Pioneering research success for St John's academics

The new programmes were identified through an open competition across the University, calling for researchers to develop proposals around new technologies that can help create solutions for major global challenges. The new programmes will add a highly diverse set of new subjects and international expertise to the existing portfolio of research at the Oxford Martin School. 

Professor Zoltan Molnar, Tutorial Fellow in Human Anatomy, is part of the team who will be working on The Oxford Martin Programme on 3D Printing for Brain Repair. The project will pioneer a radical new approach in which the brain is repaired with 3D-printed neural tissues, looking initially at traumatic brain injury, which affects 5.3 million people globally. Further information is available on the DPAG website. 

Professor Charles Newton, Cheryl & Reece Scott Professor of Psychiatry, is working on The Oxford Martin Programme on Global Epilepsy. The project will work across Brazil, India, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe to develop new portable technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of people with epilepsy in resource-poor areas. 

Professor Richard Compton, Tutorial Fellow in Chemistry, and Professor Heather Bouman, Supernumerary Fellow in Biogeochemistry, are part of The Oxford Martin School Programme on Monitoring Ocean Ecosystems, involving the development of a novel prototype sensor for studying phytoplankton in the oceans, monitoring their diversity and abundance for indications of harmful environmental change such as acidification. The grant application was only possible with the support of 'seed corn' funding from the Thompson Family Charitable Trust, for which both the researchers and the College are very grateful.

Director of the Oxford Martin School Professor Sir Charles Godfray said: 'We received many impressive research proposals during this round, testament to the innovative and global thinking that is a key strength of the University'.