Investigative Medicine Division

We aim to rapidly translate innovative science into patient benefit across a range of disease areas. From molecular biology and target discovery, through to interventional medicine and informing policy, we bring together researchers in a diverse range of specialties including acute stroke, dementia and immunology.

Head of Division

Alison Simmons

Director of the MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit

alison.simmons@imm.ox.ac.uk

Latest publications

The Structural Biology of T-Cell Antigen Detection at Close Contacts.
Lui Y. et al, (2025), Immunol Rev, 331
Vaccine-enhanced competition permits rational bacterial strain replacement in the gut.
Lentsch V. et al, (2025), Science, 388, 74 - 81
Anatomy of the superior hypogastric plexus and its relevance to anterior lumbar interbody fusion
Khadanovich A. et al, (2025), Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 1 - 7
Structure and unusual binding mechanism of the hyaluronan receptor LYVE-1 mediating leucocyte entry to lymphatics.
Bano F. et al, (2025), Nat Commun, 16
Publisher Correction: The molecular reach of antibodies crucially underpins their viral neutralisation capacity.
Huhn A. et al, (2025), Nat Commun, 16

Researcher using microscope

Specific research groups include:

The Buchan Group's Laboratory of Cerebral Ischemia is a pre-clinical research group aiming to uncover mechanisms of cell death in stroke, and develop novel strategies to reduce this. Group members have also developed in-vitro models for neurological diseases.

The MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit (TIDU) aims to uncover the molecular pathways driving immune-mediated diseases – researchers in the unit develop and harness new technologies to map the causes and molecular drivers of a series of inflammatory disorders in order to develop better ways to treat them.

Professor Alison Simmons is the Head of Investigative Medicine.

Researchers have major collaborations with the MRC, the Wellcome Trust, CRUK and the NIHR, as well as cross-departmental collaborations such as Human Iron Research at Oxford (HIRO).

Latest news

Award to support RDM research in dementia after stroke

3 February 2025

Race Against Dementia, in partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK have awarded just over £340k to support research into understanding why some people develop dementia after suffering a stroke.