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Monday Morning Messages
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30th September 2024
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| The Oxford Vaccine Group celebrates 30 years |
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| The Oxford Vaccine Group celebrated 30 years of life-saving vaccine development last Thursday with a gala reception at Keble College that brought together current and former staff, students and collaborators from across the globe. The milestone event inspired an atmosphere of reflection and celebration, with speeches that highlighted the group's journey, its contributions to the field and the enduring impact of its research. A symposium was held at Trinity College the following day, providing a platform for discussing its cutting-edge research. Photographs by Dr Nicholas Posner |
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| OVG marks 30th anniversary with unveiling of major art installation |
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| A major art installation featuring dramatically upscaled bacteria, viruses and a parasite was unveiled at Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History to celebrate 30 years of vaccine development by the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) which has tackled some of the world’s most deadly diseases. The Deadly Six art installation was created by acclaimed Scottish Sculptor Angela Palmer, and consists of six, three-dimensional sculptures woven in English willow, representing different diseases for which OVG has developed a vaccine: pneumonia, meningitis, typhoid, Covid, malaria and Ebola. Five of these are suspended in the central room of the Museum, within the How Evolution Works gallery, with the sixth – a 2.4m long representation of Ebola weighing 75kg – lying at floor level. The artwork will be on display in the central hall of the museum until 5 January 2025. |
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| New campaign launched to enourage vaccine uptake |
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| Parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated as part of a campaign to boost uptake in the UK amid rising cases of whooping cough and measles. Researchers at the Oxford Vaccine Group, have developed an animation that focuses on the "critical role" whooping cough jabs play in protecting against infection, which can cause serious complications such as pneumonia. |
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| AXA Chairs - Internal selection deadline |
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| The co-ordinated bid is now live to select the University’s single candidate for an AXA Chair. This academic position will receive funding of EU200,000 per year for five years to enable a step change in the career of the appointed professor and support projects with the potential to transform their research field. To be considered, applicants must send the required information by email to the SRD Team by 12 noon on Tuesday 1st October 2024. |
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| New online ethics application system |
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The phased launch of the University’s new online Research Ethics System (Worktribe Ethics), which will enable research ethics applications to be submitted to one of the University’s Research Ethics Committees is continuing as planned. This workflow-based system replaces offline methods, simplifying the preparation, submission and administration of applications. Applications are submitted and reviewed within the platform.
The system is being made available to all departments from Tuesday 1 October. From Thursday 7 November all ethics applications for review by University Ethics Committees must be submitted via Worktribe. |
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| Shaping the future of support for research practice |
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Research Services is coordinating a programme of work to support research practice as part of the University’s strategy to advance research culture. The aim of this programme, which builds on the results of the Oxford Research Practice Survey (2024), is to:
- increase researchers' awareness of available support services.
- determine the best way to organise and deliver expertise and support.
- develop a coordinated approach to Research Practice to effectively support research community members to identify and apply appropriate practices at the point of need.
As part of this programme of work, Focus, the University's continuous improvement and change team, has been asked to support a piece of work to explore the gaps and opportunities around awareness and support for research practices (namely, how to plan, design, conduct and report research). During MT2024 Focus will be engaging with colleagues in divisions, departments, and professional services to better understand the current support landscape, and to gather views and ideas from across the research community.
Your input is vital in shaping a more effective system for supporting research practice. |
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Sign up for your free flu vaccination
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As part of our commitment to staff well-being, the Department of Paediatrics is offering staff a free seasonal flu vaccination at sites across the Old Road Campus and the JR Hospital from 07 until 17 October 2024. This offer is intended to complement existing opportunities to get vaccinated against flu. Many staff members will already be eligible via OUH for those with a clinical contract or through the NHS if you are over 65, have specific health conditions or are pregnant (more information is available on the NHS website). Staff members who are pregnant or anyone over 65 should make use of the NHS offer rather than booking this occupational health service.
As per last year, we have commissioned an external supplier (Flu Xpress) to provide this service. Dates, times and locations for the flu vaccination clinics are available to book via this link. Slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and bookings will close 8 days before each clinic date, to ensure that sufficient vaccine doses are dispatched. You are able to book a slot at any site, even if not your primary place of work. Please take up the offer and make sure to book a slot. |
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Science Together: Volunteers needed
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An award-winning and dynamic public engagement programme, Science Together brings Oxford community groups and researchers from the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University together to address pressing issues and questions that impact the lives of local people. If you are an enthusiastic researcher or facilitator from any discipline or career stage, including faculty and professional services staff, Science Together invites you to join them. Whether you are an experienced academic or just beginning your career, your passion and curiosity are essential for making a meaningful impact Full training and support are provided. Submit your Expression of Interest by 7 October. Further detail is available via the link below. |
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Unlocking the future of fair access
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| Colleagues are invited to a policy-practice dialogue event on Wednesday 23 October to explore how student voices can inform Access and Participation Plans. Hosted by the Department of Education and the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the full-day public event features a keynote address by John Blake (Director for Fair Access and Participation, Office for Students). It will be held at the Jesus College Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub and online. |
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Personal and Career Development Review
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| The Department of Paediatrics continues to focus internal efforts on increasing the uptake of PDRs (Personal Development Reviews) and CDRs (Career Development Reviews), and this year the two have been combined into one PCDR (Personal Career Development Review).
The conversation is designed to help staff identify career goals and training objectives, agreeing a schedule and process with their line manager for the coming year, and establishing specific goals and a timeline for completion. All staff are strongly encouraged to undertake their PCDR in September and October and the HR Team will be touring all research groups to showcase why the review is important and how to conduct it. The team will also give some advice and guidance on using Simitive (the program used to record PCDRs).
Below are links to some useful resources:
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| Come and join colleagues from across the Churchill site for fun, free, fitness sessions with Jim's Fitness every Wednesday at 12pm. Designed to push you to your limits in a friendly and encouraging environment, the sessions last one hour and are tailored for all fitness levels: from athletes keeping fit and mixing-up their training, to those who wish to start or returning to exercise. Jim uses equipment such as tyres, sand bags, cargo nets and more. Meeting point is outside the IDRM reception at midday. |
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| Industry Insights Seminar with Janssen Pharmaceuticals |
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10 October 2024 | In Person | 12.30pm lunch and 1pm start
Speaker: Dr Thomas Freeman (Sr. Scientific Director, Translational Pathway Immunology)
Speaker profile: Prior to joining Janssen Immunology in June 2020, Tom Freeman had a long academic career working in different areas of innate functional genomics, immunity and computational biology. He held the chair of Systems Immunology at the University of Edinburgh and before this led Gene Expression Group at the Sanger Institute (1994-2000) before joining the MRC HGMP-Resource Centre (2000-2005), also on the Hinxton Campus, where he headed up the UK National Microarray Programme. His interest in data analysis and generating expression atlases led to him to develop a number of well-known network analysis tools and approaches. He has founded two companies in the data analytics space and authored over 160 peer-reviewed articles. Tom is now a Senior Director at Janssen Immunology where he heads the Translational Pathway Immunology Group who are focused on delivering portfolio-facing computation analyses in support of patient stratification, biomarker identification, analysis of clinical trials data and delivering precision medicine. |
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| Reflecting on who we are in the research environment |
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| 16 October 2024 | Hybrid | Seminar 11-12pm; Workshop 13.30 to 15.00
Inclusion, Intersectionality and Impact Specialist Dr Arun Verma, will be sharing his story and experiences as a queer person of colour, who has moved between and beyond categories and characteristics. He will be hosting both a seminar and a workshop at the IDRM on 16 October.
The Seminar will:
- Build confidence with what intersectionality is and how it applies to your everyday work
- Understand how equality issues are interconnected
- Develop small acts of kindness that can transform daily interactions
The workshop will explore intersectionality in more depth and focus on the following:
- Reflecting on where intersectionality comes from and why it matters
- Space to explore your own characteristics and stories
- Co-creating the big picture of an optimal research culture
We have 15 spaces available and registration is open now. There will also be a networking lunch in the IDRM Cafe after the seminar to which all are invited. Please reserve your place at lunch here. |
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| Staff Scientist Network Social |
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23 October 2024 | In Person | 12pm
The Department of Paediatrics is pleased to support Staff Scientists (anyone interested in staying in academia without aiming to become a ‘Head of Lab’) through the recent formation of the Staff Scientist Network. The Network aims to provide networking opportunities, peer-to-peer support and to hear your voice on how the Department can better support you. Please join us for lunch and networking if you feel you fall into this role, you are considering whether you might want to follow this career route, or you are interested in hearing more.
For further details please contact luke.baxter@paediatrics.ox.ac.uk |
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Can you help these trials?
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| Oxford Vaccine Group would like to invite you to take part in a study investigating how two common respiratory germs alter the environment in your nose and impact human health. The knowledge gathered in this project could be used to help develop new interventions such as anti-virus agents and drugs targeting the host body response. If you are 18 to 55 years old, you may be eligible to take part. We will provide reimbursement for your time, inconvenience and travel. The study duration is approximately 10 weeks. If you would like to find out more, please read the Participant Information Sheet. If you are interested in joining the study, please visit the Pre-screening Questionnaire via the link below. |
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| We need volunteers for a new vaccine against Marburg virus |
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| If you are aged 18 to 55 years old and in good health, then you may be eligible to take part in a study investigating a new vaccine against Marburg virus. All participants will be reimbursed up to £1470 for their time, inconvenience, and travel. For further information please click on the link below. Here is a link to pre-screening questionnaire: Pre-screening Questionnaire or contact Oxford Vaccine Group with any questions: Email: info@ovg.ox.ac.uk Tel: 01865611400. |
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| Oxford Vaccine Group would like to invite you to take part in a study in a challenge study to find a vaccine against malaria. The total study participation time is 18 months. If you would like any further information regarding the study please contact info@ovg.ox.ac.uk, or call 01865 611400 |
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| Oxford Vaccine Group is looking for volunteers to help us understand how our immune systems respond to repeated infection with malaria. By taking part in this challenge study, you could help the research aimed at preventing hundreds of thousands of child deaths. If you are aged 18 to 45 years old, in good health and live in the Thames Valley, then you may be eligible to take part in the BIO-004 study. All participants will be reimbursed for their time, inconvenience and travel up to £9,100. |
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