Kavli Oxford researchers take discoveries beyond the lab
Kavli Oxford researchers take discoveries beyond the lab
Kavli Oxford researchers have been exploring what it takes to turn scientific discoveries into practical applications, with recent successes in several innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.
For Clare McFall, this has meant considering how insights into the molecular machinery of heart muscle might open up new therapeutic possibilities. Clare was one of the winners of the 2026 Jamie Ferguson Chemistry Innovation Awards (the ‘Jamies’), which support University of Oxford students in developing promising chemistry-based ideas.
Her project centres on the relationship between two proteins, FLNC and HSPB7, that have roles in the mechanical function of cardiac muscle. By looking for small molecules capable of altering this interaction, the work offers a possible route towards treatments that act on mechanisms contributing to cardiomyopathy, rather than focusing solely on its effects.
Kavli Oxford researchers Dan Loewenthal and Raman van Wee were also recognised in the Jamies for an idea that takes mass photometry into more biologically complex environments. Loewenthal and van Wee are exploring how the technique, which makes it possible to investigate individual biomolecules through the light they scatter, could be used to follow protein interactions without first having to isolate the proteins from samples such as serum or cell lysate. If successful, this could make it possible to learn more about the behaviour of proteins at an earlier point in the development and assessment of biological medicines.
DPhil student Clare McFall won a Jamie Ferguson Chemistry Innovation Award for her work on developing first-in-class therapies for cardiomyopathy. Image: Clare McFall
Beyond the lab
For van Wee and Loewenthal, the Jamies were part of a broader exploration of how their research might translate beyond academia. Together with fellow Kavli Oxford DPhil student Alexandros Hannon, they are developing Lumamab, an emerging biotechnology venture arising from research in Professor Philipp Kukura’s group.
The three took part in Oxford Venture Builder, before being selected to pitch at the Reuben College Entrepreneurship Forum 2026. Teams were invited to the Forum from several Oxford entrepreneurship programmes and pitched their ventures to a panel drawn from the University and investment community.
From left: DPhil student Raman van Wee; Professor Lionel Tarassenko, President of Reuben College; DPhil student Alexandros Hannon; Dr Vishal Gulati; and DPhil student Dan Loewenthal. Image: Simon Devenport
Lumamab focuses on an aspect of antibody behaviour that can be difficult to interrogate directly: how antibodies cluster the molecules they bind to. The team is developing a way of observing this behaviour at molecular scale, with the longer-term goal of generating information that could help researchers make better decisions as therapeutic antibodies progress through development.
At the Reuben Forum, Lumamab was awarded second place and £10,000, funding that will help the team continue to develop the technology and take the next steps towards establishing the venture.
The process of presenting the work to audiences beyond the immediate research community has itself been an important part of developing the idea, van Wee said. ‘Pitching at these events challenged us to think critically about our proposition, identify weaknesses and assumptions, and address them. Learning from how others present their work, and from questions outside our immediate field, has also helped us articulate our idea more clearly and better understand what it takes to translate academic research into a venture. It was also simply a lot of fun!’
