Following the summer '21 launch of our new Annual Refresher course on Data Protection & Information Security, we have now completed production of a single new Induction course. It will be ready for launch and use by all new employees from 31 January 2022 as part of their mandatory new starter training.

New Induction Training for Data Protection & Information Security launches 31 January 2022 (warwick.ac.uk)

In collaboration with groups at UMass Med School, Smith College and Morehouse University, we have developed a reporter mouse generated by modification of a widely expressed and highly rhythmic gene encoding D-site albumin promoter binding protein (Dbp). In this line of mice, firefly luciferase is expressed from the Dbp locus in a Cre recombinase-dependent manner, allowing assessment of bioluminescence rhythms in specific cellular populations. Our studies reveal cell-type-specific characteristics of rhythms among neuronal populations and liver cells. Our model allowed assessment of the rate of recovery from circadian misalignment once animals were provided with food ad libitum. These studies confirm the previously demonstrated circadian misalignment following environmental perturbations and reveal the utility of this model for minimally invasive, longitudinal monitoring of rhythmicity from specific mouse tissues.

Read the paper here.

The Perrier Lab have just published a new study in Angewandte Chemie which shows how polymeric nanotubes can be designed to switch their fluorescence on as they deliver a commercial anticancer drug (doxorubicin), thereby permitting the in-situ visualization of drug release. By this method, we can both treat a cancer tumour and show where the tumour is located. These theranostic systems (from therapeutic and diagnostic) form a new approach to drug delivery.

Read the paper here.

This is a WBS/UAPC PhD studentship on “Health, climate change and innovation- Supporting the sustainability transition in the health care sector”. The research will develop a programme theory with which to propose and evaluate specific interventions designed to support the sustainability transition in the primary health care sector.

Extremely concerning levels of psychological distress are reported in results from a longitudinal study of the UK nursing and midwifery workforce during COVID-19 led by Warwick Medical School.

The Medical Schools Council has released its report into how university research contributed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work undertaken by the GibsonGroup is featured in this report.

Chromosome mis-segregation during mitosis leads to aneuploidy, which is a hallmark of cancer and linked to cancer genome evolution. Errors can manifest as ‘‘lagging chromosomes’’ in anaphase, although their mechanistic origins and likelihood of correction are incompletely understood. Here, we combine lattice light-sheet microscopy, endogenous protein labeling, and computational analysis to define the life history of >104 kinetochores. By defining the ‘‘laziness’’ of kinetochores in anaphase, we reveal that chromosomes are at a considerable risk of mis-segregation. We show that the majority of lazy kinetochores are corrected rapidly in anaphase by Aurora B; if uncorrected, they result in a higher rate of micronuclei formation. Quantitative analyses of the kinetochore life histories reveal a dynamic signature of metaphase kinetochore oscillations that forecasts their anaphase fate. We propose that in diploid human cells chromosome segregation is fundamentally error prone, with an additional layer of anaphase error correction required for stable karyotype propagation. Read the paper here

The GibsonGroup, working with the Sagona group in SLS and Cytivia (who host Prof Gibson as a Royal Society Industry fellow) have investigated how polymers can be used to cryopreserve bacteriophages. Methods to freeze cells have attracted huge interest of late, for application in cell based therapies and biotechnology. However, virus storage is less explored. The team showed that a simple commodity polymer could (surprisingly) protect phage and offers a new approach for banking, or even storing cocktails of phages for future use in therapy or diagnostics.

Read the paper here

The General Medical Council (GMC) which oversees the training of doctors in the UK is set to approve a new course at Chester Medical School, developed with the support of the University of Warwick/

The GibsonGroup and their Industrial partners Iceni Diagnostics have been collaborating on new tools for Lateral Flow Diagnostics(LFDs). In particular, on replacing antibodies as the recognition units with glycans (sugars). Here the team show the first example of a complete LFD which uses glycans as both the mobile and stationary phase, providing complete proof-of-concept that a lateral flow diagnostic can be achieved without antibodies. This is demonstrated for the sensitive detection of lectins and could be applied to a range of biological targets, spanning toxins, viruses and more.

Read the paper here

The GibsonGroup with their industry partner Iceni Diagnostics have demonstrated a new approach to make ’test lines’ in lateral flow diagnostics. Current methods to make a test line involve immobilising antibodies, or using high molecular weight proteins with chemical modifications to display binding ligands. In this work, the team showed that a synthetic polymer can be used instead, which could dramatically simply the process of making a new test line, and using ’small molecule ligands’ as the targets, shown here with a glycan and biotin.

Read the paper here

Julia Walsh has been awarded a PhD in Health Sciences for their PhD on ‘Using spontaneously generated online patient experiences to improve healthcare: A case study using Modafinil’. Julia was supervised by Frances Griffiths in the Division of Health Sciences and Jonathan Cave.

The debilitating arm and shoulder disability and pain that some women who have had breast cancer surgery experience as a side effect of their surgery can be reduced by following a physiotherapy-led exercise programme after their operation, a new study has found.

Future healthcare professionals working in mental health and neurosciences will be trained at a new Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) involving Warwick Medical School thanks to a £7.24million award from Wellcome.

Public access defibrillators are disproportionately lacking in the most deprived areas of England, which are among the communities at the greatest risk of cardiac arrest, according to new analysis led by WMS.

Warwick Medical School has received two commendations at the university’s inaugural Excellence in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Awards.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought health inequalities into sharp focus on an international scale. Vulnerability to and mortality from acute COVID-19 infection is higher in men, whereas, Long COVID disproportionately affects women. Why?

Read the paper here

Dr Joanne Muter and Professor Jan Brosens collaborated with researchers in Chicago and Buffalo, USA, in a study that used comparative transcriptomics to reconstruct the evolutionary history of gene expression in the pregnant endometrium. The study identified hundreds of genes that were gained or lost in the womb lining of primate and human lineages. Genes that evolved to be expressed at the maternal-fetal interface in the human lineage were enriched for immune functions and diseases, such as preterm birth and pre-eclampsia. Read the paper here

We're delighted to announce that Dr Rob Howes, the Director of the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, has been appointed as an honorary Professor at WMS.

We're pleased to report that 150 of our MB ChB students have already received their Covid19 booster this week, in a dedicated vaccination clinic at Gibbet Hill.

Local residents of Coventry and Warwickshire are invited to equip themselves with the skills to save a life thanks to Warwick Medical School students who are holding a public CPR awareness event to mark #RestartAHeart day on Saturday 16 October.

Hilda Kabambe has been awarded a PhD in Health Sciences for their PhD on ‘Female sex workers' experiences with access to health care services in Malawi’. Hilda was supervised by Sophie Staniszewska and Kate Seers in the Division of Health Sciences.

The GibsonGroup, working with UHCW and Iceni Diagnostics have shown that glycans (sugars) can be used in place of antibodies to detect SARS-COV-2. Last year the team identified that SARS-COV-2 spike protein could bind certain glycans, and in this work they incorporate the glycan onto gold nanoparticles to make a ‘flow through’ (similar to lateral flow) device. The methods allowed detection of infection and was shown to retain binding to several variants of concern. The underpinning principle can now be applied to a range of infections or biosensing challenges. The work was large collaboration with Chemistry, WMS (including the Straube-Group from our division), Physics, Industry and the hospital.

Read the paper - Glycan-Based Flow-Through Device for the Detection of SARS-COV-2 

Within species, there can be very large differences in animal size. Perhaps the most striking example is in domestic dogs; e.g. compare a Chihuahua with an English Mastiff. Despite being genetically very similar, their internal organs are correctly positioned and sized for their particularly body size, i.e. the organ size scales with the organism size. How does such scaling occur? There has been extensive analysis of scaling of external organs, such as insect wings, due to their accessibility for imaging. However, how internal organs scale and adjust for changes in system size remains poorly understood. In recent work, the Saunders lab utilised a genetic trick to generate smaller Drosophila embryos that could be live imaged. From live imaging of heart, hindgut and nervous system formation, they have provided the first quantitative dynamic analysis of internal organ scaling during development. Interestingly, the initial heart vessel scales precisely with embryo size (see figure). However, the developing nervous system appears to have a lower bound on its size, regardless of how reduced in size the embryo is. These results suggest that organs adapt to changes in embryo size through different mechanisms. Hopefully further work, including in vertebrate systems, will uncover the genetic and biophysical mechanisms driving internal organ scaling.