Oxford at Said Seminar: Drug Discovery

Oxford Nanopore is a British company, spun out of the University of Oxford in 2005 and founded on the science of Prof Hagan Bayley. It is developing new technology that has the potential to improve greatly the speed and cost of DNA sequencing.

The practice of protecting unarmed civilians amidst the fierce violence of international and non-international war contends with extreme political realities and rapidly developing robotic weapons technology. Hear how Oxford and Oxfam are working together.

This Oxford at Said seminar showcases some of Oxfords most exciting new research in the area of Neuroscience. Baroness Greenfield will start the evening off with a talk on Neuroscience, where we are now and where we are going. In the second half of the evening, Dr. Cader will present his research on understanding the cellular pathways leading to neuronal degeneration. Dr. Suter Dick will then discuss how the collaboration between industry and academia in the Innovative Medicines Initiative will hopefully speed up the development of better medicines to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

In this seminar three Oxford academics explore the role of energy demand in a low carbon future, fusion and solar energy.

In this seminar two academics explore experimental medicine in early-phase clinical trials and reforming intellectual property.

An exploration of global migration and development and the economics of migrant labour. The migration process is driven by social, economic, political and other forces and evolves in complex interaction with political decision making, networks, brokers and infrastructures. It has also been acknowledged that the notion of migration includes integration or exclusion on all levels of society, the labour market, the impact on those left in the homeland, and other issues that arise from the experiences on route and on arrival.

Professor Dwek explores Oxford University's strong track record of interacting with the commercial world. Oxford University has a strong track record of interacting with the commercial world. This includes both spinning out new ventures that exploit its intellectual capital in the commercial world and attracting funds from the commercial world to further develop its intellectual capital. Professor Dwek is a leading Oxford scientist who has been highly successful in both aspects. Here he reflects on Oxfords experience using several seminal cases from the Universitys spin out and industry funded research activities.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the subject of oceans. Three researchers from the University of Oxford cover the topics oceans and the impact of climate change, understanding ocean ecology and how to generate energy from the tides. All life comes out of the ocean and is connected with the ocean. Over 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans earning planet earth the nick name the blue planet. Life within the sea evolved 3 billion years prior to life on land, yet much of the its ecology and life therein remains unexplored and hitherto poorly understood. Oceans also have a significant effect on the biosphere. Oceanic evaporation is the source of most rainfall, and ocean temperatures determine climate and wind patterns on land. In economic terms the seas are essential to transportation, energy production and provide a significant percentage of the world's protein. Yet, they are not limitless and many problems, such as overexploitation and pollution, have brought some marine ecosystems close to collapse.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the topic of Ageing. Three distinguished academics from Oxford University discuss the social, biological and ethical implications for an ageing society. For the foreseeable future, population ageing is irreversible and will fundamentally affect all areas of life from the workplace to the family. Sarah Harper outlines the most important social consequences of population ageing and discuss potential policy implications. Lynne Cox explains current research strategies to find the genetic drivers of ageing which might eventually help us to slow the ageing process and Julian Savulescu finishes the seminar by discussing his manifesto on 'Why we need a war on ageing' arguing that mankind has a moral obligation to strive for a longer and better life.

This Oxford at Said seminar was dedicated to the phenomenon of stress. Sloan Mahone gives a historical perspective on the topic, Ian Brown presents latest findings on occupational stress and John Morris covers stress from a physiological perspective. Three Oxford University researchers from the areas of history of medicine, occupational health and physiology discuss how their disciplines define stress, how they approach it and what can be learned from their findings. Sloan Mahone, University Lecturer in the History of Medicine gives a fascinating insight into the social construction of mental health conditions experienced by people exposed to traumatic events. Ian Brown, Director of the Occupational Health Service at the University of Oxford, poses the question to what extent employment is a major cause of stress and anxiety and John Morris, Professor of Human Anatomy and Director for Preclinical Studies explains how stress is studied from a physiological perspective.