared. Finally, opportunities for scalable and sustainable digital solutions to enhance early intervention in the context of a proposed model of student mental health care will be introduced for further discussion. To attend via Zoom, please use the joining details below: https://zoom.us/j/98643323773?pwd=bL0TW4vweAlQzIlL5VEFHKYiEaVYPl.1 Meeting ID: 986 4332 3773 Passcode: 758174
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to: define science communication and provide a list of examples; explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public; list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
What does it mean to experience moral injury in healthcare? In this seminar, Dr Isabel Hanson will examine whether the concept of moral injury is fit for purpose in driving meaningful health system improvements. The term “moral injury” has evolved over time, with increasingly broad definitions emerging across psychology, philosophy, and health systems research. This conceptual expansion raises questions about its analytical and practical value. While moral injury focuses on the experiences of individual, in healthcare many of its root causes are systemic, including the lack or ineffective allocation of resources, overwork, poor workforce support, and cultures of emotional suppression. The distress experienced by healthcare workers is real and urgent; it demands targeted, compassionate interventions to alleviate suffering. Overly broad definitions of moral injury risk obscuring the specific systemic factors at play, thereby hindering the development of effective health policy responses. This seminar will aim to combine conceptual analysis with an empathic and generative discussion, creating space to explore how we can best understand and address the experiences of healthcare workers in distress. This is a hybrid seminar in the Big Data Institute Lower Ground Seminar Rooms and on Zoom (joining link: https://medsci.zoom.us/j/97040088667)
Ava Harrison (13:00 - 13:30) Title: FolliTracker: a novel approach for real-time visualisation of follicle development in vitro Abstract: Preserving fertility in blood cancer survivors presents unique challenges, particularly when cryopreserved ovarian tissue cannot be re-implanted due to the risk of reintroducing malignancy. Developing culture methods to support ovarian follicle growth and generate mature eggs from the primordial stage in tissue is critical, not only for fertility preservation but also for advancing our understanding of ovarian biology and aiding conservation efforts for endangered species. A significant barrier to progress in this field is the reliance on time-intensive histological analysis to evaluate follicle development. As this gold-standard method necessitates tissue fixation, it precludes real-time observation of follicles. To address this, my research focuses on the development of FolliTracker, a novel method for real-time, instantaneous visualisation and tracking of follicle development using a follicular cell–specific fluorescent reporter. In this seminar, I will primarily share insights into the design and application of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors in combination with CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing to label and transduce primary murine ovarian cells. Preliminary data and confocal microscopy images from the first implementation of FolliTracker will be presented to monitor follicles in murine reaggregated ovaries, highlighting its potential to enhance ovarian tissue culture and follicle analysis. Emily Hyde (13:30 - 14:00) Title: Development of Predictive Models for Neonatal Sepsis Based on the Complete Blood Count Abstract: Neonatal sepsis is a life-threatening condition and a major contributor to mortality in newborns. Early diagnosis remains a significant challenge due to the non-specific nature of clinical signs and the lengthy time required for confirmatory blood culture results. There is a growing need for rapid, reliable diagnostic tools to support timely clinical decision-making. The complete blood count (CBC) is routinely performed test in neonatal care, often used for diagnosing conditions such as anaemia. Emerging evidence suggests that novel immune cell activation parameters - routinely measured but not reported as part of the CBC - may have diagnostic value in sepsis, as demonstrated in adult populations. However, their application in neonatal sepsis remains unexplored. This presentation explores the development of predictive models for neonatal sepsis using CBC parameters, combining established diagnostic markers with newer immune cell activation markers. These models aim to improve the speed and accuracy of neonatal sepsis diagnosis, improving outcomes in neonatal care.
Global higher education is becoming an increasingly ‘multiplex’ space, powered by the entrance of new influential national actors, regional blocs and transnational alliances (Acharya 2017; Marginson 2024; Moscovitz & Sabzalieva 2023). One major new actor in this space is Brazil, a country that has moved from being a ‘recipient’ of aid funds for higher education (through the World Bank, Ford Foundation and various bilateral donor agencies), to being a regional powerhouse with increasing influence on higher education and scientific research beyond Latin America. This presentation will examine Brazil’s role as a donor within the framework of South-South Cooperation, focusing on its public initiatives aimed at strengthening educational and scientific capacities internationally. These initiatives include Brazil’s (1) Student-Agreement Program (PEC-G and PEC-PG) of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE); (2) The Federal University for Latin American Integration (UNILA); (3) The University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB); (4) Educational work of the Mercosul regional bloc; (5) Academic Cooperation in BRICS Countries; (6) Cooperation with PALOP (Association of African Portuguese-speaking countries) and CPLP (community of Portuguese speaking countries); and (7) the Emergency Academic Solidarity Program (PESA) for refugees. In evaluating Brazil’s diverse programmes and partnerships, this presentation will consider the nature of Brazil’s international engagement in its contrast to other former aid recipients-cum-donors. At the system level, its constitutional autonomy in higher education and flagship collaborations with Global South partners play a pivotal role in redressing the historical outflow of students to Europe and North America. More broadly, the distinctive solidarity approach taken by Brazil, framed as promoting equitable knowledge exchange and development across the Global South, poses a challenge to marketized practices of internationalisation and to the soft power and knowledge diplomacy orientations associated with traditional Northern donor countries. This exploration of Brazil’s donor programmes in higher education provides insight into how these efforts align with Brazil’s broader goals of enhancing scientific and educational integration within the Global South, forging a distinct approach in the increasingly multiplex global higher education arena.
Could we source all of our silver and gold solely by recycling these materials and put an end to gold and silver mining? Pandora has recently reshaped its business model to start producing jewellery made exclusively from recycled and responsible sourced materials. What can other businesses learn from Pandora’s shift to sustainably sourced materials? Mads Twomey-Madsen, SVP Global Communications & Sustainability at Pandora will be in conversation with Dr Stephen Lezak, Programme Manager, Oxford Programme on the Sustainable Future of Capital and author of The case against gold mining discussing circular economy of mined precious materials.
State actors increasingly use machine-learning tools to make decisions that significantly affect people’s lives. The worry that human agency is increasingly eclipsed has, in turn, given rise to assertions of a novel ‘right to a human decision’ – roughly, a right not to be subject to fully automated decision-making. In this month’s Balliol Online Lecture, Dr Linda Eggert (Early Career Fellow in Philosophy) explores how such a right might be justified and how, as AI becomes increasingly powerful and prevalent, working out what we owe to one another requires an understanding of not just what our values are, but also why we hold them. Dr Linda Eggert is an Early Career Fellow in Philosophy; her work spans topics in moral, political, and legal philosophy, and mainly addresses issues in normative and practical ethics and theories of justice. She is especially interested in duties to rescue and the ethics of other-defence, issues in non-consequentialist ethics, and global and rectificatory justice. Her work also explores how these areas bear on the ethics of artificial intelligence and digital technology, particularly the ethics of delegating to AI. Before joining Balliol as an Early Career Fellow, Linda was an Interdisciplinary Ethics Fellow at the McCoy Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University, a Fellow-in-Residence with the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, and a Technology & Human Rights Fellow with Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Linda completed her DPhil at Oxford in 2021.
Celebrate the end of term and get festive with the Oxford Critical Food Studies Network! We will be getting together to watch Pixar’s iconic food movie, _Ratatouille_, which covers important themes of cooking as a universal experience, rural vs urban food tastes, the commercialisation of the restaurant and food critic industries, nostalgia, and what happens when you combine a piece of strawberry with a piece of cheese. Before we sit down to watch the movie, we’ll be testing out its central premise ‘Anyone Can Cook’ with some festive food decorating and a cosy chat about holiday food traditions. To receive more details about this event, please sign up to our mailing list: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfi6nlqDy60GQ4Ik44Ny5X_mlIeiua35m3kqQDTXIIscUmXBQ/viewform
We are pleased to announce that Professor Gabriel Oniscu, Professor of Transplantation Surgery and Head of the Transplant Division at the Karolinksa Institute in Stockholm, has been shortlisted for the position of Chair of Transplantation in the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences. Professor Oniscu will be visiting the Department on Wednesday, 11th December and will be giving a lecture at 10:30 am in the Richard Doll Lecture Theatre. All are welcome to attend and the meeting will also be run as a hybrid. All members of the University and NHS clinical staff are welcome. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero; setting up a Zotero account; importing references from different sources into Zotero; organising your references in Zotero; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
On the heels of the University improving its paternity and partners leave entitlement – and leading the Russell Group – what else can we do at Oxford to encourage and normalise equal parenting? The Equality and Diversity Unit is delighted to welcome Dr. Holly Birkett, Co-Director of the Equal Parenting Project at the University of Birmingham, to present the latest research on fatherhood and parenting in the UK, and what Oxford can learn from it. She will be joined by a panel of advocates from across the University, including: * Tom Parnell, Director of Executive Diplomas, Said Business School * Joanne Mason, Head of Partnerships and People Strategy Lead, Human Resources * Benjamin Tendler, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences * Samuel Jones, Postdoctoral Researcher, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, and co-lead, WIMM Community of Parents and Carers There will be ample time for discussion and questions for the panel. Please join us ahead of the event, at 10.30, for tea and coffee.
The Lunchtime Lab Talks aim to introduce and highlight the broad spectrum of research that is carried out at the Centre and encourage multidisciplinary interactions. Throughout the year, groups are invited to speak and present their work to our community. Lunch is available from 12:00 in the canteen and talks run from 12:30–13:30 in Room A&B. Knight Group Speaker 1: Eleanor Karp-Tatham Title: ‘Are there genetic drivers to low response to vaccination? Insights from the COvid-19 Vaccine Immune Genetics (COVIG) study.’ Speaker 2: Sam Farrar Title: 'Comparing the evolution of Spike and non-Spike specific CD8+ T-cells in Breakthrough SARS-CoV2 Infection' Uhlig Group Speaker: Ying Ka Lam (Mandy) Title: ‘Short chain fatty acids modulate antimicrobial activity in macrophages’
Mr Scrooge and the Grinch are the most popular personifications of a pervasive trope in narratives around Christmas: the grumpy old man starts off despising everything and everyone that reminds him of Christmas and, through a change of heart triggered by some external event, by the end of the story fully embraces the spirit of Christmas. This narrative expresses, more or less intentionally, the same Christian meaning of Christmas as redemption through the birth of Jesus. In the anti-Christmas characters, redemption happens through some form of introspection, which radically changes their perspective - itself a symbolic new birth. For in reality, the external events only prompt them to examine what is already part of themselves, which is one of the core functions traditionally attributed to conscience. In this Bitesize event we will use these anti-Christmas characters as a starting point for a brief discussion of how the message of Christmas illuminates different aspects of conscience that have been at the centre of its philosophical analysis throughout history.
Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 5 (#PhiDisSocCh5) comprises presentations by disabled philosophers whose cutting-edge research challenges members of the philosophical community to (1) think more critically about the metaphysical and epistemological status of disability; (2) closely examine how philosophy of disability is related to the tradition and discipline of philosophy; and (3) seriously consider how philosophy and philosophers contribute to the pervasive inequality and subordination that disabled people confront throughout society. This year’s conference will feature a pathbreaking roundtable of disabled philosophy students (facilitated by Will Conway and T Virgil Murthy), who will address the social and political implications of merit as an academic value; a recurring roundtable of disabled philosophy faculty (facilitated by Johnathan Flowers and Melinda Hall), who will jointly identify the mechanisms that produce the continuing exclusion of disabled philosophers from the profession and critical work on disability from the discipline; and several panels of fascinating presentations on topics such as African philosophy of disability, neurodiversity and Madness, and the politics of eating. In its entirety, Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 5 will highlight the diversity and range of approaches to critical philosophical work on disability and showcase the heterogeneity with respect to race, gender, nationality, sexuality, gender identity, culture, age and class of the community of disabled philosophers. Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 5 is generously supported by the Alfred Landecker Chair in the School of Government at The University of Oxford. Co-organised by Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford) and Shelley Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)
Puzzled by PICO? Daunted by databases? Baffled by Boolean? This one-hour online introductory class will offer top tips and advice on how to find literature to answer a research question. No prior experience necessary! Together, we will break down a question into the PICO format, put together a structured search, and try it out in PubMed. By the end of this session, you will be able to: explain what structured searching is, and when to use it; break your research question down into searchable concepts; and make use of Boolean operators (ANDs/ORs) in your structured searches. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
TARGET AUDIENCE: This workshop is designed for researchers in epidemiology, statistics, and related fields who possess strong quantitative skills. Final-year doctoral students are also welcome! LEARNING OBJECTIVES: As part of the workshop participants will: • Learn how to provide concise and constructive feedback useful to both editors and authors Gain first-hand insights into the editorial and review processes at The BMJ. • Understand the expectations for peer reviewers at leading biomedical journals and practice giving useful feedback. • Explore ethical guidelines for peer review (COPE), recognize common biases in the review process, and discuss open science topics relevant for reviewing. • Take part in hands-on exercises and receive practical advice, including tips to improve your own scientific reporting. WORKSHOP LEADERS: Dr. Jess Rohmann is a researcher at the Institute of Public Health at the Charité – Berlin and the BIH QUEST Center for Responsible Research. Her work focuses on causal inference, neurological applications, and research assessment reform. Dr. Toivo Glatz is a researcher at the Institute of Public Health at the Charité - Berlin. He is interested in public health applications, open science and rigorous methods and serves on the Methodology and Statistics editorial board at Neurology. Dr. Tim Feeney is a medical doctor by training with experience in general surgery and a research editor at The BMJ. He is a member of the Causal Inference Research Lab at UNC- Chapel Hill and is currently pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology.
We normally value honesty and typically think it is morally wrong to lie. There might be some exceptions to this – if the consequences of truth-telling are likely to be very harmful, if it the lie is particularly trivial, for instance. The ‘Santa Claus lie’ is, however, often thought to be harmless and even positively valuable. People are actively encouraged to repeat this lie to their children and might be admonished for revealing the lie. In this session we will discuss the ethics of lying, specifically to children. We will consider the difference between paradigmatic lies and other ways of misleading without lying. We will then discuss the special case of the Santa Claus lie: what value it brings and whether this justifies its telling.
Lesson of the week, clinical cases and research. All clinical and academic staff and students welcome. Coffee, Tea and Cake will be served.
This is a part of the Health Economics Seminar Series See below the details for this term: 14/11/2024 – Apostolos Davillas, Macedonia University: Biological Age and Predicting Future Health Care Utilization 21/11/2024 – Cheti Nicoletti, York University: DHD, School Performance and Economic Outcomes 12/12/24 - Manos Mentzakis: Discrete choice experiment in tobacco packaging 19/12/2024 – David Bradford, Georgia University (Co-Editor for the journal Health Economics): The Effect of a Large Prescription Opioid Diversion Event on Opioid Mortality in the U.S.
In our December event, Nadine Pinede (Connecticut & St John's 1986), in conversation with Thamara Jean (New York & St John's 2018), will discuss her book When the Mapou Sings. Nadine Pinede, PhD, is a poet, author, editor, translator, and education consultant. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Nadine is the first Rhodes scholar of Haitian descent and earned her doctorate in Philosophy of Education. Author of award-winning informational books, her fiction appears in Haiti Noir, edited by Edwidge Danticat, and her Pushcart Prize-nominated poetry has been widely anthologized. Nadine’s coming-of-age novel in verse When the Mapou Sings will be published by Candlewick Press in December. Thamara Jean is a qualitative researcher passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice by using data and storytelling for social change and empowerment. As a Research Lead at Lean In, Thamara works with a dedicated team to produce research on gender and intersectionality and translate it into actionable insights and recommendations for advancing women's leadership and equity in the workplace and beyond. In addition to her role at Lean In, she is a freelance racial equity consultant, helping organizations design and implement effective and inclusive practices that foster racial justice and equity. A Brooklyn native, Thamara graduated from Hunter College with degrees in Political Science and Media Studies. She was selected as a Rhodes Scholar in 2018 and went on to complete her Masters in Political Theory at the University of Oxford. Her academic work centers on Black feminism and the history of protest and liberation movements against racial and gendered oppression. Her first thesis on the Black Lives Matter movement was published in the Columbia Journal of Politics and Society in 2017. Her desire to dismantle social inequity across sectors has led her to work with non-profit organizations advocating for social justice issues ranging from voter engagement to education inequity. In each setting, her work aims to communicate the needs and success stories of marginalized communities effectively.
Invitation-only workshop to discuss the key points of the book Homo curator and the series Virtues and Economics. For more information and to register your interest in attending, see link below.
Abstract: Endometriosis is a common gynaecological disease affecting approximately 190 million individuals worldwide. Many people living with endometriosis struggle with daily pelvic pain, menstrual pain and infertility, resulting in high rates of work and school absenteeism and often a reduced quality of life. Despite the prevalence and impact endometriosis can have on individuals’ lives, it is a disease burdened by systemic barriers, including the stigmatisation of menstrual diseases, lack of awareness and lack of supporting frameworks. This presentation will outline projects conducted as part of a thesis aiming to assess the health gaps in the frameworks for endometriosis and provide novel approaches to bridging these gaps. The primary project to be discussed is an attempt to address a crucial gap within our non-invasive diagnostic framework with a Phase 2 trial investigating a novel imaging marker for endometriosis and associated angiogenesis. Subsequently, the presentation will discuss two additional projects. The first explored a key clinical uncertainty with regard to understanding the ranking of endometriosis treatments for endometriosis-associated pain. Finally, a project that mapped the global landscape for endometriosis policy and the overarching frameworks that exist to make measurable improvements to our endometriosis population near and far.
Book launch for Homo Curator: Towards the Ethics of Consumption edited by Peter Rona, Laszlo Zsolnai, and Agnieszka Wincewicz-Price. This book explores the under-researched sources of the consumerist culture and the environmental damage it has brought about. The book is an outcome of the symposium on “The Ethics of Consumption” organised and hosted by the Las Casas Institute at the Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford as part of its Economics as a Moral Science Programme. It takes on two contemporary problems: the human weakness and capacity for wrong-doing, and the failure of modern economic theory to account for the moral character of human behaviour and its implicit encouragement of gluttonous life-styles. In a time when grand political schemes are proposed to revive sustainability of global economy, the authors of the papers collected in this book highlight the need for moral renewal without which the most revolutionary structural reforms are bound to fail at producing the desired outcome. Topics of the book include the meaning and sources of avarice, the attempt to define what is enough, exploration of philosophical and theological perspectives which can serve as building blocks for the ethics of consumption. This makes the book of great interest to a broad readership of economists, social scientists and philosophers.
Dr Cranley is a NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Cardiology at the University of Cambridge. His clinical areas of interest are electrophysiology and inherited forms of cardiac disease. His PhD (2020-2024) was supervised by Professor Teichmann and centred on the molecular and spatial profiling of the heart's conduction system. He received his medical degree from Oxford University before undertaking a NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship based in Cambridge.
What Do(n’t) Women Know? Examining Gender Differences in Survey Question Responses Using the British Election Study, Lotte Hargrave (University of Manchester), Ceri Fowler (St Hilda's, University of Oxford)P, Jessica C. Smith (University of Southampton), Hannah Bunting (University of Exeter) and Anna Sanders (University of York) Gender Differences in Open-Text Responses to the ‘Most Important Issue’ Question, Louise Luxton (University of Manchester)P and Ceri Fowler (St Hilda's College, University of Oxford) The Role of Gender Attitudes and Gender Salience in Explaining Support for the Populist Radical Right, Rosalind Shorrocks (University of Manchester)P, Giuseppe Carteny (University of Saarland) and Louise Luxton (University of Manchester)
Party Competition and the Gender Vote Gap at the 2024 British General Election, Rosie Campbell (Kings College, London), Ceri Fowler (University of Oxford), Anna Sanders (University of York) and Rosalind Shorrocks (University of Manchester) Gender-Generation Gaps and Progressivism: The Relationship Between Values and Vote Choice, Liran Harsgor (University of Haifa)P and Maria Grasso (Queen Mary University of London) The Trusted Politician is the Woman Politician? Experimental Evidence of Gender Bias in Candidate Traits and Trustworthiness in Seven Democracies, Daniel DevineP, Jessica C. Smith, Viktor Valgardsson, Will Jennings, Gerry Stoker (all University of Southampton) Swiping Right, Leaning Right? Dating Market Dynamics and Sexual Conservative Backlash, Alberto López Ortega (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/Harvard University)P Attendees are welcome to come from 3pm for coffee.
This talk will present findings from the interdisciplinary _Curating Crises_ project, which examined the hidden histories of volcano science in the English-speaking Caribbean over the course of the twentieth century. Episodes of volcanic unrest are unique moments in which different forms of knowledge – scientific, experiential, ‘local’ – are brought into the high-stakes environment of crisis management and decision-making. This talk will explore the colonial dynamics of these processes, focusing on volcanic crises in Montserrat in the 1930s and 1990s. It will explore the knowledge networks and hierarchies that shaped governmental responses, and argue that some of the deficiencies in the early response to the 1990s crisis can be explained by events in the 1930s. The case will therefore be made for a long-term perspective on hazard response, and for interdisciplinary approaches to unearthing historical lessons for the present. *Martin Mahony* is an Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of East Anglia. His work addresses the geographies of science and technology and the relationships between knowledge, politics and power. *David Pyle* is Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford. His research involves reconstructing both eruptive processes and the effects of volcanism on communities who live on or around volcanoes. David has convened a number of public exhibitions on historical volcanism and is the author of _Volcanoes: Encounters through the Ages_.
Are Female Politicians Less Supportive of Conflict? Chris Butler (University of Antwerp)P, Emma van der Goot, (University of Amsterdam), Pirmin Bundi, (University of Lausanne), Ondřej Císař, (Charles University Prague), Toni van der Meer, (University of Amsterdam) Gendered Abuse and Intimidation in the Local Elections and General Elections in the UK, Rosario Grima AlgoraP, Hannah Phillips, Ziyu Deng (all University of Oxford) Fatherhood Bonus or Motherhood Penalty? Examining Gender, Parenthood and Electoral Outcomes among Candidates, Jessica C. Smith (University of Southampton)P, Ana Weeks (University of Bath) and Susan Franceschet (University of Calgary) The Compound Role Model Effect of Right-Wing Female Political Leaders on Women's Political Participation, Marta Antonetti (London School of Economics)P
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open. We’ll cover: what is open access? key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges; where to get more information and help; where to look for open access material; and useful tools to assist you in publishing open access. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Abstract: Postpartum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, killing a mother every 7 minutes. As with any major haemorrhage, it is the ticking clock that often kills women. Delays in diagnosis, delays in treatment, and delays in escalation of care could result in time – and lives – lost. There is a simple innovation that can help with early and accurate diagnosis of postpartum haemorrhage. There is a bundle of care that can ensure all effective treatments are provided to all those who need it. A cluster randomised trial incorporating the diagnostic innovation and bundled treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, published recently in the NEJM, has found an incredible 60% reduction in women suffering severe postpartum haemorrhage, needing surgery or dying from bleeding. This has been hailed as a breakthrough. Attend this lecture to find out more. Bio: Professor of Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine at University of Birmingham, Director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research and Founding Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health. Professor Coomarasamy leads two research teams, one focusing on treatments to prevent miscarriages and the other targeting on ways to stop mothers dying during childbirth. Professor Coomarasamy’s research portfolio includes numerous national and international multicentre randomised controlled trials, including: The PROMISE Trial (2015), The WHO CHAMPION Trial (2018), The TABLET Trial (2019), The AIMS Trial (2019), The PRISM Trial (2019), The MifeMiso Trial (2020), The E-MOTIVE Trial (2023), and The LOCI Trial (ongoing). Professor Coomarasamy has published over 300 articles in high impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, The British Medical Journal and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
1. Maarse M, Seiffge DJ, Werring DJ et al. Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion vs Standard of Care After Ischemic Stroke Despite Anticoagulation. JAMA Neurol. 2024 Sep 23;81(11):1150–8. 2. Wazni OM, Saliba WI, Nair DG et al. Left Atrial Appendage Closure after Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2024 Nov 16. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2408308. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39555822.
Ollie is studying his DPhil (PhD) at the University of Oxford, focusing on the biology of mistletoe. He is supported by The Tree Council, with support and development of the MistleGO app from Fera Science. He is particularly interested in how mistletoe interacts with its host trees and what this can tell us about parasitism more broadly and will introduce you to the thought that Mistletoe isn't just for Christmas.
This is a part of the Health Economics Seminar Series See below the details for this term: 14/11/2024 - Apostolos Davillas, Macedonia University: Biological Age and Predicting Future Health Care Utilization 21/11/2024 - Cheti Nicoletti, York University: DHD, School Performance and Economic Outcomes 19/12/2024 - David Bradford, Georgia University (Co-Editor for the journal Health Economics): The Effect of a Large Prescription Opioid Diversion Event on Opioid Mortality in the U.S.
We are pleased to announce that Professor Colin Wilson, Consultant HPB and Transplant Surgeon and Hon Professor of Transplant/HPB Surgery at Newcastle University, has been shortlisted for the position of Chair of Transplantation in the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences. Professor Wilson will be visiting the department on Monday 6 January and will be giving a lecture at 11:15am in the Richard Doll Lecture Theatre. All are welcome to attend and the meeting will also be run as a hybrid. Colin Wilson is a Consultant HPB and Transplant Surgeon and Hon Professor of Transplant/HPB Surgery at Newcastle University. His interests include organ perfusion, artificial intelligence image analysis and meta-analysis. His clinical practice includes Liver, Pancreas and Kidney Transplantation and he leads a research team in the Newcastle University Clinical Research Institute (NUTCRI). His PhD centred on machine perfusing DCD kidneys for transplantation and is current roles include being theme lead for the NIHR Blood Transplant Research Unit (Cambridge/Newcastle) on “Organ Utilisation”. This talk will follow his experiences in meeting the challenges of uncontrolled kidney donation, development of novel machine perfusion strategies, the supporting evidence and the potential for AI and stem cells to change the landscape of organ preservation. All members of the University and NHS clinical staff are welcome. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
The Fulbright Program serves as a prominent example of educational diplomacy policy. This study combines archival research and critical discourse analysis to examine 33 evaluation and report documents that evaluate the effectiveness of the Fulbright Program from 1958–2023. Marisa employed argumentation analysis to understand the underlying ideological strategies used to discursively construct the Fulbright Program's multiple purposes. The study finds that the documents argue that education and mutual understanding are ephemeral concepts, the Fulbright Program has geopolitical justifications, and academic disciplines are a source of geopolitical power. This approach to analyzing the Fulbright Program's historical documents provides a model for understanding educational diplomacy schemes that use higher education as a geopolitical tool.
We are pleased to announce that Professor Fadi Issa, Professor of Translational Immunology at the University of Oxford and Consultant Plastic, Reconstructive and Burns Surgeon, has been shortlisted for the position of Chair of Transplantation in the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences. Professor Fadi Issa will be visiting the Department on Wednesday 8 December and will be giving a lecture at 11:15am in the Richard Doll Lecture Theatre. All are welcome to attend and the meeting will also be run as a hybrid. All members of the University and NHS clinical staff are welcome. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
The webinar will launch and offer an overview of the 2025 Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund (MLSTF), managed by the Translational Research Office, Medical Science Division. It will guide researchers through proposal strategies and reviewer expectations, while highlighting pathways for early career researchers through the Emerging Translational Innovators (ETI) route, and give further information on the co-funding streams. *14:00-14:10 | Welcome and Introduction* _Speaker: Dr Deepak Kumar, Head of the Translational Research Office_ * Brief overview of the Translational Research Office, its functions, and available services. *14:10-14:30 | Launch of the Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund (MLSTF) 2025* _Speaker: Dr. Kavita Subramaniam, Translational Research Office_ * MLSTF funding model * Key timelines and submission deadlines * Overview of Innovation co-funding streams [representatives of streams to present - TBC] * Key takeaways on funding opportunities *14:30-14:40 | What the Reviewers Are Looking For* _Speaker: Dr Oliver Rughani-Hindmarch, Translational Research Office_ * Guidance on what makes a strong application * Insights into evaluation criteria and panel expectations * Overview of the Case for Support form and tips to ensure it stands out * Signpost online training resources *14:40-14:50 | Early Career Focus: Emerging Translational Innovators (ETIs)* _Speaker: Vlada Yarosh, Translational Research Office_ * Overview of the ETI route under MLSTF * Benefits for early career researchers * Insights into career progression and how to position yourself as a strong candidate * Signpost online training resources *14:50 – 15:00 | Q&A*
Most of us assume that we are above the grubby world of biology, and that we can do what we want, at whatever time we choose. This assumption is wrong. Our biology is governed by a 24-hour biological (circadian) clock that advises us when it is the best time to sleep, eat, think, and undertake a myriad of other essential tasks. This daily internal adjustment allows us to function optimally in a dynamic world, “fine-tuning” our biology to the profound demands imposed by the 24-hour day. Progress in understanding the fundamental nature of circadian biology has been astonishing, and certainly, this knowledge has added to our wonder and appreciation of the biological world. However, in parallel with this appreciation there has been an emerging realisation of the fundamental importance of circadian rhythms to our health and wellbeing. In this talk Professor Foster will unpack the science of circadian rhythms, and how this new biology can be used by each of us to make more informed decisions to improve our lives.
Work/life balance for researchers The Postdoc Power Hour (PoPoH) is a series of monthly one-hour online events designed specifically for postdocs and other research staff who are not students and takes place on the first Friday of every month, 11 am to 12 pm, via Teams. Join the event on "Teams":https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZjZlMmQyOTktYWEwNS00YWZiLWE2ZDctMDM2NzYzNmIyYmJk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%221d2cf1ee-340b-4a81-b80d-39e44585f59b%22%7d Each PoPoH session covers: a brief overview of career and training support available to postdocs and other research staff across the University a 30-minute lecture by an expert on the session’s theme a Career Chat where a Careers Adviser for Research Staff will address careers concerns and questions ideas for simple things you can do now for your career and work/life balance Session themes will focus on career planning, communication skills, project & people management, research funding, innovation & business opportunities, as well as health – all tailored to postdocs and other research staff who are not students
All members of the University and NHS clinical staff are welcome. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Talk abstract: Rev Gilbert White (1720-1793) is best known as the author of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789), and commonly referred to as the ‘Father of Ecology’. His work has influenced the great and the good of natural history, including Charles Darwin and Sir David Attenborough, and many, many naturalists, amateur and professional, both here and abroad. When people think of White, often they first think of his work on birds, particularly Swifts and Swallows, but what interest did he have in mammals? In this talk we’ll explore the mammals White encountered, how his work with them influenced natural history of the time, and how it relates to our understanding of our mammal fauna in Britain today. We’ll finish with a short overview of my research into White and his networks, including his lesser-known connections to both Oxford and London. Speaker bio: I have been fascinated by the wildlife of the British Isles for as long as I can remember. After working in ecology in almost every role imaginable for local government, consultancy, NGO’s and academia, ten years ago I found myself lucky enough to start working for the Natural History Museum in London in the Centre for UK Nature. I’ve aways been a mammal specialist, primarily British bats, and continue wherever I can to work with bats, either in the field, in collections, or with the public. Today I am Fellow and Trustee of the British Naturalists Association, Associate Editor of Archives of Natural History, the journal of the Society for the History of Natural History, Fellow and past Council Member of the Linnean Society of London, and member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. I have recently been awarded the David Bellamy Award for ‘Exceptional Field Naturalist’ by the British Naturalists Association. My DPhil at the University of Oxford focuses on natural history in the late 18th Century, and it’s influence on networks of naturalists in modern amateur natural history. This follows on from my MSt in Historical Studies, part funded by the British Society for the History of Science, which focused on the ‘Father of Ecology’, Gilbert White. I am passionate about the intersection of ecology and history, and enthusiastic communicator with experience in writing and broadcasting for peer, student, and public audiences.
Join the Centre for Teaching and Learning to explore how digital resources for teaching can be used to help students maximise their academic potential. Who is the workshop for? Oxford teaching staff, including course directors, tutors, lecturers, teaching assistants. Find out more and register at: https://www.ctl.ox.ac.uk/event/empowering-oxford-educators.
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images; and plan, prepare and present your poster. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
We are pleased to announce the Flow Cytometry Data Analysis Course 2025, a one-day workshop designed to enhance your skills in flow cytometry data analysis using FlowJo, IDEAS, and Cytobank. What’s Included? - Hands-on training sessions on FlowJo, IDEAS, and Cytobank. - Product presentations by representatives from our sponsors: Cytek, BD, and Beckman Coulter. - Opportunities to discuss new technologies and reagents with company representatives. - Lunch, coffee, and tea Registration Details - Fee: £20 per attendee. Payment instructions will be provided in the registration form. - Spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
A knowledge exchange forum Who should attend? All academic, professional support staff and graduate students at collegiate Oxford who are engaged in delivering and/or supporting students' academic skills at undergraduate and postgraduate level. This includes roles such as graduate mentor, study skills adviser, academic skills lecturer, course director, tutor, fellow or graduate mentor, as well as colleagues in welfare and libraries. What will the event do? - Provide a forum for colleges and departments to share their approaches and models of academic skills development provision - Bring together a range of stakeholders within and across Oxford's colleges, departments and professional services for a multi-professional, holistic perspective on academic skills development - Explore potential for evaluation and understanding of what works - Present key insights and practices from a selection of UK universities with established academic skills provision. The event programme will be released 8th week, Michaelmas 2024.
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open. We’ll cover: what is open access? key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges; where to get more information and help; where to look for open access material; and useful tools to assist you in publishing open access. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
So, you’ve got a great idea for a research study – but what approvals do you need before you can start? Who do you apply to? And how do you go about doing this? Join an online presentation through Microsoft Teams for an overview of: • how research is governed in the UK • which approval bodies are involved • a step-by-step guide on how to apply for approval • handling amendments to your study
Higher education regionalization (HER), a trend of closer collaboration between higher education actors within their own world region, is gaining increasing momentum in global higher education. The most salient example is the Bologna Process in Europe, resulting in an array of research focusing on Europe. Yet, while HER initiatives are also happening worldwide in Asia, Latin America and Africa, understanding of these regions is limited. Moreover, literature on HER tends to focus on how regional and national level policies are implicated in HER, thereby neglecting the link between HER and global dynamics in higher education. Using university memberships in regional university association worldwide as an example, this webinar will unpack how HER is a global trend not just from regional and national policy perspective, but also from an organizational perspective. Furthermore, it will zoom in on university perspectives in East and Southeast Asia using the decolonial lens to examine how HER in East and Southeast Asia is closely linked to power dynamics in global higher education rooted in transhistorical colonialism. In doing so, the presentation will identify the opportunities and challenges of decolonizing global higher education and invite future research to unpack the underlying rationales of HER in the Global South from a global and critical perspective.
Elleke Boehmer and Katherine Collins (editors), Life Writing and the Southern Hemisphere: Texts, Spaces, Resonances (2024) Life Writing and the Southern Hemisphere Ranging across the Southern Hemisphere, from Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia in South America, through southern Africa, to Australia and New Zealand and as far down as Antarctica, this collection brings together writers and scholars in the oceanic humanities, postcolonial, Global South and polar studies. The essays present works on human, animal and plant life captured in words, music, performance, visual arts and photography. Interdisciplinary and vast in its comparative range, Life Writing and the Southern Hemisphere convenes a diversity of perspectives and positions that demonstrate that the South has rich internal knowledge sources of its own, including different forms of life writing, allowing us to better conceptualise the planet ‘from below’. Hear from the collection’s editors and four of the contributors on how artists have interpreted Scott’s famous Terra Nova hut, ‘tsunami, tornados, and tides’ in Amitav Ghosh’s non-fiction; the watery resonances in Dambudzo Marechera’s famous novel House of Hunger; and remote poetic imaginings of Antarctica. Speaker Details: Dr Charne Lavery is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Pretoria. Her research is focused on the ways in which people imagine the sea and the South, including the Indian Ocean world, the deep ocean and the Antarctic region. She co-directs with Isabel Hofmeyr, the Oceanic Humanities for the Global South research platform (www.oceanichumanities.com). Her publications include Writing Ocean Worlds: Indian Ocean Fiction in English (Palgrave 2021) and the co-edited collections Maritime Mobilities in Anglophone Literature and Culture (Palgrave 2023), Reading from the South (Wits Press 2023), and Reading for Water (Routledge 2024). She serves as Principal Investigator on a South African National Research Foundation grant to pilot an African Antarctic Artists and Writers Programme, and as a South African Humanities and Social Sciences delegate to the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). She is co-editor of the Palgrave series Maritime Literature and Culture, board member of the journals Global Nineteenth-Century Studies and Alizés, and was a Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS) research fellow in 2023. Dr Tinashe Mushakavanhu researches the role of literary culture in documentation, historical knowledge, and political power. He has particular interests in the aesthetics and materiality of writing, archives and archival theory, translation, and African print cultures. His work manifests in interdisciplinary modalities. It blurs creative and critical methods and writing genres in order to imaginatively reconfigure the strictures that conventionally separate the poetic and the theoretical. His publications include Reincarnating Marechera: Notes on a Speculative Archive (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2020) and Some Writers Can Give You Two Heartbeats (Black Chalk & Co., 2019). Professor Elizabeth Leane is Professor of Antarctic Studies in the School of Humanities, College of Arts, Law and Education. She has a career-long drive to understand how non-specialists can connect with remote or seemingly inaccessible places and ideas. With degrees in both science and literature, she uses the insights of the humanities to understand how humans relate to the Antarctic, the ‘continent for science’. She has visited Antarctica as a writer-in-resident, an educator and a researcher with the Australian, New Zealand and Chilean national programs and with tour operators. Elizabeth currently co-leads (with Katie Marx) the Public Engagement with Antarctic Research Action Group within the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. She is Arts and Literature Editor of The Polar Journal. Her books include Antarctica in Fiction and South Pole: Nature and Culture and the co-edited collections Anthropocene Antarctica and Performing Ice. She is currently leading several large funded projects focused on the Antarctic region, including partnered research with government agencies nationally and internationally, and tourism operators. Dr Joanna Price is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History, Liverpool John Moores University. She has written about affect and place, particularly in relation to trauma, memory and mourning. Her recent publications include articles about Antarctica, ' the traumatic sublime’, and affective landscapes in Antarctic travel memoirs. She is currently writing an ‘affective biography’ of R.F. Scott’s Terra Nova hut. This piece explores how, through the life-writing of Apsley Cherry-Garrard and others, the hut is inscribed with a history of feelings. It will form part of a book about how, through literature, art and photography, the material spaces of Antarctica become affective both locally and globally. Dr Elizabeth Lewis Williams is a poet, teacher and Visiting Fellow at the University of East Anglia. Her creative-critical PhD explored the idea of scientific and poetic measure in Antarctic poetry, and her research interests include representations of Antarctica, the intersections between poetry and science, the poetics of place, and the value of poetry and the poetry workshop in promoting multi-disciplinary dialogue and public engagement, particularly around narratives of climate change. She has published two books of poetry, Deception Island (2021) and Erebus (2022), and toured an immersive poetry-film-sound installation in a replica Antarctic hut. She has been a lecturer on an Antarctic cruise ship, and is currently working on a book of creative non-fiction, Portal Point, about the peculiar nature of Antarctica as a threshold place. She is also part of a group developing a multi-media project, I am your past/Yo soy tu pasado, which aims to put the two ecosystems, Amazonia and Antarctica, in conversation through a series of letters, poems, sound and visual arts, and in collaboration with scientists. Professor Elleke Boehmer is Professor of World Literature in English and Executive Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing. She is a Fellow of the English Academy, of the Royal Society of Literature, and of the Royal Historical Society. She is a member of the Dutch Society of Letters and a Rhodes Trustee. In 2024 she held an International Visiting Fellowship award at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Elleke has published biography, history and criticism, including Postcolonial Poetics (2018); Indian Arrivals 1870-1915 (2015; winner of the biennial ESSE prize 2016) and Nelson Mandela (2008, 2023). Southern Imagining, a literary history of the southern hemisphere, her seventh monograph, will appear from Princeton University Press, later in 2025. Elleke Boehmer’s fiction includes To the Volcano, and other stories (2019; commended Elizabeth Jolley Prize), and The Shouting in the Dark (winner of the Olive Schreiner Prize 2018). Her novel Ice Shock is forthcoming. Dr Katherine Collins is an interdisciplinary researcher at the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing at Wolfson College. Her research interests include contemporary life-writing and creative practice as research. Her current project explores arts-science collaboration through Antarctic’ more-than-human’ story-making. She is writing a monograph, Layered forms: metaphor and materiality in story-making, which explores the interplay of forms like rooms, water, light, and spirals in two story-making processes in the UK and South Africa, comparing workshop artefacts with contemporary interdisciplinary artists and writers. She is also a poet, working in Propel Magazine, The Rialto, bath magg, Shearsman Magazine, Finished Creatures, and the anthology Science of the Seas, among others. In 202, her collaboration ‘They multiply their wings’, with composer Christopher Cook, won the Rosamond Prize and in 2023 her poem ‘Islands in silence’ was highly commended in the Plough Prize. A book sale and wine reception will follow the launch. This event is free and open to all; however, registration is recommended. This event will be recorded.
Teams link: https://www.win.ox.ac.uk/events/win_seminar_jan_2025 Route description: https://www.win.ox.ac.uk/contact-us/finding-win-fmrib
coming soon
For our next talk, in the Digital Phenotyping seminar series, we will hear from Dr Samah Hayek, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine Tel-Aviv University; Senior Researcher and Epidemiologist at the Clalit Research Institute, Clalit, 15 January, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, at the Big Data Institute (BDI). Title: "Enhancing Health Behaviors: Leveraging Smartphone Data and Electronic Medical Records for Optimized Health Outcomes" Date: 15 January 2025 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Venue: Big Data Institute, Seminar Room 0; followed by refreshments in the atrium Bio: Samah Hayek, DrPH, serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv. Additionally, she is a senior researcher and Epidemiologist at the Clalit Research Institute, Clalit, and she is a visiting assistant professor at UCI, CA, USA. Samah embarked on her academic journey with a Bachelor of Arts in Statistics and Sociology-Anthropology, followed by a Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of Haifa. She furthered her education by earning a doctoral degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the University of Kentucky, where she was honored as a Fulbright scholar. Her commitment to advancing public health led her to undertake a two-year fellowship at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Subsequently, she pursued a post-doctoral study in the Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Deeply committed to pioneering scientific research, Dr. Hayek focuses on enhancing overall health and well-being through the utilization of big data, including Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data and smartphone data. Leveraging advanced epidemiological approaches, such as causal inference, and applying statistical modeling and machine learning techniques, she specializes in the intersection of cancer epidemiology and the long-term effects of cancer therapy. In her research endeavors, Dr. Hayek explores not only cancer epidemiology but also health behavior, investigating the impact of various factors on health outcomes. Motivated by a passion for cutting-edge science and a dedication to improving health outcomes, Dr. Hayek's work stands at the forefront of innovative approaches to public health research. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hybrid Option: Please note that these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the University. The purpose of these seminars is to foster more communication among employees throughout the University, so we strongly advise in-person attendance whenever feasible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to know more or receive information related to trainings and events at BDI, please subscribe by emailing bdi-announce-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk. You'll then receive an email from SYMPA and once you reply you'll be on the list!
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero; setting up a Zotero account; importing references from different sources into Zotero; organising your references in Zotero; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Haley White, Menopause and Wellbeing Specialist, and founder of Menospace, is visiting the IDRM to explore menopause in the workplace. Not just for women entering or currently experiencing menopause - if you have female friends and relatives, or if you work with or manage women, then this seminar will be relevant for you. Seminar learning outcomes: Increase Awareness and Understanding: Participants will gain a foundational understanding of menopause, including common symptoms, stages, and how it can impact mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing, especially in the workplace. Promote Inclusivity: Participants will explore how menopause affects individuals across diverse backgrounds, enhancing their commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in supporting colleagues experiencing menopause. Build Allyship and Practical Support Skills: Participants will learn practical strategies to become effective allies, offering compassionate support to colleagues experiencing menopause and creating a workplace culture that values openness and support.
Immunocore is a commercial-stage biotechnology company that discovered, developed and commercialized the world’s first approved T cell receptor (TCR) therapy. Their mission is to radically improve outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases, by pioneering and delivering transformative immunomodulating medicines. Built on proprietary ImmTAX platform, they have a diverse pipeline of bispecific therapies across a broad range of indications, including multiple cancers, HIV and HBV
Chris started his career with PhD training in disease genetics with John Todd and Richard Gardner at the University of Oxford before carrying out a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Todd at the University of Cambridge. Chris joined the ICR London as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Alan Ashworth in 2000, where he was joint first author on a paper describing the synthetic lethal interaction between BRCA-tumour suppressor genes and PARP inhibitors (Nature 2005), observations that eventually led to the use of these drugs for the treatment of breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers. Later, Chris exploited high-throughput genetic perturbation screens to understand a variety of cancer-related phenotypes including drug sensitivity/resistance and the identification of novel therapeutic targets (e.g. Cancer Cell 2008, Cancer Discov. 2011), a number of which are now being investigated as part of new drug development programmes. Chris has also used multiple approaches to uncover and/or understand clinically-relevant mechanisms of resistance to DNA repair inhibitors (e.g. Nat Commun. 2018, Cancer Discov. 2020) and to identify novel synthetic lethal approaches that target hard-to-treat cancers, including those with ARID1A, Rb or E-cadherin defects (e.g. Cancer Discov. 2018). More recently, Chris has focused on using high-throughput genetic perturbation screens to understand the principles that govern the robustness of synthetic lethal interactions (e.g. Elife 2020). The impact of the work led by Lord is demonstrated by the multiple biomarkers of drug sensitivity/resistance and novel synthetic lethal approaches to the treatment of ARID1A, Rb or E-cadherin defective cancers now being assessed in clinical trials.
Puzzled by PICO? Daunted by databases? Baffled by Boolean? This one-hour introductory class will offer top tips and advice on how to find literature to answer a research question. No prior experience necessary! Together, we will break down a question into the PICO format, put together a structured search, and try it out in PubMed. By the end of this session, you will be able to: explain what structured searching is, and when to use it; break your research question down into searchable concepts; and make use of Boolean operators (ANDs/ORs) in your structured searches. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Should models in mathematical biology be based on detailed representations of individuals - biomolecules, cells, individual members of a population or agents in a social system? Or, alternatively, should individuals be described as identical members of a population, neglecting inter-individual differences? I will explore this question using recent examples from my own research. In the beginning of my presentation I will ask you how you are feeling. Evaluating your answers, I will show how differences in personality can be represented in a model based on differential equations. I will then present an individual-based cell migration model based on the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process that can help to design textured surfaces that enhance wound healing. In ecosystems, organisms that make decisions based on studying their environment such as fish might interact with populations that are unable of complex behaviour such as plankton. I will explain how piecewise-deterministic Markov (PDMP) models can be used for representing some populations as individuals and others as populations. PDMPs can also be used for modelling how interacting calcium channels generate calcium signals in cells. Finally, I will present a reaction-diffusion model of the photosynthetic activity of phytoplankton that explains how oxygen minimum zones emerge in the ocean.
HDRUK Oxford Monthly Community Meeting, Monday 20 January 2025, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Speaker(s): Dr. Lazaros Belbasis and Alexander Tinworth Time: 14:00 – 15:00 Mode: Hybrid o In-person Venue – Richard Doll Building, Lecture theatre o To attend online – please register (link below) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Speaker: Dr. Lazaros Belbasis, Oxford Population Health, University of Oxford Title: Proteome-wide Mendelian randomization analysis highlights proteins involved into the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease Bio: Dr. Lazaros Belbasis is currently an Oxford BHF CRE Intermediate Transition Research Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH). His research focuses on the integration of multi–omics data to identify biological mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for brain diseases. Prior joining the NDPH, Lazaros trained as a General Practitioner in Greece and undertook a PhD in the epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases. He joined the Nuffield Department of Population Health after receiving an NDPH Early Career Research Fellowship. Abstract: Proteins play a key role in a range of biological processes, and their dysregulation can lead to the development of diseases. High-throughput technologies have allowed the measurement of thousands of proteins in population biobanks. We aimed to identify proteins related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by leveraging large-scale genetic and proteomic data. We used Mendelian randomisation to test the association of 3,610 proteins with risk of AD. 78 of them were statistically significant at 5% false discovery rate with 27 of them having additional support from Bayesian co-localization. Notably, 8 out of 27 protein–disease associations (PRSS8, C1S, C1R, SIRPA, SIGLEC9, ZBTB16, PLOD2, and CLN5) corresponded to genetic loci not previously reported by GWAS for AD. The newly-associated proteins indicated the involvement of complement, microglia, and lysosomes in AD. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Speaker: Alexander Tinworth, Oxford Population Health, University of Oxford Title: GDF15 and its receptors as pathways mediating smoking related weight change Bio: After completing his BSc in Biomedical Sciences in 2022, Alex arrived in Oxford to complete an MSc in Global Health Science and Epidemiology. It was here he learned of the expansive data collected on the human plasma proteome in individuals from both the UK Biobank and the China Kadoorie Biobank, and proposed, after completion of his MSc, to undertake a DPhil in Population Health in investigating plasma proteomic associations with cardiovascular diseases in diverse populations. Early on in his DPhil journey, he became interested in the protein, GDF15, which will form the basis of his thesis as he explores its associations in observational and genetic settings with various diseases and traits, including smoking. Abstract: Smokers have lower body weight while smoking cessation results in weight gain through mechanisms that are not fully understood. Plasma levels of GDF15, a stress-responsive protein, and its two receptors (RET, GFRAL), measured in 3936 Chinese adults (mean BMI 24.0kg/m2), using Olink and SomaScan platforms, were tested for associations with smoking and adiposity. Smokers had lower BMI, WC, HC, WHR and BF% levels than never-smokers. Smoking was positively associated with GDF15 and with GDF15/receptor ratios in both platforms. In two-sample MR analyses, daily smoking was positively associated with higher GDF15 levels. SomaScan_GDF15 partially mediated the associations of smoking with all adiposity measures, while Olink_GDF15 mediated associations with BF%. The GDF15/RET ratio explained a higher proportion of the smoking-adiposity association than GDF15 alone in both platforms. The findings suggest that GDF15 may mediate smoking-related weight change, and could be a therapeutic target to facilitate smoking cessation and minimise cessation-induced weight gain.
Bacteria exist in highly competitive environments that require them to interact with a range of organisms. To mediate these interactions, bacteria employ different types of contractile injection systems (CIS). CIS particles function as specialised secretion systems to transfer cytoplasmic proteins from the cell into the environment or directly into the cytoplasm of eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells. While CIS are widespread across microbial phyla, representative examples from Gram-positive bacteria have remained poorly characterised. We recently showed that CIS particles from multicellular Streptomyces bacteria are functionally distinct from related CIS and have an intracellular role. Using a combination of cryo-electron microscopy, live-cell imaging and in vivo assays, we determined the cryoEM structure of the extended CIS particle from Streptomyces coelicolor and propose a model of how these CIS particles mediate cell death in response to diverse stress conditions and impact the timely progression of the Streptomyces life cycle.
Stuart Blume is professor emeritus of science and technology studies at the University of Amsterdam, having previously worked at the OECD, LSE, and in Whitehall. His publications on the development and introduction of new health care technologies include the book Immunization: How Vaccines Became Controversial (Reaktion 2017/2021). The seminar will discuss the origins, uses, and possible futures of the concept of 'vaccine hesitancy'.
The vaccine hesitancy concept has been used in technical and policy circles over the last decade to explain challenges with vaccine uptake, with the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring vaccine hesitancy a top ten threat to human health in 2019. However, the concept has also been controversial. Even some experts most closely associated with the term argue that it has been inappropriately used to blame individuals for systemic failures, especially during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. This paper traces the emergence of the concept of vaccine hesitancy, drawing on in-depth interviews with global experts and analysis of documents and publications from a WHO working group that developed the concept between 2012 and 2014. Our analysis highlights several key dynamics that help to explain how the idea of vaccine hesitancy has developed and circulated amongst technical experts, academic researchers, policymakers, the media, and the public. No booking required.
awaited
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to: define science communication and provide a list of examples; explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public; and list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Gender quotas are used to elect most of the world's legislatures. Still, critics contend that quotas are undemocratic, eroding institutional legitimacy. We examine whether quotas diminish citizens' faith in political institutions. Conducting survey experiments in twelve democracies with 17,000 respondents, we compare the legitimacy-conferring effects of both quota-elected and non-quota-elected local legislative councils relative to all-male councils. We find that women confer legitimacy to political decisions and decision-making processes, including when elected through quotas. Though we observe a quota penalty, wherein citizens prefer gender balance attained without a quota relative to gender balance attained with one, this penalty is often small (and sometimes non-significant), especially in countries with higher-threshold quotas. Quota debates are thus better framed around the most relevant counterfactual: the comparison is not between women's descriptive representation with and without quotas, but between men's political dominance and women's inclusion.
Scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs cogitate on mechanisms, patients, and money, respectively. The tie that binds them all is regulatory affairs. In this “edutainment session,” Dr Tim Cote will share with scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs all they need to know to make FDA and EMA (and investors) smile. He will respond to questions relating to FDA and EMA orphan designations, the Pediatric Rare Disease Priority Review Voucher, Fast Track Designation, Breakthrough Therapy Designation, INTERACT, Pre-IND, and Type A, B, and C Meetings, IND submissions, all the way to NDA and BLA. Contrary to popular opinion, regulatory affairs is more exciting than watching paint dry. It is the creative, strategic process by which dreams become tangible. Join us in this highly engaging session! BIOGRAPHY Dr. Timothy Cote is the founder and CEO of Only Orphans Cote (OOC), a regulatory affairs consultancy with offices in Washington DC and Cambridge, MA. As a physician, pathologist and epidemiologist, Dr. Cote has more than 30 years of experience in leadership positions at the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control. As the former Director of the Office of Orphan Product Development (OOPD) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Cote spearheaded the agency’s efforts to implement the Orphan Drug Act, signing decisions over 1,400 orphan drug designation applications, while advancing the relationships between the FDA and the European Medical Agency (EMA). Dr. Cote is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cote Orphans Consulting, which was acquired by IQVIA, an American Fortune 500. In his current capacity as CEO, Dr. Cote’s focus is on orphan drugs for rare diseases with a track record of advising multinational pharmaceutical companies and start-ups on regulatory strategies, achieving market exclusivity among other related aspects to orphan drug designations. Microsoft Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZjcxMDM4ZjItOTNiMC00NWZjLWJhOGQtYWMwMjk5YmQwMTg3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%224a389e77-4427-4560-b7b4-55b452335c06%22%7d Meeting ID: 397 172 482 300 Passcode: be3pG7BU
Electrodermal activity (EDA) is a measure of sympathetic arousal that has been linked to depression in laboratory experiments. However, the inability to measure EDA passively over time and in the real-world has limited conclusions that can be drawn about EDA as an indicator of mental health status outside of controlled settings. Recent smartwatches have begun to incorporate wrist-worn continuous EDA sensors that enable longitudinal measurement of sympathetic arousal in every-day life. This work (N=237, 4-week observation period) examines the association between passively collected, diurnal variations in EDA and symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress in a large community sample. Subjects who exhibited elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms had higher tonic EDA, skin temperature, and heart rate, despite not engaging in greater physical activity, compared to those that were not depressed or anxious. In contrast, subjects who exhibited elevated stress only exhibited higher skin temperature. Most strikingly, differences in EDA between those with high versus low symptoms were most prominent during the early morning. We did not observe amplitude or phase differences in the diurnal patterns. Our work suggests that electrodermal sensors may be practical and useful in measuring the physiological correlates of mental health symptoms in free-living contexts and that recent consumer smartwatches might be a tool for doing so.
The three talks will be followed by a Q&A session and a drinks reception.
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
"Quite often, I am asked why I chose to be a cardiologist. At one level, the answer is easy. Aged fourteen, I was drawn to the heart through the simple conviction that it is the ‘the most important bit’. Decades later, I am a practising cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Oxford, where my laboratory works to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart injury and repair. Over the years, I have come to realise that my sense of the pre- eminence of the heart has been shared by many, over millennia". In this month's Balliol Online Lecture, Professor Robin Choudhury will reveal a cultural detective trail to try to understand how we have come to see the heart as we do. It is a story of the heart. He will discover how beautiful heart images illuminate society’s age-old dance between art, religion, philosophy and ‘scientific’ thinking. In each era, we meet saints, artists, lovers, scholars and eventually scientists who unwittingly influence each other, in approaching and building an understanding of the human heart. Professor Robin Choudhury is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford and a practising cardiologist. His clinical expertise is in the treatment of heart attack and he also runs a laboratory working on molecular and cellular mechanisms of heart injury and repair. He has a particular interest in the role of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases. He is a Fellow of Balliol College and of the Royal College of Physicians, and is a former Wellcome Senior Research Fellow. He has published over 200 academic papers and book chapters. He is co-editor of the Handbook of Cardiology Emergencies (OUP); and contributor to the Oxford Textbook of Medicine (OUP).
If you are planning to run a ‘non-CTIMP’ research study this introductory course is for you. Not all research is subject to clinical trials regulations, but the same standards of conduct apply. This course in Good Clinical Research Practice covers the legislation that applies to ‘non-CTIMP’ research, along with the detailed principles of good practice in clinical research studies. This three-hour online course consists of trainers’ led presentations, short video-talks from those experienced in the conduct of clinical research and interactive exercises. The course is run by the experienced research support specialists from the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospital’s Joint Research Office, JRO.
In a big place like Oxford, it’s not always easy to find out about what’s available and how to make the most of your time here. This event is for new research staff to welcome you to our wonderful university and introduce you to the many opportunities and resources. People who attend are typically postdocs, research fellows and research assistants at Grades 6 to 8. Event objectives: Identify resources and support for your professional and career development. Know how to widen your social network through the Oxford Research Staff Society, Oxford University Newcomers Club. Start to effectively plan your coming months at Oxford. Pre-Requisites: No pre-requisites required.
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
A general online introduction to the vast range of electronic resources which are available for all historical periods of British and Western European history. Learning outcomes are to: gain an overview of some of the key online resources for Medieval, Early Modern and Modern British and Western European History; know how to access subscription resources and gain awareness of key examples of useful resources including bibliographic databases, reference sources, primary sources, maps, audio-visual resources, and data sources. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Five years on from the UK officially withdrawing from the EU, we try and separate the facts from the noise about what Brexit has meant for the UK, and ahead to what a post-Brexit economy and country mean under a new Labour government. Join our expert panel chaired by Professor Anand Menon, Director of UK in a Changing Europe, with the Institute for Government’s Director, Hannah White, and Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Computational neuroscience relies on gradient descent (GD) for training artificial neural network (ANN) models of the brain. The advantage of GD is that it is effective at learning difficult tasks. However, it produces ANNs that are a poor phenomenological fit to biology, making them less relevant as models of the brain. Specifically, it violates Dale's law, by allowing synapses to change from excitatory to inhibitory and leads to synaptic weights that are not log-normally distributed, contradicting experimental data. Here, starting from first principles of optimisation theory, we present an alternative learning algorithm, exponentiated gradient (EG), that respects Dale's Law and produces log-normal weights, without losing the power of learning with gradients. We also show that in biologically relevant settings EG outperforms GD, including learning from sparsely relevant signals and dealing with synaptic pruning. Altogether, our results show that EG is a superior learning algorithm for modelling the brain with ANNs.
Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Puzzled by PICO? Daunted by databases? Baffled by Boolean? This one-hour introductory class will offer top tips and advice on how to find literature to answer a research question. No prior experience necessary! Together, we will break down a question into the PICO format, put together a structured search, and try it out in PubMed. By the end of this session, you will be able to: explain what structured searching is, and when to use it; break your research question down into searchable concepts; and make use of Boolean operators (ANDs/ORs) in your structured searches. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Individuals with psychopathy are characterised by diminished empathy and remorse, manipulation of other people, and capacity for premeditated aggression. They incur disproportionate crime costs, even compared with other individuals with persistent antisocial behaviour, and there have been calls to recognise psychopathy as a public health problem. In line with this, developmentalists have argued for the importance of understanding the antecedents of adult psychopathy - to enable development of evidence informed approaches to prevention and early intervention. In this talk I will present data from the past two decades that has contributed to our understanding of the aetiology and neurocognitive phenotypes associated with developmental risk for psychopathy. I will also discuss research, translational and advocacy challenges that need to be addressed if we want to more effectively limit the costs and harms associated with psychopathy. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Essi Viding is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Pro Vice Provost for Mental Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge at UCL. Her work utilises different methodological approaches to study developmental risk for psychopathy and children, as well as children and young people’s mental health more broadly. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences and the past President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy. TO JOIN THE TALK Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88392111557?pwd=NujzdOLO31dzGxF3bh3XzzLC1a7U8j.1 Meeting ID: 883 9211 1557 Passcode: 331435
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero; setting up a Zotero account; importing references from different sources into Zotero; organising your references in Zotero; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images; and plan, prepare and present your poster. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
With the rapid development of AI and biotechnologies (including those relating to germline gene editing, brain-computer Interfaces, life extension, etc.) come vast powers to reshape ourselves and the natural world. As technological advances grant us new powers, so do they blur some boundaries between humans, animals, and machines, prodding us to ask the question: what does it mean to be human? Drawing upon readings in the humanities (including philosophy, theology, literature, etc.) and the sciences, this group will attempt to bridge the existential and empirical study of human identity - and within that context, ask if and how such reflections might help chart a path forward in relation to the right uses of new and potent technologies. We will focus in particular on questions of human purpose, place, and flourishing within the natural order. The reading group is open to students at all levels of study (including medical students), as well as faculty. We will meet for about 1 hour, twice per term. Under the umbrella of the medical humanities, this will be a casual reading and discussion group. The readings for each session will be introduced by a different participant - and the readings for each session will take a total of roughly 1 hour to complete. Sandwiches and drinks will be served.
The Alfred Landecker Holocaust Memorial Lecture is hosted by the Blavatnik School of Government each year to mark United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year’s lecture, given by author and journalist Jonathan Freedland, centres on the story of one of the few Jewish prisoners ever to break out of Auschwitz and his attempts to alert the world to the horrors there, and asks how we can build institutions that ensure the world never experiences such atrocities again. The lecture is chaired by Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and Professor of Global Economic Governance at Oxford University. Jonathan's lecture is followed by a moderated Q&A session and a drinks reception. Jonathan Freedland is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster. He writes a weekly column for The Guardian and is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View. Jonathan is the author of the award-winning The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World, along with several thrillers under the pseudonym Sam Bourne. He is a past winner of an Orwell prize for journalism.
Read more about the series: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
More information soon.
Individual cells within metazoan organisms must communicate with one another to ensure that they function collectively as a coordinated biological system. Frequently, this intercellular communication is initiated by specific extracellular protein–protein interactions involving membrane-embedded cell surface receptor proteins that transduce signals to elicit an appropriate cellular response. Because of their accessibility, cell surface proteins are considered excellent drug targets but despite their therapeutic potential, identifying extracellular interactions has remained an underexplored area due to the biochemical challenges of manipulating membrane proteins and the typically fleeting nature of their interactions. To ultimately gain knowledge of extracellular protein:protein interactions on a genome-wide scale, we have developed a scalable assay based upon detecting direct binary binding events between hundreds of different recombinant proteins expressed in mammalian cells. The assay can be applied to a range of different biological contexts and reliably and specifically detects monomeric interactions with half-lives of less than a second and with a negligible artifactual false positive rate. To illustrate the scalability of this approach we have systematically mapped the interactions between 630 different receptor proteins that represent the cell surface receptor repertoire of human leukocytes. We identified 28 new interactions that were independently validated, resulting in a high-confidence view of the intercellular communication that instructs human immune cells. Finally, we have recently expanded the library to over 1500 receptor ectodomains to encompass the full receptor repertoire of tractable human receptor proteins. I will show how we are using this resource to systematically identify new targets for therapeutic antibodies, host binding proteins of autoantibodies, and host-pathogen interactions such as virus receptors.
Tania Rossetto and Laura Lo Presti (Università degli Studi di Padova) in conversation with Elizabeth Baigent (School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford) Join via: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tosca
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
We will have a plenary session with a talk by Professor Gary Collins, Professor of Medical Statistics, Director of the Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Director of the UK EQUATOR Centre, NIHR Senior Investigator
Prof. Yardena Samuels is the Director of the Moross Integrated Cancer Center (MICC) and is the incumbent of the Knell Family Professorial Chair in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Prof. Samuels is a cancer geneticist who received her BSc from Cambridge University, UK, in 1993 and earned an MSc in immunology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1997. She completed a PhD at Imperial College, London, in 2002 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Prof Vogelstein’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins University from 2003 to 2006. She served as an Assistant Professor at NIH before joining the Weizmann Institute in 2012. Prof Samuels’ focus involves the identification of gene mutations that play a role in the progression of cutaneous melanoma. Her aim is to delineate ideal protein target combinations in melanoma to achieve lasting disease control. Her lab was part of the TCGA workgroup that published the Genomic Classification of Cutaneous Melanoma. Her lab has developed novel methods to identify cancer neo-antigens using genetic and proteomic methods. She has further been characterizing the immune response to these neo-antigens and developed relevant mouse models to investigate the role tumor heterogeneity plays in the tumor immune response. Prof. Samuels is the recipient of the Pezoller Foundation Award, the Youdim Family Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research, the Sergio Lombroso Award in Cancer Research, an EMBO member, and is President of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR).
Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data are sourced from a UK-wide network of over 2,000 primary care practices and include 60 million patients of which 16 million are currently registered active patients, with at least 20 years of follow-up for 25% of the patients. The anonymised patient data is broadly representative of the UK general population in terms of age, sex and ethnicity, and offers a rich source of health data for research. It covers patient records such as symptoms, diagnoses, clinical measures, test results, immunisations, prescriptions and referrals to secondary care.The primary care data can be linked to secondary care and other health and area-based datasets, such as the death registration data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data from NHS Digital and cancer registration data from NHS Digital National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). The session will provide a brief overview of the wealth of data available for researchers, discuss the strengths and limitations of the data, describe the process of submitting a research protocol and obtaining data access, and explain how the NDPH CPRD Team can work with researchers on potential studies. Topics to be covered: Primary care data Linked data Research protocol submission and approval Data access Intended Audience Staff and students who are interested in using patient electronic health records from GP practices for research into disease epidemiology, methodological and/or health services delivery research, drug safety, economics, drug utilisation, pharmacoeconomics, drug effectiveness, and pharmacoepidemiology. Objectives Understand the coverage, strengths, limitations and data quality issues of the two separate primary care databases Understand the coding system used in CPRD data Understand CPRD’s Research Data Governance process Aware of the services provided by the NDPH CPRD Team Monday, 3 February, 10:00 - 11:00 am Owen Yang - The primary care system in the UK Aden Kwok - The use, strengths and limitations of CPRD data Mode: Hybrid To register - https://forms.office.com/e/BMhLH2tuR0?origin=lprLink Meeting ID: 361 249 560 235 Passcode: 5ig3ae26
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to: define science communication and provide a list of examples; explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public; and list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
While many universities worldwide increasingly focus on equity and diversity issues, experiences of linguistic racism and discrimination in higher education are still too often overlooked. In this presentation, we first discuss the origins and characteristics of linguistic discrimination, drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks, such as critical race theory (CRT), language ideologies, raciolinguistics, and linguistic racism. We then situate this work in relation to university settings – particularly, those which are English language-dominant institutions. In these institutions, discriminatory monoglossic, English language policies and practices often specifically undermine bi/multilingual staff and students, affecting negatively their academic and personal wellbeing. There is thus an urgent need, as Wolfram and Dunstan (2021) note, to explore and document “issues of linguistic inequality in higher education, implicating both students and faculty in the practice of explicit and implicit linguistic bias” (p.157). Given this imperative, we discuss in the remainder of our presentation the initial findings of our current major (2-year) research project at the University of Auckland, exploring the (increasingly bi/multilingual) language backgrounds, and language attitudes, of both staff and students, as well as any everyday experiences of linguistic discrimination. We conclude by drawing some tentative wider conclusions on the kinds of heteroglossic spaces needed to both limit linguistic discrimination and promote and incorporate linguistic diversity in English language-dominant universities. Dr. Stephen May is Professor in Te Puna Wānanga (School of Māori and Indigenous Education) at the University of Auckland. He is an international authority on language rights, language policy, bilingual education, and the multilingual turn in language teaching. His key books include Language and minority rights (2nd ed., 2012), The multilingual turn (2014) and, most recently, Critical ethnography, language, race/ism and education (2023). Stephen is Series Editor of the Encyclopedia of Language and Education (3rd ed., 2017), and editor of Ethnicities. He is an AERA Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ). URL: http://stephenamay.com Dr. Mi Yung Park is Chair of Asian Studies and Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is an interdisciplinary scholar in sociolinguistics, migration and diasporic studies, and a qualitative methodologist. She has researched language, migration, and identity, with a particular focus on the maintenance of Asian languages and linguistic discrimination in South Korea, New Zealand, and Hawaii. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices and an editorial board member for Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, Korean Linguistics, and The Korean Wave.
awaited
Higher education (HE) outreach has the potential to tackle enduring hidden inequalities in HE access across caste, class, ethnicity and gender, inequalities which are belied by enrolment statistics that point to HE massification and enhanced equality of access. In India, within the public sector there is currently little HE outreach activity happening in an official capacity, although there is a proven appetite for this work (Stewart et al., 2023). This talk builds on the notion of ‘public-good professionalism’ (Walker & McLean, 2015), to advance a capability for HE outreach, considering the potential of faculty members (FMs) in HE institutions (HEIs) to engage in outreach practices that enable prospective students from disadvantaged communities to become more informed about HE. The empirical base of the presentation is an in-depth case study of a government college (i.e. public-funded HEI) in Delhi that is nested within a four-year research project, ‘Widening Access to Higher Education in India: Institutional Approaches’ (www.warwick.ac.uk/wahei). The presentation goes on to show that, even in the absence of a formalised HE outreach culture in public HEIs in India, FMs are ‘exercising their professional capabilities as public-good functionings’ (Walker & McLean, 2015:63), by serving as sources of HE-related guidance and information in their local communities. This practice is supplementing the dearth of formal information and guidance on HE choices for young people in disadvantaged communities. There is therefore an argument for mapping FMs’ role in HE outreach using a capabilities lens, to consider the support and resources that are needed to develop FMs’ capability.
TBA
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) collects anonymised patient data from a network of GP practices across the UK. Primary care data are linked to a range of other health related data to provide a longitudinal, representative UK population health dataset. This session will describe and illustrate the structure and complexity of the data, discuss the strengths and limitations of the data, describe how to manipulate the data, and explain how the NDPH CPRD Team can work with researchers on potential studies. Topics to be covered Structure of the CPRD databases Indicators of data quality Identifying and deriving exposures, covariates and outcomes of interest Learning Objectives Understand the structure of the CPRD databases Aware of data cleaning measures to ensure data quality Aware of ways to identify exposures, covariates and outcomes of interest Pre requisite – Attendance to the “An introduction to Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data” session is recommended. Audience- NDPH staff and students who are intending to submit or have submitted a protocol for a study using CPRD data. Wednesday, 5 February, 10:00 - 11:30 am Aden Kwok - A brief introduction to disease phenotyping, followed by a demo session using synthetic CPRD and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data Mode: Hybrid Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/0nerMPfp2x?origin=lprLink Meeting ID: 322 915 449 602 Passcode: Ma7ZJ6zd
Teams link: https://www.win.ox.ac.uk/events/win_seminar_mar_2025
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
Sirin Phathanothai was the daughter of a high-ranking Thai government advisor. As an 8-year-old child in the 1950s, together with her 12-year-old brother, she was given by the Thai Government to China as a diplomatic goodwill offering, to be brought up as the ward of Premier Zhou Enlai. For 13 years, Sirin had a unique upbringing in the heart of the leadership: holidays with Chairman Mao and pool parties in the leadership compound; but she also experienced the most turbulent years of Chairman Mao’s rule. She was caught up in the Cultural Revolution, vilified and persecuted by Red Guards, and forced to denounce her family. Sirin escaped China to Britain following a private request from Zhou Enlai to Edward Heath. This evening, Sirin tells her remarkable story.
This ½ day course is suitable for clinical and non-clinical staff and aims to provide an introduction to the fundamentals of human factors in healthcare. This course will align with the new National Patient Safety Syllabus. PO number will be accepted for 5 staff or more. 3 CPD credits awarded The course introduces participants to basic human factors frameworks, including the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS), and focuses on practical applications in the workplace to improve understanding of systems in healthcare. Learning Objectives Improve understanding of human factors principles Introduce and explore a human factors framework (SEIPS) Provide opportunities to practice applying SEIPS to real world examples Course content Definition and background of human factors Human factors applied to healthcare Importance of work place culture (including Just Culture tool) Explanation of SEIPS framework Exercises using SEIPS Plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of RefWorks. RefWorks is a subscription software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of RefWorks; setting up a RefWorks account; organising your references in RefWorks; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Genomic data are increasingly being used to understand infectious disease epidemiology. Isolates from a given outbreak are sequenced, and the patterns of shared variation are used to infer phylogenetic trees. However these are not directly informative about who infected whom: a phylogenetic tree is not a transmission tree. A transmission tree can be inferred from a phylogeny while accounting for within-host genetic diversity by coloring the branches of a phylogeny according to which host those branches were in. We show how this approach can be applied to partially sampled and ongoing outbreaks. This requires computing the correct probability of a partially observed transmission tree and we demonstrate how to do this for a large class of epidemiological models. The resulting uncertainty on who infected whom can be high and we explore two solutions to this problem: the use of several genomes per host, and the use of additional epidemiological data.
Each year the Richard Hillary Memorial Lecture is given by notable creative writers and remembers Richard Hillary, the author of The Last Enemy, who was a student at Trinity. Cristina Rivera Garza is an author, translator and critic whose latest book, Liliana’s Invincible Summer, won the Pulitzer Prize in Memoir and Autobiography. A MacArthur Fellow from 2020 to 2025, she is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Chair and head of the PhD program in Creative Writing at the University of Houston.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Judith Quiney (née Shakespeare), the twin of Hamnet, has had a bad press. Unmarried at 31, deemed illiterate, not buried in Holy Trinity Church – it has been easy for writers to give her a negative footnote in biographies of her famous father. Any biographer of Judith has first to unwrite these entrenched stories before facing the more obvious problem of the gaps in Judith’s long life (1585–1662). In writing this biography, Laurie Maguire allows Judith to co-author her own story. Workshop Leader: Laurie Maguire is Professor Emeritus at Oxford University and a Fellow of Magdalen College. She is the author or editor of ten books on Shakespeare and Renaissance drama. She is currently writing a biography of Shakespeare’s younger daughter, Judith Quiney. Registration: This is an in-person event. Registration is required for this event and will close one week before the event. This event will not be recorded. Please note that this event is exclusively open to current members of the University of Oxford. Workshop places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to members of the English Faculty. Confirmations of attendance will be sent out one week before the event. Further Information: Tea, coffee, and cake will be served during the workshop. The event will take place in the St Cross Building on Manor Road (more information). Attendees are encouraged to wear face coverings while indoors and to use an LFT prior to attending. Event Queries/Contacts: Any queries regarding this event should be addressed to OCLW Events Manager, Dr Eleri Anona Watson.
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images; and plan, prepare and present your poster. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
In this online interactive workshop, you will learn how to create an effective search query and have the opportunity to try out a range of tools that you can use to search for scholarly materials to support your research. You will: learn how to find books and other scholarly items in Oxford libraries using SOLO; search for journal articles using subject databases and scholarly search engines; and be signposted towards learning materials you can use if you are interested in searching for conference proceedings, theses and dissertations. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to: define science communication and provide a list of examples; explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public; and list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
In representative democracies, legislative redistricting, which redraws district boundaries after Census, plays a fundamental role in ensuring equal representation. Redistricting also influences who is elected and hence what policies are eventually enacted. Because the stakes are high, redistricting has been subject to intense political battles. Parties often engage in gerrymandering by manipulating district boundaries to amplify the voting power of some groups while diluting that of others. Drawing upon my own involvement in actual redistricting court cases in the United States, I will discuss how computational algorithms, combined with granular data, can be used to detect gerrymandering. I will also use these algorithms to evaluate the partisan bias of Japanese redistricting where politicians play less prominent roles than the United States.
Early detection of autism is important for timely access to diagnostic evaluation and early intervention services, which improve children’s outcomes. Despite the ability of clinicians to reliably diagnose autism in toddlers, diagnosis is often delayed. SenseToKnow is a mobile autism screening application (app) delivered on a smartphone or tablet that provides an objective and quantitative assessment of early behavioral signs of autism based on computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML). This study examined the accuracy of SenseToKnow for autism detection when the app was downloaded and administered remotely at home by caregivers using their own devices. The SenseToKnow app was administered by caregivers of 620 toddlers between 16 and 40 months of age, 188 of whom were subsequently diagnosed with autism by expert clinicians. The app displayed strategically designed movies and a bubble-popping game on an iPhone or iPad while recording the child’s behavioral responses through the device’s front-facing camera and touch/inertial sensors. Recordings of the child’s behavior were then automatically analyzed using CV. Multiple behavioral phenotypes were quantified and combined using ML in an algorithm for autism prediction. SenseToKnow demonstrated a high level of diagnostic accuracy with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.92, sensitivity of 83.0%, specificity of 93.3%, positive predictive value of 84.3%, and negative predictive value of 92.6%. Accuracy of the app for detecting autism was similar when administered on either a caregiver’s iPhone or iPad. These results demonstrate that a mobile autism screening app based on CV can be delivered remotely by caregivers at home on their own devices and can provide a high level of accuracy for autism detection. Remote screening for autism potentially lowers barriers to autism screening, which could reduce disparities in early access to services and support and improve children’s outcomes.
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
Puzzled by PICO? Daunted by databases? Baffled by Boolean? This one-hour introductory class will offer top tips and advice on how to find literature to answer a research question. No prior experience necessary! Together, we will break down a question into the PICO format, put together a structured search, and try it out in PubMed. By the end of this session, you will be able to: explain what structured searching is, and when to use it; break your research question down into searchable concepts; and make use of Boolean operators (ANDs/ORs) in your structured searches. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
For our next talk, in the Digital Phenotyping seminar series, we will hear from Dr Rashmi Patel, Clinical Assistant Professor in Real-World Data Analytics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, on Wednesday 12 February, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, at the Big Data Institute (BDI). Title: Characterising mental disorder phenotype and outcomes using electronic health record data Date: Wednesday 12 February 2025 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Venue: BDI/OxPop, Seminar Room 0; followed by refreshments in the atrium Abstract In this talk I will describe how electronic health record (EHR) data can be analysed to provide novel insights into the clinical outcomes of people with mental disorders and how the analysis of unstructured, free text clinical assessments using natural language processing (NLP) enables the ascertainment and analysis of rich clinical data that cannot be obtained from structured datasets. Biography Dr Rashmi Patel is Clinical Assistant Professor and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellow in Real-World Data Analytics at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Visiting Senior Clinical Lecturer in Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London (KCL), UK. He studied Medical Sciences at the University of Cambridge before completing his medical degree at the University of Oxford. He completed an academic clinical fellowship and in Psychiatry at the Warneford Hospital and University of Oxford, where he undertook training in Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine. He was awarded a UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Research Training Fellowship (2013) and Health Data Research (HDR) UK Fellowship (2018) to undertake a PhD and postdoctoral research in mental healthcare data analytics supervised by Professor Philip McGuire (Head, Department of Psychosis Studies) at the IoPPN, KCL. During his PhD, he applied natural language processing techniques to investigate clinical outcomes in people with mental disorders (major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, personality disorders and schizophrenia) using de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data. He has applied these techniques in academic and industry-funded studies to better understand the associations of clinical presentation and pharmaceutical treatments with mental disorder outcomes. As part of his clinical and research career he has collaborated with medical researchers, data scientists, digital healthcare technology companies and pharmaceutical companies in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Taipei, Singapore and the US (as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard Medical School). He has over 170 abstracts and journal publications (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oKJWhlEAAAAJ&hl=en) on mental healthcare data analytics and has presented at the European Psychiatric Association (EPA), American Psychiatric Association (APA), PsychCongress, Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS), International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR and ISPOR Europe), Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) and American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP). Hybrid Option: Please note that these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the University. The purpose of these seminars is to foster more communication among employees throughout the University, so we strongly advise in-person attendance whenever feasible. Microsoft Teams meeting Join the meeting now Meeting ID: 362 986 479 572 Passcode: 6Me9YM2s If you wish to know more or receive information related to trainings and events at BDI, please subscribe by emailing bdi-announce-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk. You'll then receive an email from SYMPA and once you reply you'll be on the list!
Discussants: Caroline Warman, Jacob Chatterjee, John Robertson Response: J C D Clark
Create content for your teaching or research with greater confidence by attending our session on Creative Commons (CC) licences. Learn how they work, how they interact with copyright and how to use them to best effect. The session will make special reference to images but is applicable to all media, including written works. The workshop is classroom-based. In this playful, interactive face-to-face session we will cover: what Creative Commons Licences are; where to find Creative Commons material; how to apply Creative Commons to your own work; and how to reuse Creative Commons materials. We’ll finish the session with a Creative Commons card game. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Join Grace Mosuro - The Organisational Inclusionist - our first IDRM EDI seminar series speaker of 2025. EDI seminar key take away messages: 1. Understanding Cultural influence - How culture impacts experiences in education, society and the workplace 2. Strategies for Inclusion - How you can create inclusive spaces for people from all cultures 3. Enhancing innovation & Collaboration - Examples of where embracing and understanding cultural difference, has led to innovation
Björn Schumacher1 1 Institute for Genome Stability in Aging and Disease, Medical Faculty, Cologne Excellence Cluster for Cellular Stress Responses in Ageing-Associated Diseases (CECAD) Research Centre and Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMMC), University of Cologne, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 26, 50931 Cologne, Germany Aging is the biggest risk factor for chronic diseases ranging from dementia to cancer. Prevention of age-related diseases is a prerequisite for healthy aging and requires an understanding of the mechanisms of the aging process. The nuclear DNA cannot be replaced and is hence critically dependent on constant DNA repair. Defects in DNA repair such as nucleotide excision repair can accelerate aging in humans and give rise to a wide spectrum of age-related pathologies during childhood. To better understand the intricate role of genome stability in the aging process, we investigated the consequences of chronic DNA damage in the nematode C. elegans. This in vivo model enabled us to investigate the distinct genome stability mechanisms in terminally differentiated and thus irreplaceable somatic cell such as neurons and immortal germ cells that indefinitely perpetuate the genetic information. In addition, we identified systemic DNA damage response mechanisms that operate between the germline and somatic tissues. We found that the genome quality control in germ cells is influenced by somatic stress responses, which could integrate germline signals with environmental influences. We employed the nematode as discovery tool to identify the first master regulator of somatic DNA repair, which might provide novel geroprotective therapeutic strategies for human longevity. Longevity itself might be determined by the accumulation of stochastically occurring damage as indicated by our ability to predict biological age purely based on the amount of accumulated stochastic variation in biological parameters. Deeper insight into the mechanisms of genome maintenance will provide the basis for a better mechanistic understanding of the organism’s aging process and new perspectives for healthy human aging.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero; setting up a Zotero account; importing references from different sources into Zotero; organising your references in Zotero; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Join via: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tosca
This talk explores how two false assumptions about values embedded in machine learning design might, if corrected, help technologists make progress on aligning machine outputs with human values. Can an AI be built that avoids these two mistakes? I sketch a possible design that is a hybrid of both machine learning and symbolic systems.
We are excited that the 2025 CPM Annual Lecture will be given by Philip Ball. Philip Ball is a freelance writer and broadcaster, and was an editor at Nature for more than twenty years. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media and has written many books on the interactions of the sciences, the arts, and wider culture, including H2O: A Biography of Water, Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, The Music Instinct, and How Life Works. His book Critical Mass won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. Philip was the 2022 recipient of the Royal Society’s Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal for contributions to the history, philosophy or social roles of science. He trained as a chemist at the University of Oxford and as a physicist at the University of Bristol.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Unlock the power of critical thinking and research skills in our engaging workshop designed for undergraduate students. Learn to question assumptions, analyse information critically, and develop information discovery and search strategies that will set you apart in your academic studies. By the end of this session, you will be able to: describe what critical thinking is; understand a critical thinking model; apply the model to your academic work; and explain the fundamentals of conducting research, including how to pinpoint key search terms and databases to search. Intended audience: Oxford undergraduate students.
During this forum speakers from Bodleian Open Scholarship Support and across Oxford will discuss current changes in the field of open scholarship. Including subjects like data, open access, open monographs, copyright and more. It is advised that attendees of the forum have previously attended the Fundamentals and Logistics courses to improve understanding. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images; and plan, prepare and present your poster. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
This workshop will introduce participants to the key catalogues and finding aids for post-1800 archives and manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries. In particular the session will focus on Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts, the online catalogue for post-1800 archives and manuscripts. The session will also briefly introduce some of the major UK online gateways for discovering archives. The topics covered include: how to use the Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts online catalogue; other printed archive catalogues in the Bodleian Libraries; major subject areas covered in Bodleian archives and modern manuscripts; and National archive gateways. The workshop will include a question and answer session with Bodleian archivists. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Puzzled by PICO? Daunted by databases? Baffled by Boolean? This one-hour introductory class will offer top tips and advice on how to find literature to answer a research question. No prior experience necessary! Together, we will break down a question into the PICO format, put together a structured search, and try it out in PubMed. By the end of this session, you will be able to: explain what structured searching is, and when to use it; break your research question down into searchable concepts; and make use of Boolean operators (ANDs/ORs) in your structured searches. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Weinrebe Lecture: Richard Ovenden in Conversation with Hermione Lee A Joint Event with the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing and the Friends of the Bodleian Library Join us for a conversation between Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian, and renowned biographer Hermione Lee. Hermione will talk to Richard about his life and profession, his education and his roots, his passion for books, his experience in libraries and archives, his relationship with the Bodleian Library and his views about the future of books and archives. About the Speakers Richard Ovenden is the Bodley’s Librarian at the University of Oxford, where he oversees the Bodleian Libraries, one of the world’s most significant and comprehensive library collections. He has led initiatives to preserve and protect the institution's collections and has been a prominent advocate for the digitisation and accessibility of library resources. Ovenden is an expert in archives, their preservation, and the evolving challenges faced by libraries in the digital age. His works include Archive Fever: A Liberating History of the Archive (2019), which explores the vital role of archives in contemporary society, and Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge (2021), which examines the history of intellectual destruction, from the burning of the Library of Alexandria to the destruction of books in more recent conflicts. He has served on various national and international advisory boards dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage and the future of libraries. Ovenden is a passionate advocate for free access to information and the protection of digital resources, regularly speaking on the importance of preserving the integrity of knowledge in the face of technological advances. He has been instrumental in several high-profile initiatives for the Bodleian, including the establishment of the Oxford University Press Archive and the continued expansion of the Bodleian's digital archives. Hermione Lee was President of Wolfson College from 2008 to 2017 and is Emeritus Professor of English Literature in the English Faculty at Oxford University. She is a biographer and critic whose work includes biographies of Virginia Woolf (1996), Edith Wharton (2006), Penelope Fitzgerald (2013), and Tom Stoppard (2020). She has also written books on Elizabeth Bowen, Philip Roth, and Willa Cather, an OUP Very Short Introduction to Biography, and a collection of essays on life-writing, Body Parts. She was awarded the Biographers’ Club Prize for Exceptional Contribution to Biography in 2018. From 1998 to 2008, she was the Goldsmiths’ Professor of English Literature at Oxford. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Literature, and a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023 she was made GBE for services to English Literature. She founded OCLW at Wolfson College in 2011. She is currently working on a biography of Anita Brookner. This is a free event that is open to all. Registration is required. This event will be recorded and will be available soon after. After the event, join us for a complimentary wine reception and purchase a copy of Richard Ovenden’s Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge (2021) from the Caper (@caperoxford) pop-up bookshop.
Newspapers are a valuable resource for researching not only news but also many other aspects of political, economic, social and cultural life. In this session we will introduce key online sources of news and how to make best use of them. The focus will be on historical and contemporary newspapers from the 17th century across most countries of the world. After the session participants will understand: the value of newspapers in research; the difficulties of using newspapers in research and effective search techniques, and be able to use a range of sources for searching and reading. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
“Security” is a word that we all use every day in a variety of contexts – so much so that it rarely occurs to us to reflect on what we think it means (or on what it ought to mean). The academic study of International Relations is something of an exception: scholars from a variety of schools of thought embrace unconventional, idiosyncratic, and sometimes downright weird definitions. Accordingly, most IR scholars would describe security as an “essentially contested concept.” I argue that it is not, or at least it should not be so considered: there is one, and only one, useful definition of security. But more than this, if we are to wield the word effectively – for example, if we are to have confidence in our ability to allocate resources wisely to various security problems – we need to think deeply about what is worth securing, and why. For this, we need a clear axiology, or theory of value, as well as a solid understanding of why itis often so difficult to gauge security threats properly. I make the case that if we are bold enough to godown this rabbit hole, we will discover that we grossly misallocate resources to security problems and that there is a clear hierarchy as between ecospheric security, state security, cultural security, and human security.
Few people will have lived lives as remarkable as that of Trinity Honorary Fellow Judge Theodor Meron CMG, Visiting Professor at Oxford’s law faculty. He has spent more than seven decades working in roles ranging from academia to legal adviser to the US and Israeli state departments, judge and president of UN war crimes tribunals, and special adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Judge Meron has been credited with advancing humanitarian law and justice for war crimes victims across the world. He will discuss the principles that have guided a life of extraordinary influence on international criminal justice. He will be joined in conversation by Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, LT, KC, FRSA, and Member of the House of Lords.
The South China Sea is considered one of the world’s major flashpoints. How and why might war breakout? In this presentation I examine various possible pathways to conflict, arguing that a delicate but stable modus vivendi is possible in theory, but only if key actors appreciate each other’s beliefs, wants, needs, and fears. Put another way: the best way of avoiding war is to cultivate empathy. Failure to do so increases the danger that key players will provoke precisely what they seek to prevent. Unfortunately, however, empathy is in dangerously short supply. As a result, misperceptions are rampant. For relevant background reading, please see https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/18681034221086291.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
*Our annual meeting which provides an opportunity for research students in any area of the history of mathematics to present their work to a friendly and supportive audience.* The day is expected to begin around 10:00, and to conclude around 17:00. Further details of the conference will appear as they become available. Research students who are interested in offering a presentation are invited to send a proposed title and abstract (250 words or less) to Christopher Hollings "$":mailto:christopher.hollings@maths.ox.ac.uk by *30 November 2024*, with expected decision 13 December 2024.
Are you preparing a poster presentation for an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This interactive session, or ‘poster clinic’, will include a group discussion of different examples of poster presentations, as well as an opportunity to present your own draft of your poster presentation to your fellow attendees. It is expected that the small group of peers in attendance will provide feedback and respectful comments on each other’s work. By the end of this classroom-based session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of your poster presentation and others; and summarise the content of your poster concisely in preparation for a conference. Intended audience: postgraduate and doctoral students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero; setting up a Zotero account; importing references from different sources into Zotero; organising your references in Zotero; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
With the rapid development of AI and biotechnologies (including those relating to germline gene editing, brain-computer Interfaces, life extension, etc.) come vast powers to reshape ourselves and the natural world. As technological advances grant us new powers, so do they blur some boundaries between humans, animals, and machines, prodding us to ask the question: what does it mean to be human? Drawing upon readings in the humanities (including philosophy, theology, literature, etc.) and the sciences, this group will attempt to bridge the existential and empirical study of human identity - and within that context, ask if and how such reflections might help chart a path forward in relation to the right uses of new and potent technologies. We will focus in particular on questions of human purpose, place, and flourishing within the natural order. The reading group is open to students at all levels of study (including medical students), as well as faculty. We will meet for about 1 hour, twice per term. Under the umbrella of the medical humanities, this will be a casual reading and discussion group. The readings for each session will be introduced by a different participant - and the readings for each session will take a total of roughly 1 hour to complete. Sandwiches and drinks will be served.
Python is one of the most popular programming languages for data science, both in academia and industry. It is also a good entry programming language for anyone trying their hand at coding for the first time. This gentle introduction to Python is aimed at all students or staff around campus with little to no prior experience with Python or programming wanting to take that first step. The course will cover all the basics needed to get future coders started on their journey. By the end of the session, you will have written your first bits of code and be ready to explore what Python can do for your own data or personal projects. The training is divided into two sessions: Session 1, 26 February, 9:00 am - 11:00 am Session 2, 28 February, 9:00 am - 11:00 am This will be an interactive session where participants will be expected to follow along with the demonstration, coding throughout the session. Topics to be covered: -Why use Python? -Data types and data structures in Python. -Conditional statements and loops. -Writing flexible functions. -Reading and writing to files. -Putting it altogether in a simple bit of code. Intended Audience: Staff and students with little to no prior experience with Python or programming in general. Objectives: -Become more comfortable with Python and programming in general. -Have a basic understanding of the main data types and structures in Python. -Have a basic understanding of error messages and how to resolve them. -Write some code to automate the resolution of a small problem. -Be able to write a short bit of code to extract or write information from a file. -Learn how to break a bigger problem into smaller problems through divide and conquer approach. -Know where to find additional information on Python. Requirements: Participants are expected to bring their own laptops so they can follow along with the interactive session. Pre-course work: None. There will be a small challenge in between the two sessions for participants to attempt. Software required: Python with Python IDLE or similar Register: https://forms.office.com/e/2Rw73u0fyJ?origin=lprLink
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
2025 marks the 500th anniversary of the baptism of a group of believers in Zurich, soon dubbed ‘Anabaptists’ and persecuted for their convictions about discipleship, church and mission. Many British Baptists (and others) have been challenged and inspired by the Anabaptist vision during the past 40 years. This conference asks why and considers what this tradition might offer in various contexts in the 21st century. The conference is sponsored by the Centre for Baptist Studies, the Baptist Historical Society and the Centre for Anabaptist Studies.
Medical Statistics Drop In Session with Lei Clifton, Lead Statistician, Translational Epidemiology Unit (TEU), Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. Day: Thursday Date: 27 February 2025 Time: 11:00 -12:00 Venue: BDI conference room (lower ground, near the cafe) Register :https://forms.office.com/e/CWw9ucXNB9?origin=lprLink Do you have a burning medical statistics-related question that you would like to discuss with the wider Oxford Biomedical community? Submit your question in advance and come along to the drop in session, where your question will get answered by Lei Clifton. If you’re interested in being part of the conversation but don’t have a specific question, feel free to attend the session in person and follow along. This is an excellent opportunity to engage in knowledge exchange with your peers. The session will be informal and conversational, and participants will be encouraged to share their views on medical statistics. While there will be no presentation or statistical analysis, general advice on study design and statistical methods will be provided. The focus will be on discussing general statistical approaches, and the session is not intended for in-depth exploration of specified topics. Instead, statistical thinking will be applied to specific questions through spontaneous discussions with participants. This is an in-person event only.
Abstract: In 1951, Alan Turing predicted the eventual loss of human control over machines that exceed human capabilities. I will argue that Turing was right to express concern but wrong to think that doom is inevitable. Instead, we need to develop a new kind of AI that is provably beneficial to humans. I will describe an approach -- assistance games -- that seems promising. On the horizon, however, are a number of open questions, some of them familiar to moral philosophers and government regulators and some of them new.
In 1951, Alan Turing predicted the eventual loss of human control over machines that exceed human capabilities. I will argue that Turing was right to express concern but wrong to think that doom is inevitable. Instead, we need to develop a new kind of AI that is provably beneficial to humans. I will describe an approach -- assistance games -- that seems promising. On the horizon, however, are a number of open questions, some of them familiar to moral philosophers and government regulators and some of them new. A joint event with the Philosophy, Law & Politics Colloquium Series, funded by the Hewlett Foundation and the Institute for Ethics in AI Colloquium Series. For more information, visit the PLP Colloquium website: www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-and-subject-groups/jurisprudence-oxford/PLP-colloquium where up-to-date information is listed.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to: define science communication and provide a list of examples; explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public; and list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of RefWorks. RefWorks is a subscription software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of RefWorks; setting up a RefWorks account; organising your references in RefWorks; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Telling Middle Eastern Lives: A Panel Event Join us for a hybrid event featuring Professor Marilyn Booth (University of Oxford), Professor Sonja Mejcher-Atassi (American University of Beirut), and Dr Peter Hill (Northumbria University). They will discuss the value of life-writing as an approach to Middle Eastern history and literature, asking: What are the rewards and challenges of telling individual Middle Eastern lives? The conversation will draw on the speakers' recent books, which all use biography in unique ways: Marilyn Booth, The Career and Communities of Zaynab Fawwaz: Feminist Thinking in Fin-de-siècle Egypt (2021) This book examines the life of Zaynab Fawwaz, a feminist pioneer in 19th-century Egypt. Booth explores Fawwaz’s contributions to literature, journalism, and theatre, showing how her life illuminates gendered struggles and broader societal movements. Sonja Mejcher-Atassi, An Impossible Friendship: Group Portrait, Jerusalem Before and After 1948 (2024) This collective biography highlights the intertwined lives of intellectuals, artists, and writers in Jerusalem during and after World War II. It offers a personal perspective on historical upheavals, including the Nakba and the formation of Israel. Peter Hill, Prophet of Reason: Science, Religion and the Origins of the Modern Middle East (2024) Hill traces the life of Mikha’il Mishaqa, a Lebanese intellectual, to explore the intersections of science, religion, and modernity in the 19th-century Arab world. About the Speakers Professor Marilyn Booth Marilyn Booth is Emerita Al Saud Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World at the University of Oxford. She specializes in 19th-century Arab women’s writing, gender ideologies, and feminist history. Her works include The Career and Communities of Zaynab Fawwaz and Classes of Ladies of Cloistered Spaces. Professor Sonja Mejcher-Atassi Sonja Mejcher-Atassi is Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at the American University of Beirut. Her expertise spans modern Arabic literature, art, and cultural history. Her latest book, An Impossible Friendship, examines intellectual and artistic life in Jerusalem during the postwar period. Professor Peter Hill Peter Hill is Associate Professor of History at Northumbria University. His research focuses on 19th-century Arab history, political thought, and religion. His works include Utopia and Civilisation in the Arab Nahda and Prophet of Reason.
Despite growing interest in the clinical translation of polygenic risk scores (PRSs), it remains uncertain to what extent genomic information can enhance the prediction of psychiatric outcomes beyond the data collected during clinical visits alone. This study aimed to assess the clinical utility of incorporating PRSs into a suicide risk prediction model trained on electronic health records (EHRs) and patient-reported surveys among patients admitted to the emergency department. Study participants were recruited from the psychiatric emergency department at Massachusetts General Hospital. There were 333 adult patients of European ancestry who had high-quality genotype data available through their participation in the Mass General Brigham Biobank. Multiple neuropsychiatric PRSs were added to a previously validated suicide prediction model in a prospective cohort enrolled between February 4, 2015, and March 13, 2017. Data analysis was performed from July 11, 2022, to August 31, 2023. Suicide attempt was defined using diagnostic codes from longitudinal EHRs combined with 6-month follow-up surveys. The clinical risk score for suicide attempt was calculated from an ensemble model trained using an EHR-based suicide risk score and a brief survey, and it was subsequently used to define the baseline model. We generated PRSs for depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, suicide attempt, and externalizing traits using a Bayesian polygenic scoring method for European ancestry participants.
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/. The booking link will be confirmed as soon as possible.
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
with Brasenose alumnae Hermione Davies, Victoria Fea, Jane Johnson and Lucinda Riches
Oxford Preservation Trust has stewardship of almost 1000 acres of green space in and around the city of Oxford. They were acquired – some nearly a century ago – to protect the city’s green setting and historic views by preventing development. Over a period of time, certain questions around green spaces and their sustainable management have changed, reflecting the concerns of the day. The pandemic brought a need for and appreciation of green spaces into sharp focus, as has climate change and changing public perceptions. This talk will consider some of these different priorities and a balance of approaches for managing green spaces today.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
How do mobile organisms situate themselves in space? This is a fundamental question in both ecology and cell biology but, since space use is an emergent feature of movement processes operating on small spatio-temporal scales, it requires a mathematical approach to answer. In recent years, increasing empirical research has shown that non-locality is a key aspect of movement processes, whilst mathematical models have demonstrated its importance for understanding emergent space use patterns. In this talk, I will describe a broad class of models for modelling the space use of interacting populations, whereby directed movement is in the form of non-local advection. I will detail various methods for ascertaining pattern formation properties of these models, fundamental for answering the question of how organisms situate themselves in space, and describe some of the rich variety of patterns that emerge. I will also explain how to connect these models to data on animal and cellular movement.
Join us for a captivating conversation between Dr Ann Wroe, Obituaries Editor for The Economist, and writer and scholar Dr Victoria Phillips. Ann Wroe describes the craft of the obituarist as the art of “catching souls”—distilling “the unique and essential part of ourselves, our self-conscious and transcendent core” into just 1,000 words. Yet, whether biographical material is abundant or scarce, fundamental questions persist: How can a life be truly captured in 1,000 words? How do we uncover the essence of a life? These queries trouble Ann’s dazzling new memoir, Lifescapes: A Biographer’s Search for the Soul and will animate this evening’s conversation with renowned writer, archivist, and academic Dr Victoria Philips. Ann has spent decades writing about the great and the good, from the poets Seamus Heaney and Derek Walcott to singers Miriam Makeba and Luciano Pavarotti. Ann will meditate on writing the lives of those she has known intimately, only briefly encountered, or studied deeply, asking: Where do we find the essence of a person? What details make up a lasting portrait of a life? For Ann, life’s mysteries are not found in lists of achievements but in fleeting, intimate moments: a gesture, a turn of phrase, a throwaway observation, “that uncatchable thing”. This begs the question: Might life always escape us after all? Dr Ann Wroe’s distinguished career spans decades of work in journalism and historical writing. After earning her doctorate in medieval history at Oxford, she covered international politics for the BBC and joined The Economist in 1976. Since 2003, she has edited the Obituaries page, often writing the tributes herself. Ann is also the acclaimed author of nine books, including Lifescapes, which has been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize. Dr Victoria Philips (Columbia University and The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing). Victoria is an expert on Cold War cultural diplomacy. She has taught at institutions such as Columbia University and the London School of Economics and leads the Cold War Archival Research Fellowship. Her work, including the book Martha Graham’s Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy, examines the intersection of politics, culture, and international relations. Victoria is currently a Visiting Researcher at the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing. This event is free and open to all. Registration is advised. This event will be recorded. Event Queries/Contacts: Any queries regarding this event should be addressed to OCLW Events Manager, Dr Eleri Anona Watson.
"An image is worth a thousand words," the saying goes. While powerful images can captivate and inspire action, we still have much to learn about using imagery effectively for wildlife conservation. In this talk, I will review our current understanding of how images are used to promote wildlife conservation, present recent research on which images have the most impact, and discuss the emerging challenges posed by generative AI and image manipulation. Diogo Veríssimo is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, where he focuses on the design and evaluation of interventions to conserve wildlife. He works across issues as diverse as the illegal wildlife trade, plastic pollution and fisheries management. Diogo is currently the Chair of the IUCN SSC CEC Behaviour Change Taskforce and a Board member of the European Social Marketing Association. Find more about his work at www.diogoverissimo.com
_Please note that this paper will be pre-circulated._ This seminar is taking place *in person only*. For AHRS updates and pre-circulated papers, please join the mailing list by sending a blank email to "$":mailto:ahrs-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
Read more about the series here: https://netzeroclimate.org/events/seminar-series-the-reality-of-net-zero/. Speakers to be confirmed.
Are you an early career researcher, fixed-term lecturer, or doctoral student trying to get some writing done? Do you research on a topic related to health, medicine, the body, or mind using Humanities or Social Sciences approaches? The Medical Humanities Writing Group is an inclusive, interdisciplinary and casual gathering, encouraging writing as well as meeting others: all are welcome. We have timed writing blocks and coffee/tea/light refreshments, and are focused on setting writing goals and getting work done in a positive and supportive environment. Attendance is free and you are welcome to join us for anything from a single session, to a few, or even the whole term.
This special event brings together two of the UK’s most acclaimed artists to discuss themes that cross creative disciplines and that have featured in some of their recent collaborations: the integration of poetry and sculpture, form with metaphor, and how audiences experience and interact with physical objects and words. Sir Antony Gormley is the recipient of numerous awards and his sculptures, installations and public artworks that investigate the relationship of the human body to space have been widely exhibited throughout the UK and internationally. Simon Armitage CBE is the UK Poet Laureate and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College; he is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds, and former Oxford Professor of Poetry. His numerous awards include the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and an Ivor Novello.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of Zotero, which is a free-to-use software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies. Zotero will be demonstrated on a Windows PC but users of MacOS or Linux computers will be able to follow the demonstration. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of Zotero; setting up a Zotero account; importing references from different sources into Zotero; organising your references in Zotero; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
A scientific symposium to mark the 100th birthday of Professor Sir Peter Hirsch FRS, sponsored by JEOL: - presentations by invited speakers; - contributed poster sessions; - networking opportunities; - to take place in the Department of Materials and at St Edmund Hall; - will include the biennial Hume-Rothery Lecture, to take place during the evening.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of RefWorks. RefWorks is a subscription software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of RefWorks; setting up a RefWorks account; organising your references in RefWorks; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
OxPeace (Oxford Network of Peace Studies) invites you to an intensive two-day (20 and 21 March, 09.30 to 17.30 each day) training workshop in international negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy, covering core concepts, lessons learned from the field and hands-on exercises. This year’s course will in particular focus on how to mediate conflict and negotiate with difficult actors, who resist agreements for mutual gain and disregard established international norms and principles. Learning goals: Participants will explore evidence-based conflict mediation and negotiation tools and apply them in a wide range of practical exercises. They will learn about best practices from real life international negotiation and peace mediation cases and will discuss the benefits and challenges of using these concepts when dealing with difficult actors. Day 1: Participants gain an overview of the practice — and theory — of peace and conflict negotiation and mediation. They will develop an understanding of the core concepts of distributive and integrative negotiations and will explore the particularities of international political negotiations, including intercultural aspects and value conflicts. The concept and practice of peace and conflict mediation will be discussed and lessons learned from real-life peace mediation cases will be presented. Several role-plays help participants fine-tune key techniques for reaching agreements that work in the real world. Day 2: Participants build on their learnings from day one and apply the concepts to engaging with difficult actors, who resist agreements for mutual gain and disregard established international norms and principles. Interactive discussions and exercises will support participants to anchor and apply these concepts further. Trainers: Martin Albani is the Head of the Peace Mediation and Dialogue Sector in the Foreign Service of the European Union (European External Action Service). He has more than 15 years’ experience in foreign affairs, crisis response and peacebuilding. In addition to his diplomatic career, he regularly lectures and holds workshops on peacebuilding and international relations at different universities and for international organisations. Dr Valentin Ade teaches negotiation at the University of St. Gallen, for the UN, and for a wide range of businesses, government organisations, and civil society actors. He is founder of The Negotiation Studio (www.negotiationstudio.com).
This conference is concerned with human enhancement, past and present. In the present, a broad set of developments across the fields of artificial intelligence and biology are unlocking transformational powers over the natural world. Within that context, a slew of proposals directed at the enhancement of humans have gained notoriety in recent years. We will bring together scholars from across disciplines to discuss how that past can and should inform moral debates in the present. For example: what should be the role of the historian, philosopher, and other scholars be in contemporary moral debates over enhancement? What topics and time periods might even be relevant to such debates? What can we learn from past critics of human enhancement? What did proponents of enhancement believe to be at stake in their efforts? And what is at stake today as we ponder the morality and desirability of enhancement proposals? Please contact Andrew Moeller with any questions at: andrew.moeller@history.ox.ac.uk.
Sharing good practice, increasing diversity. Discussing reference templates, algorithms and AI.
MitOX is our annual meeting packed with short talks and posters on cancer metabolism, neuroscience, diabetes, mitochondrial disorders and general mitochondrial biology. This one day hybrid conference is ideal for researchers with an interest in mitochondria from both academia and pharma. More info, including booking link, to follow
One of the rationales of this book is to show that the preoccupation for preserving the environment has always been on the mind of people, wherever they lived. Plato speak on this issue, as did the citizens of Byzantine and Medieval Cappadocia, who also took action towards that purpose. The focus of my book is a particular region of the Byzantine Empire, Cappadocia, within Anatolia, in the centre of what is now Turkey. Its history as a part of this confederation of territories coincides with the medieval period in Europe. The monograph deals with various aspects of the province; it begins with its environment and climate, goes to some of its institutions and buildings, and ends with the paintings which the artists employed to decorate the latter, as well as with a particular type of inscriptions (those along the frontiers). It also considers education in Cappadocia during the Byzantines. The study is a scholarly/professional work that draws on my current research as well as on the material which I developed in the last four years while teaching for the University of Oxford. Despite the fact that it employs original sources and is read firstly by specialists the book can also appeal to the general educated public. There are no substantial recent publications dedicated exclusively to this area – certainly not in the United Kingdom, where I work.
One of the rationales of this book is to show that the preoccupation for preserving the environment has always been on the mind of people, wherever they lived. Plato speak on this issue, as did the citizens of Byzantine and Medieval Cappadocia, who also took action towards that purpose. The focus of my book is a particular region of the Byzantine Empire, Cappadocia, within Anatolia, in the centre of what is now Turkey. Its history as a part of this confederation of territories coincides with the medieval period in Europe. The monograph deals with various aspects of the province; it begins with its environment and climate, goes to some of its institutions and buildings, and ends with the paintings which the artists employed to decorate the latter, as well as with a particular type of inscriptions (those along the frontiers). It also considers education in Cappadocia during the Byzantines. The study is a scholarly/professional work that draws on my current research as well as on the material which I developed in the last four years while teaching for the University of Oxford. Despite the fact that it employs original sources and is read firstly by specialists the book can also appeal to the general educated public. There are no substantial recent publications dedicated exclusively to this area – certainly not in the United Kingdom, where I work.
One of the rationales of this book is to show that the preoccupation for preserving the environment has always been on the mind of people, wherever they lived. Plato speak on this issue, as did the citizens of Byzantine and Medieval Cappadocia, who also took action towards that purpose. The focus of my book is a particular region of the Byzantine Empire, Cappadocia, within Anatolia, in the centre of what is now Turkey. Its history as a part of this confederation of territories coincides with the medieval period in Europe. The monograph deals with various aspects of the province; it begins with its environment and climate, goes to some of its institutions and buildings, and ends with the paintings which the artists employed to decorate the latter, as well as with a particular type of inscriptions (those along the frontiers). It also considers education in Cappadocia during the Byzantines. The study is a scholarly/professional work that draws on my current research as well as on the material which I developed in the last four years while teaching for the University of Oxford. Despite the fact that it employs original sources and is read firstly by specialists the book can also appeal to the general educated public. There are no substantial recent publications dedicated exclusively to this area – certainly not in the United Kingdom, where I work.
Dr Diana Wood was a distinguished scholar and inspirational teacher of medieval history. For many years she was a lecturer in local history and course director of the Undergraduate Diploma in English Local History at the Department for Continuing Education at Oxford. She was a Kellogg College Common Room Member and a great benefactor. Her legacy gift enabled the College to establish its first fully-endowed doctoral scholarship – the Oxford-Vincent Packard and Geoffrey Smart Graduate scholarship – which is named in honour of a family friend and her father. Diana was also a passionate music lover, and her generosity enables us to stage a concert each year, to be enjoyed by the College and Oxford Community. It was her wish for the concert to be held in memory of her mother, Hilda Smart. This concert is named in Diana’s honour, recognising her contributions to Kellogg and to Oxford.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
A discussion between Brasenose alumnae Narmada Thiranagama and Diana Holland, Former Assistant General Secretary of Unite the Union
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
ABSTRACT Successful mathematical learning requires the integration of conceptual understanding, procedural skill, and number fact knowledge. But many children struggle with learning number facts and particularly the multiplication tables. One reason for this may be the need to resolve interference between facts. Models of number fact learning propose that this requires inhibitory control, but we lack empirical evidence for this and particularly how interference emerges when learning new facts. I will present studies with adults and children that evidence the need for inhibitory control, examine interference during the learning of new facts, and consider the impact of different types of classroom practice. ABOUT THE SPEAKER Camilla Gilmore is Professor of Mathematical Cognition at Loughborough University. She is interested in understanding how we acquire and process mathematical ideas and what this means for mathematics education. She completed her doctorate in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford before working as a postdoc at Harvard University. She then spent five years as a Research Fellow in the Learning Sciences Research Institute at The University of Nottingham before joining Loughborough in 2011. She is now Co-director of the Centre for Mathematical Cognition – funded by Research England – and leads the ESRC-funded Centre for Early Mathematics Learning. To join the talk remotely: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84218701589?pwd=0ztWPlw7tqf80Wpg6zmFNJULKifiX1.1 Meeting ID: 842 1870 1589 ID: 536931
If you are interested in attending any of these events, please send an email to plp@law.ox.ac.uk to indicate i) which events you plan to attend, ii) whether you would like to join the speaker for dinner that evening, iii) whether you plan to attend the student seminar accompanying the Colloquium. For more information, visit the PLP Colloquium website: www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-and-subject-groups/jurisprudence-oxford/PLP-colloquium where up-to-date information is listed.
Even before the demands of the recent pandemic, the NHS was operating severe pressure. Against a backdrop of greater life expectancy and the critical need for effective social care, coupled with the development of revolutionary new treatments, can the 75-year-old NHS model adapt to provide fit-for-purpose prevention, early detection and treatment, and social, primary, secondary and tertiary care? What is the future of the NHS? Join our distinguished panel including Jonathan Van-Tam, former Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and leading figures from the sector in conversation with Trinity Fellow and Clinical Director of the University of Oxford Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, Christopher Butler as they consider and discuss the future of the NHS.
Join via: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tosca
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
If you are interested in attending any of these events, please send an email to plp@law.ox.ac.uk to indicate i) which events you plan to attend, ii) whether you would like to join the speaker for dinner that evening, iii) whether you plan to attend the student seminar accompanying the Colloquium. For more information, visit the PLP Colloquium website: www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-and-subject-groups/jurisprudence-oxford/PLP-colloquium where up-to-date information is listed.
In this online interactive workshop, you will learn how to create an effective search query and have the opportunity to try out a range of tools that you can use to search for scholarly materials to support your research. You will: learn how to find books and other scholarly items in Oxford libraries using SOLO; search for journal articles using subject databases and scholarly search engines; and be signposted towards learning materials you can use if you are interested in searching for conference proceedings, theses and dissertations. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
John Bowers in conversation with Amelia Gentleman, journalist who will discuss her work on the Windrush scandal.
Create content for your teaching or research with greater confidence by attending our session on Creative Commons (CC) licences. Learn how they work, how they interact with copyright and how to use them to best effect. The session will make special reference to images but is applicable to all media, including written works. The workshop is classroom-based. In this playful, interactive face-to-face session we will cover: what Creative Commons Licences are; where to find Creative Commons material; how to apply Creative Commons to your own work; and how to reuse Creative Commons materials. We’ll finish the session with a Creative Commons card game. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Join via: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tosca
Circumscribing cities like Venice and Ravenna, the area around the Mediterranean provides a continuous source of research material for academics working on Byzantine and medieval art. My lecture focuses on mosaics and frescoes produced along the coastline of this sea.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
Join via: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/tosca
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that attendance at the Surgical Grand Rounds can count toward internal CPD, with 1 point awarded per hour. Please note that in-person attendance is required, and you will need to sign the attendance register. Please email Louise King (louise.king@nds.ox.ac.uk) if you would like to attend online.
