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Dr Angie Tavernor awarded The Pilkington Prize for Teaching 2023

4 April 2023

Congratulations to Dr Angie Tavernor , Veterinary Teaching Associate at PDN, who is one of thirteen recipients of this year's Pilkington Prize for Teaching Excellence. The prizes are awarded to individuals who make an outstanding contribution to teaching at the University of Cambridge. They were endowed and inaugurated in...

Professor Christine Holt seated next to a microscope, gently smiling at the camera

PDN Professor Christine Holt wins world’s top neuroscience award

23 March 2023

Our congratulations to PDN Professor of Developmental Neuroscience, Christine Holt , who has been awarded the Brain Prize 2023. The prize is awarded by the Lundbeck Foundation for critical insights into the molecular mechanisms of brain development and plasticity. It is the world’s largest award for outstanding...

Paper shows that thyroid hormones are vital for maturation of gastrointestinal structure and function in fetuses

23 March 2023

A new paper published in Frontiers in Physiology reports on a BBSRC-funded study in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen, and includes image analysis carried out by Rhian Young, a Part II PDN project student during the 2020-21 lockdown period. The paper, co-written by lead author Young and PDN colleagues, shows...

From PDN to the Thames

23 March 2023

Gates Foundation supported Physiology PhD student, Jenna Armstrong, will join Rowing Club team mates on Sunday 26th March as part of the Cambridge crew at the Gemini Boat Race 2023. Jenna is a member of Professor Andrew Murray 's team, and her research looks at the effects of altitude on placental metabolism. Read all...

First map showing every neuron wiring in fruit fly larva complete

13 March 2023

A team led by University of Cambridge researchers, including Professor Albert Cardona of PDN and the MRC LMB, and Dr Michael Winding at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, have built the first ever map showing every single neuron and how they’re wired together in the brain of the fruit fly larva. The study...

Professor Dino Giussani delivers the GL Brown Prize Lecture

13 February 2023

The GL Brown Prize Lecture series from The Physiological Society is aimed at an early career audience to stimulate an interest in physiology. On Thursday 9 February 2023, the department hosted Dino A Giussani, Professor of Developmental Cardiovascular Physiology and Medicine at the University of Cambridge, to deliver the...

Picture of a naked mole-rat with an image of semi-circular canals

Motion in mole-rats – new paper by Matt Mason

3 February 2023

Working with Ewan Smith from Pharmacology and a team from Belgium, Matt Mason has been investigating how the anatomy of the semi-circular canals links to function in different mammals. The semi-circular canals are involved in the detection of head rotations and can be used to determine aspects of head orientation. The team...

New research published by Giussani/Kane

3 February 2023

dino_giussani_and_andrew_kane_590x488.jpg Combined steroid and statin treatment could reduce ‘accelerated ageing’ in preterm babies, study in rats suggests A new study into new-born rats, which are naturally born prematurely, has combined glucocorticoid steroids and statin therapy. The results, published today in...

Immunofluorescence image of a mouse E12.5 placenta. The red and green fluorescence stain for the two layers of syncytiotrophoblast within the placental labyrinth – the primary site for nutrient exchange between mother and foetus

New paper explores the role of DNA methylation in placental development

24 January 2023

DNA methylation is a repressive epigenetic modification that is essential for development, exemplified by the embryonic and perinatal lethality observed in mice lacking de novo DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). A new paper characterises the role for DNMT3A, 3B and 3L in gene regulation and development of the mouse placenta...

New studies from the Surani Lab

23 January 2023

Two new studies have been published by the Surani lab . The first, led by Wolfram Gruhn, has discovered that epigenetic resetting in the human germline is associated with profound changes in repressive histone modifications. Gruhn et al. find that the loss of repressive epigenetic information in the early human germline...

Dr Angie Tavernor awarded The Pilkington Prize for Teaching 2023

PDN Professor Christine Holt wins world’s top neuroscience award

Paper shows that thyroid hormones are vital for maturation of gastrointestinal structure and function in fetuses

From PDN to the Thames

First map showing every neuron wiring in fruit fly larva complete

Professor Dino Giussani delivers the GL Brown Prize Lecture

Motion in mole-rats – new paper by Matt Mason

New research published by Giussani/Kane

New paper explores the role of DNA methylation in placental development

New studies from the Surani Lab

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