Oxford University has been ranked as the world's best institution for medical and health teaching and research for the seventh consecutive year in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The discipline-specific tables for clinical, pre-clinical and health studies, released today, follow on from the announcement that Oxford has been ranked the top university in the world by the same publication for the second year running. Oxford also came in third place for life sciences.
The ranking is based on criteria measuring teaching, research, industry income, international outlook and citations, which are combined to provide a comparison of universities worldwide.
There are around 5,000 full-time equivalent researchers, teachers and staff across the Medical Sciences Division at Oxford, as well as 1,500 graduate and 1,500 undergraduate students.
Professor Gavin Screaton Head of the Medical Sciences Division, said: ‘Oxford is a special place because of the close relationship between research, teaching and clinical treatments. Medical Sciences at Oxford is world leading, and we will continue to focus on its future development for the benefit of our students and staff, as well as the patients who will continue to benefit from the excellent research which is constantly transforming lives.'
The division is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe, carrying out a substantial number of clinical trials to develop new treatments and to improve patient care and safety. Both research and clinical trials are supported by a network of international research units in Africa and Asia, as well as close partnerships with the Oxford University Hospitals and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trusts. This enables constant improvements to the University's research and teaching, while the latest developments in medical research lead to improved patient care.
It has been a landmark year for the Medical Sciences Division; in May the World’s largest health big data institute opened in Oxford - the £115 million Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery. Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe FRS, Director of the Target Discovery Institute, was awarded the Royal Society’s Buchanan Medal in July for his ground-breaking research on oxygen sensing and signalling pathways mediating cellular responses to hypoxia. In March, Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology, performed the world’s first operation to deliver new DNA to the eye and reverse sight loss that had been caused by x-linked retinitis pigmentosa - a deteriorating genetic condition which brings a slow and irreversible loss of vision, and which is the leading cause of blindness in young people.
‘Oxford’s world-leading position in clinical, pre-clinical and health subjects is a reflection of the quality of the researchers based here, whose work is directly translated into innovative therapies for patients,’ said Professor MacLaren. ‘Oxford also has the capacity and expertise to engage with commercial partners, so that clinical trials can go beyond research and provide real treatments for many currently incurable diseases around the world.’