The latest updates on our research and how it is improving people’s lives.
New industrial partnership to advance human immunology research and accelerate therapeutic development
18 March 2026
A new collaboration between the Translational Pharmacology Group at NDORMS and global biopharmaceutical company UCB aims to promote understanding of human adaptive immunity and catalyse the development of new treatments for patients with immune-mediated conditions.
New study shows observational analyses can complement randomised clinical trials findings for the study of HPV vaccine effectiveness
16 March 2026
Led by researchers at NDORMS as part of the Data Analysis and Real World Interrogation Network (DARWIN EU®) initiative, a new European study has shown that carefully designed observational studies can produce robust and reliable vaccine effectiveness estimates. These results highlight that high-quality real-world evidence can play a key role in complementing the findings from randomised clinical trials.
Fair and Safe Medical AI: why local expertise matters
16 March 2026
A Global Grand Challenges case study reveals the potential of large language models (LLMs) to close health gaps in the South Asia, but only when they’re adapted and fine-tuned using local data and expertise.
Anchoring a key immune molecule boosts T cell responses
11 March 2026
Researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology have found that physically resisting the formation of an immunological synapse actually promotes a stronger immune response. The findings could help explain how immune responses become weakened in cancer and chronic infection and inform the design of more effective vaccines.
Oxford joins new West Africa consortium to accelerate climate and health solutions
5 March 2026
Researchers from the University of Oxford have joined African universities and regional experts who are working with Wellcome to establish new science and policy consortiums that will address the escalating public health crisis driven by climate change - saving lives and livelihoods.
'Hidden' costs of social care after a hip fracture exceed £1.25 billion a year in the UK
16 February 2026
Social care for hip fracture costs the NHS over £1.25 billion, equating to £15K per patient every year according to a new NDORMS study.
Drugs identified that could help prevent delirium after surgery
12 February 2026
A new study has found that several commonly used drugs could significantly reduce the risk of delirium in older people following surgery.
Public trust in health data sharing for AI is conditional
9 February 2026
Public support for sharing health data for artificial intelligence (AI) research depends on clear public benefit, strong safeguards, and meaningful consent, according to a new NDORMS study based on in-depth focus groups with members of the UK public.
A step forward for ankle fracture management
29 January 2026
In an editorial piece published in The BMJ, NDORMS Professors David Keene and Matthew Costa commend a new clinical trial that advances the understanding of ankle fracture treatment.
Kennedy scientists join world-leading researchers in ‘pivotal’ study to help arthritis patients to live drug free
27 January 2026
The prospect of long-lasting drug-free remission for children and adults living with inflammatory arthritis is a step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to a new collaboration.
Rapamycin helps protect immune cells against DNA damage
26 January 2026
New research carried out by Dr Loren Kell at NDORMS, has demonstrated for the first time that rapamycin can reduce DNA damage in immune cells, a hallmark of ageing.
NDORMS and NDCN collaborate with Oxford University Hospitals to form the Kadoorie Institute for Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care
23 January 2026
Oxford Trauma and Emergency Care at Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS), along with the Critical Care Research Team at Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN) have formally become a new Institute within the University of Oxford: the Kadoorie Institute for Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care.
ADHD medication use rises sharply across Europe, driven by growth among adults
22 January 2026
The use of medications for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has increased substantially across Europe over the past decade, with the steepest rises seen among adults - particularly women - according to a large population-based study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.
Surgery unnecessary for elbow fractures in children new study finds
21 January 2026
Researchers at NDORMS have found that surgery for a displaced medial epicondyle fracture of the elbow in children offers no clinical benefit compared to non-surgical care. The findings could have significant implications for treatment and offer huge cost savings to the NHS.
What determines the fate of a T cell?
14 January 2026
Research led by Dr Mariana Borsa at the Kennedy Institute has found that a cellular housekeeping mechanism called autophagy plays a major role in ensuring that T cells generate diverse progenies upon cell division. The findings, published in Nature Cell Biology, could help boost vaccine response in older adults.
Kennedy researchers contribute to UK-wide AI and bioscience training initiative
18 December 2025
Together with a group of Oxford researchers, Mark Coles, Professor of Immunology at the Kennedy Institute, will co-lead the Enabling Next-generation AI for a Bioscience-Led Economy (ENAIBLE) initiative.
World-leading researchers unite for ‘pivotal’ study to help children and adults with arthritis to live drug free
10 December 2025
The prospect of long-lasting drug-free remission for children and adults living with inflammatory arthritis is a step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to a new collaboration which includes world-leading researchers from the Kennedy Institute.
Addressing antimicrobial resistance through advanced UTI models
9 December 2025
A collaborative study, which includes contributions from NDORMS researchers Aaron Crowther and supervisor Dario Carugo, explores new ways to model bladder biology and infection, allowing evaluation of antimicrobial therapies under physiologically relevant conditions.
Can AI models rival humans in anonymising patient information from electronic health records?
9 December 2025
Researchers from the University of Oxford have benchmarked artificial intelligence (AI) tools capable of automatically removing personal information from patient electronic health records (EHRs) in a key step towards enabling large-scale, confidential medical research.
Two NDORMS groups join the PROBE Initiative to advance osteoarthritis research
5 December 2025
Two research groups at NDORMS have joined the newly launched PROBE initiative, contributing their expertise to a major European collaboration focused on improving the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis.