murray polkinghorne

I am from South Africa and completed my medical training at the University of Cape Town before receiving the Cecil Renaud Scholarship to read for an MPhil in Translational Biomedical Research at the University of Cambridge, where I worked in the Sinha lab
characterising human embryonic stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes and supportive cell types in 3-D engineered, collagen-based scaffolds to determine the optimal composition of a transplantable cardiac patch for the treatment of heart failure.

I subsequently received the RDM Scholarship to read for a DPhil in Medical Sciences at Balliol College, University of Oxford, where I am now working under the supervision of Professor Antoniades and Professor Channon in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. My current research focuses on cross-talk between adipose tissue and the cardiovascular system, specifically looking at the molecular effects of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues on cardiovascular redox signalling.

My project will incorporate various ex vivo techniques to assess, on multiple levels, how incretin therapy might potentiate a switch to physiological insulin signalling in patients with
cardiometabolic disease. This will make use of human tissue from the Oxford cohort of Heart, Vessels, and Fat (Ox-HVF), an actively maintained bioresource that will allow for unique investigations into the effects of obesity and diabetes on cardiovascular redox signalling.

Through my work, I aspire to bridge the disconnect between our investment in drug discovery and our ability to ameliorate chronic disease by using the principles of translational science to pioneer effective, safe and unequivocally beneficial therapies for patients, thereby engaging in cross-functional research with translational implications on human health.