News

Putting women’s health in the spotlight

23 July 2025

Loke CTR member Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri and other researchers across Cambridge are spotlighted in a new feature as part of the SBS theme focus of Women’s Health. As theme lead Amanda says, “It’s crazy that biological sex has been so overlooked in understanding the body’s responses to drugs and treatments. It’s time we made...

Azim Surani awarded 2025 Kyoto Prize

20 June 2025

Professor Surani is to be honoured with a Kyoto Prize by the Inamori Foundation for his significant contribution to the scientific betterment of humankind. The prize presentation will take place in Kyoto on 10 November. Professor Azim Surani , Loke CTR member, Director of Germline and Epigenetics Research at the Gurdon...

New Study Explores Role of Placental Hormones in Human Evolution

20 June 2025

The placenta and the hormones it produces may have played a crucial role in the evolution of the human brain, while also leading to the behavioural traits that have made human societies able to thrive and expand, according to a new hypothesis proposed by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. Loke CTR...

Loke CTR Chief Laboratory Research Technician, Busma Butt awarded Green Impact Badge

3 June 2025

Not content with achievement of a LEAF accreditation, Loke CTR Chief Laboratory Research Technician, Busma Butt has continued her sustainable efforts with the achievement of a Green Impact badge. Green Impact is a sustainability engagement programme delivered by Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK). It...

Cambridge team attend APPG meeting on Reproductive Equity and the Fibroids Crisis

3 June 2025

priscilla1.jpg On May 14th 2025, a delegation from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, led by Loke CTR Next Generation Fellow Dr Priscilla Day-Walsh, participated to a parliamentary session on Reproductive Equity and the Fibroids Crisis. The meeting was organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on...

Giussani Lab success at recent SRI Annual Meeting

1 April 2025

We're delighted to announce that members of the Giussani Lab, headed by Loke CTR member Professor Dino Giussani, were winners at the recent international annual meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI), held in Charlotte NC, USA, March 25-29. Skaai Davison, second year PhD Student won the top abstract...

Loke CTR awarded Bronze LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework) Accreditation

11 February 2025

Loke CTR is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded the Bronze LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework) Accreditation, recognising our commitment to improving sustainability and efficiency in lab operations. LEAF, developed by University College London (UCL), provides a structured framework to help...

Ectopic expression of DNMT3L in human trophoblast stem cells restores features of the placental methylome

New paper highlights stem cell and developmental biology findings

28 January 2025

Congratulations to Loke CTR members, who published a new paper recently in Cell Stem Cell, highlighting various findings that are significant for both stem cell and developmental biology. The paper, ‘ Ectopic expression of DNMT3L in human trophoblast stem cells restores features of the placental methylome ’, demonstrates...

Launch of new eBook ‘Reproduction in a Changing World’

17 January 2025

A brand new e-book has launched this week ‘Reproduction in a Changing World’. A collaboration between Loke CTR PI Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri, with the Society for Reproduction and Fertility, along with other leading researchers and clinical doctors, this e-book creatively illustrates the latest scientific evidence in the field...

Image provided by Dr. Aleksandra Tsolova & Dr. Myriam Hemberger

Study led by Professor Steve Charnock-Jones and Loke CTR Collaborators Uncovers Key Regulators of Placental Development

9 January 2025

Professor Steve Charnock-Jones and Loke CTR collaborators have published their new work: " Single-cell RNA sequencing unveils CXADR as a critical regulator of the placental exchange surface " this week in Nature Communications. Using single-cell RNA sequencing of mouse trophoblast stem cells they identify Nicol1 as a...