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Matthew Wood
Research Areas
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
- Ion Channels and Transporters
- Genetics and Genomics
- Transcription Biology
- Cell and Molecular Biology
- Drug Discovery
- Adult Stem Cells
| Web | Personal Website |
|---|---|
| Department | Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics |
| College | Somerville College |
Dr Matthew Wood
Matthew's research is in field of gene therapy for degenerative disorders of the nervous system and muscle. The main focus is the investigation of novel therapeutic approaches utilising short nucleic acids to target messenger RNA. Targeting RNA has the potential to allow modification of the target transcript, reprogramming of endogenous genetic defects or the targeting of specific disease alleles, all the while maintaining endogenous regulation of the target gene. Current work is investigating the potential of single-stranded antisense oligonucleotides for the modification of mRNA splicing, for example in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In addition, the potential of double-stranded RNA for gene silencing, known as RNA interference (RNAi), is being investigated for the silencing of target genes and mutant alleles both in muscle and in the nervous system. In particular, RNAi has great potential as a future therapeutic agent for currently untreatable neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and for diseases caused by trinucleotide repeat expansion mutations, such as Spinocerebellar ataxia.
Sources of Funding
- MRC
- Department of Health
- Parkinson's disease society
- BBSRC
- Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
- Muscular Dystrophy Association of Ireland
Biography
My current positions are as University Lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and Fellow and Tutor in Medicine at Somerville College. Prior to this I trained in Medicine at the University of Cape Town and pursued clinical work in Neurology and Neurosurgery before coming to Oxford as a Beit Medical Research Fellow. I completed my DPhil here in Oxford in 1993.
