Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine

Square photo showing the head and shoulders of a woman against a blurred background and outlined by a red and yellow gradient border. On the right hand sign is white text on a blue background that reads: Professor of Cardiovascular Science. Congratulations to Sarah De Val, Group Leader within the IDRM Cardiovascular Theme, who has been awarded the title of Professor of Cardiovascular Science by the University of Oxford. To the bottom left are logos for the Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine, and for the University of Oxford.

🎉Congratulations to the IDRM's Professor Sarah De Val on being awarded the title of Professor of Cardiovascular Science by the University of Oxford 🎉
#CardiovascularScience #AcademicAchievement #WomenInSTEM

Dark blue background with white text. Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine logo sits in top left corner with text to the right reading: BHF Fellowship Awarded. Photo of researcher awarded is on the left highlighted within a thin frame that from red to yellow from left to right. Main text reads: Though congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, its causes are often unknown. This fellowship award will support Nancy's research toward understanding heart development with the ultimate aim of progressing CHD diagnosis and future therapies. Dr Nancy Stathopoulou, BHF Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellow.

🎉Huge congratulations to Dr Nancy Stathopoulou, IDRM Transition Fellow @oxfordpaediatrics.bsky.social who has been awarded the BHF Intermediate Science Research Fellowship by the @thebhf.bsky.social.
Nancy’s work focuses on epigenetics in cardiac development and congenital heart disease.

Square image with a background designed to look like lined note paper. Title reads as Featured Member. On the right is a faux polaroid photo of the featured member, Konstantinos Lekkos, with his name below his image. On the left are three bullet points that state 1. his job role of DPhil Student, 2. he is a member of the Mommersteeg Group, and 3. his research focus which is the role of oxidative metabolism in zebrafish heart regeneration. A dark blue band stretches across the bottom of the square to highlight a white Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine logo.

👋Meet Konstantinos Lekkos, a DPhil Student in the Mommersteeg group, and our most recent featured member.

Kostas' research focuses on the role of oxidative metabolism in zebrafish heart regeneration.

Find out more about his research: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
@oxforddpag.bsky.social

Photo shows an image of someone receiving a certificate. There is a lecturn on the right with a figure next to it holding a sheet of paper. The figure is smiling and walking towards the camera. To the left are a row of 4 people mid-clap standing in front of a screen where the words 'Awards Ceremony and Close) are partially visible. The photo is framed with two microscopy images - the left hand side is red and white on a black background, the right hand side has cells imaged in greens, blues and white on a black background. At the bottom of the frame is the logo for the Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine.

🎉 Congratulations to Konstantinos Lekkos, a 2nd year DPhil student in the Mathilda Mommersteeg Group. Kostas won first prize at this year’s Oxford MRC-DTP Symposium with his talk on a novel discovery in zebrafish metabolism and heart regeneration. @oxforddpag.bsky.social

🚨 The Simões Group is hiring!

Join Filipa's team here at the IDRM as a Research Assistant and help advance cutting-edge cardiovascular regeneration research.

🔗 Apply now: lnkd.in/eKiSHWht
📅 Deadline: Midday 1st August 2025

A new study challenges a potential gene-activating mechanism using antisense oligonucleotides A new study from the Roberts Group, Ahlskog et al., published in Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids, challenges the therapeutic potential of a mechanism previously thought to upregulate protein

Tomorrow is #ResearchAppreciationDay2025!

On the final day of our countdown, we’re spotlighting new work from the Thomas Roberts Group (Ahlskog et al.) that challenges a proposed strategy for upregulating therapeutically relevant genes.

🔬 Study: tinyurl.com/4sd3kc86
📰 Story: tinyurl.com/mka7f3j5

It is day 3 of our #ResearchAppreciationDay2025 countdown!

Dr Filipa Simões and team reveal how immune cells shape the heart from the earliest stages and guide regeneration in species like zebrafish.

🔬 Read the review: shorturl.at/kIYBf

Next up in our countdown to #ResearchAppreciationDay2025, we are spotlighting public engagement at the IDRM!

IDRM researchers took part in Pint of Science 2025, bringing research and more to local Oxford pubs. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!

🔗 Read more: shorturl.at/z3yUI

IDRM researchers uncover a direct route from mesenchymal progenitors to lymphatic endothelial cells A new study from the Stone Group at the IDRM has overturned a century-old view of how lymphatic vessels form. Published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, the research reveals that lymphatic

Dr David Grainger shares insights into the publication that has overturned a century-old view of how lymphatic vessels form in a Q&A story for the IDRM website. You can read the interview with him here: shorturl.at/braua

Read the study: lnkd.in/gz5v_ibH

Kicking off our countdown to #ResearchAppreciationDay, we’re spotlighting a study from the Stone Group at the IDRM, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research. The paper reveals that lymphatic endothelial cells can arise directly from mesenchymal progenitors, bypassing the venous endothelium.

🔬 Research Appreciation Day 2025, Saturday, July 5th, is just around the corner. To mark the occasion, we will spotlight a different project from the IDRM each day until Saturday in our very own Research Appreciation Week!

Square image with a background designed to look like lined note paper. Title reads as Featured Member. On the right is a faux polaroid photo of the featured member, Claudio Cortes Rodriguez, with his name below his image. On the left are three bullet points that state 1. his job role of Postdoctural Research Fellow, 2. he is a member of the Riley Group, and 3. his research focus which is uncovering the cause behind heart wall defects. A dark blue band stretches across the bottom of the square to highlight a white Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine logo.

👋Meet Claudio Cortes Rodriguez, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Riley group, and our most recent featured member.

Claudio's research focuses on uncovering the cause of defects in the heart wall.

Find out more about Claudio's research: lnkd.in/ebKNJ-zE

@oxforddpag.bsky.social

This #CleanAirDay, we’re highlighting the small changes and big ambitions shaping sustainability at the IDRM.

Yesterday’s biodiversity walk through the Lye Valley was a good reminder of what we’re working to protect: clean air, healthy ecosystems, and time to connect with nature.

Truly heart galore here at @thebhf.bsky.social Reflections of Research competition! My vote goes to @selintuzuner.bsky.social beautiful cardiac organoid!! Have you voted yet? @idrm.ox.ac.uk @oxforddpag.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk #OxfordOrganoidHub

Exciting news! Dr Jacinta Kalisch-Smith, @jkalism.bsky.social, has been awarded a BHF fellowship to explore how placental blood vessels support fetal growth and development.

Her research could change how we detect and prevent complications during pregnancy.

🔗 Read more: shorturl.at/OVzqq

🎓 The MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies (REACT) is inviting applications for a fully funded DPhil studentship, based at the IDRM.

Learn more and apply: lnkd.in/gb-mEX8K

@oxforddpag.bsky.social

IDRM Researchers Raise Over £1,300 for Muscular Dystrophy UK at Oxford Town & Gown 10k Race On Sunday 11 May, researchers from the MDUK Oxford Neuromuscular Centre, based at the Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine (IDRM), joined more than 6,000 participants in the historic

Find out how IDRM researchers raised over £1,300 for Muscular Dystrophy UK earlier this month through the Oxford Town & Gown 10k race and fundraising events.

Their combined efforts helped raise awareness and support vital research into muscle-wasting conditions.

Read more: shorturl.at/rP9RK

Square image with a background designed to look like lined note paper. Title reads as Featured Member. On the right is a faux polaroid photo of the featured member, Anna Catarina Ferreria, with her name below her image. On the left are three bullet points that state 1) her job role of Research Assistant, 2) she is a member of the Stathopoulou Group, and 3) her research focus of how epigenetic factors contribute to congenital heart disease. A dark blue band stretches across the bottom of the square to highlight a white Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine logo

👋Meet Anna Catarina Ferreria, a Research Assistant in the Stathopoulou Group, and our most recent featured member.

Catarina's research focuses on understanding how epigenetic factors contribute to congenital heart disease.

Read more: lnkd.in/ezEdRRDm

@oxfordpaediatrics.bsky.social

🐝 Today on #WorldBeeDay, we're celebrating the buzz around IDRM!

Our garden is alive with pollinators, drawn in by our blooming flowers and purpose-built bug houses.

Pictured below: a ladybird, a bee, and a snail. Small but important reminders of the role of biodiversity in healthy lives.

CellTalk HHD | Human Heart Development Research CellTalk-Human Heart Development is a BBSRC funded consortium established to find out more about how cells come together to build the heart as it grows inside the womb.

🫀Job alert 🧬 come and be our colleague! Join a BBSRC-funded consortium aiming to understand how the human heart develops - you will be contributing multimodal single cell & spatial transcriptomics data using zebrafish and human cardiac organoids as models. Learn more: www.heartdevelopment.org (1/4)

It’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, and this year’s theme is community. Feeling safe, supported and seen, especially at work, makes all the difference to our mental wellbeing.

Let’s build workplaces where people feel able to speak up and get the support they need.

photo of DPAG Sherrington Building in the sunshine

The Hulme Junior Research Fellowship offers early-career researchers a unique opportunity to advance their careers.
• Lead independent research projects
• Publish in high-impact journals
• Build multidisciplinary collaborations
Deadline: 12 noon, Monday 19 May
www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/work-with-us...

Researchers from the MDUK Oxford Neuromuscular Centre at IDRM ran the Oxford Town & Gown 10k in support of Muscular Dystrophy UK.

Thanks to generous support and a successful bake sale, the team raised over £1,300. Congratulations to everyone who participated!

Immune-mediated cardiac development and regeneration The complex interplay between the immune and cardiovascular systems during development, homeostasis and regeneration represents a rapidly evolving fie…

Just published! Our Review on how immune cells masterfully orchestrate heart development and regeneration. Beyond fighting pathogens, they're actually building & repairing your heart! Learn how cutting-edge technologies are driving therapeutic opportunities here www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Image: Forming lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic vessels are cyan and blood vessels are red.
Credit: David Grainger, Oliver Stone

New research from the @oliverastone.bsky.social Stone Group shows that lymphatic endothelial cells can arise directly from mesenchymal progenitors, bypassing venous endothelium.

Read our conversation with the researchers to learn more: lnkd.in/dSV7W-8r

📄 Paper: lnkd.in/gz5v_ibH

Image credit: Andreas Tarcevski, Georg Holländer, Fatima Dhalla, Emma Haberman

Today on #WorldImmunologyDay, we're spotlighting the immune system with this image, shared by DPhil student Andreas Tarcevski (Holländer group).

It shows a cross-section of an embryo mapped for gene expression. In blue, we see the thymus - a key organ for adaptive immunity and T-cell formation.

👋Meet Ambra Speciale, a DPhil Student in the Rinaldi Group, and our most recent featured member.

Her research focuses on understanding how changes in RNA editing contribute to neurological disorders.

Read more lnkd.in/ezHzDZCp
or hear Ambra talk bsky.app/profile/idrm...

@pintofscience.uk

Come and quench your thirst for knowledge at the @pintofscience festival Oxford, 19–21 May 2025! #pint25

The Battle Against Our Own Genes: learn about treating rare genetic disorders from the IDRM's Stephan Sanders and Ambra Speciale

Grab your tickets here: pintofscience.co.uk/events/oxford