Karl Morten
Research Experience
PhD Bath University (1990)
Post Doctoral Positions (1990-2009)
Bristol University, Oxford University & The Buck Institute
for Research on Aging
Consultancy & Committees
London Technology Business Fellow (2006-2010)
Oxford Metabolism Committee (2014-)
MitOX (2009-)
Current Research Funding
ME Association UK, UK Spine Bridge and MLSTF Oxford
Group Members
Tiffany Lodge (Post Doctoral Researcher)
Leah Davis (Placement Student)
Jamie Strong (Data Assistant)
Sarah Hutchinson ( Post Doctoral Researcher)
Megan Stoker (MRes Student)
James Hulit ( Post Doctoral Fellow)
Morten Group ME/CFS Research Website
https://www.mortengroup.org.uk/
Enquiries from prospective PhD students are always welcome
ME/CFS RESEARCH PROJECT FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN
Funds raised so far 28/8/2020 = £3,134
Many thanks to everyone who has donated so far. Donations how ever small will make a big
difference. Regular small donations of £10 per month will be very useful and allow us to plan
a head and keep our researchers working on ME/CFS projects long term.
Karl
Karl Morten
Director of Graduate Studies and Principal Investigator.
Research groups
I run an active research group with a focus on understanding the role of mitochondria in health and disease.
Current projects include (i) targeting energy metabolism as a therapeutic strategy in cancer and (ii) identifying fatigue associated blood factors in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and iii) development of Raman Microscopy as a tool to study energy metabolism and drug accumulation
Research allows you to develop exciting collaborations with a wide range of people from different disciplines. Establishing collaborative research projects is one of my major passions and I am always interested in discussing exciting new projects.
Individuals interested in research in any of the areas above or below are welcome to contact me.
MitOX meeting. April 3rd 2020, John Radcliffe Hospital. This in an annual meeting which brings together mitochondrial enthusiasts from Oxford and the South East. Currently in it's eleventh year MitOX is very popular with over 140 delegates attending last year.
Collaborations within NDWRH
Professor Joanna Poulton: Investigating the pathogenesis and treatment strategies in patients with mitochondrial disease. Joanna and I have worked together on a wide range of projects for over 20 years
Dr Helen Townley: Nanotherapeutic delivery of anti-cancer therapeutics. Project supported by Williams fund. Helen and I work closely developing novel nanoparticle drug combinations which can target cancer cell metabolism. Helen is part of NDWRH and runs a laboratory at the Begbroke Science Park.
Dr Suzannah Williams: Developing metabolic tools to study follicular development.
Exciting new research initiative in ME/CFS
Our priority project is an Oxford based L-form project in ME/CFS, Stroke and Lymphoma this will run over 2 years recruiting 400 patients and controls. This will explore the use of Raman spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool and link the Raman signatures with the presence of L-form bacteria inside cells. To reach our running budget we need to raise £203,000 by December 2020. Details on the project are shown in the PDF link below.
Click here to see the Full Project Plan PDF (Research and Budget)
Click here to see Project Summary PDF
To donate please visit our donations page here: www.development.ox.ac.uk/mecfs
Your donation will contribute to important research on the causes of ME/CFS, helping us work towards better diagnosis and management.
With between 20-30 million people affected worldwide and associated family and friends we are very hopeful we can reach our target.
Talk from the 2020 Bristol CMRC meeting including L-form data
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yyusmxizQk&list=PLJV2oZMsotON2WJSXHBx-e09WUhkKdhCI&index=12&t=0s
Get to know our group and help support our mission
Key publications
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Journal article
Morten K. et al, (2016), Advances in Experimental Biology
Recent publications
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Journal article
Thézénas M-L. et al, (2020), Scientific Reports, 10
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Journal article
Słomko J. et al, (2020), Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9, 2531 - 2531
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Unbiased Yeast Screens Identify Cellular Pathways Affected in Niemann-Pick Disease Type C
Journal article
PLATT F., (2020), Life Science Alliance
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Acetyl-Leucine slows disease progression in lysosomal storage disorders
Conference paper
Bremova-Ertl T. et al, (2020), EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, 27, 181 - 181
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Journal article
Kujawski S. et al, (2020), Medicina (Lithuania), 56
Collaborations within Oxford.
Professor James McCullagh (Department of Chemistry). Using plasma mass spectrometry analysis to increase our understanding of ME/CFS.
Professor Wei Huang (Department of Engineering). Exploring the use of Raman Microscopy as a diagnostic tool in ME/CFS and as a tool to study the biology of aging in vitro in collaboration with Horiba.
Professor Helen Dawes and Dr Ryan Pink (Oxford Brookes University). Investigating the impact of plasma factors generated during exercise on cellular energetics from healthy controls and Parkinson's disease patients.
National and International Collaborators
Professor Jeung Sang Go (Pussan National University, South Korea). Various microfluidic projects including i) Continual synthesis of protein loaded nanoparticles ii) microvesicle separation and iii) 3D perfusion models for continual cell culture.
SoftCell Biologicals and the Dove Clinic: Understanding the changes in plasma L-form bacterial load in ME/CFS patients following faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and the link to clinical improvement.
Professor Elisa Oltra (Catholic University of Valencia San Vincente Martir): The role of exosomes and plasma factors in ME/CFS.
Dr Pawel Zalewski (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland): Pawel is an essential clinical collaborator for our ME/CFS research programme providing us with clinically diagnosed patient plasma samples for our various research studies. The impact of a structured exercise programme and cryotherapy on clinical and biological markers of ME/CFS is also being explored.