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)

Inga Williams  (PhD  Student)

Jamie Strong (Data Assistant)

Sarah Hutchinson ( Post Doctoral Researcher)

Megan Stoker (MRes Student)

James Hulit ( Post Doctoral Fellow)

Edie Guo (PhD Student)

Morten Group ME/CFS Research Website

https://www.mortengroup.org.uk/

Enquiries  from prospective PhD students are always welcome

New Crowd funding.

A call for funding for five new projects is just about to be launched. These will allow us to generate new data following on from our current research. This will take us closer to being competitive in open funding calls with the larger funding bodies. We are currently working hard to publish our research generated over the last 3-4 years funded by grants from the ME Association. The papers and crowd funding will allow us to expand our research and bring in the experienced people we need to turn Oxford into a leading research centre for ME/CFS, Long Covid, Chronic Lyme Disease and PANS PANDAS

Karl & The Morten Group

New study on Cryotherapy planned in ME/CFS, Long Covid and Post Treatment Lyme disease.

For recent insights into Long Covid see talk by Nancy Klimas https://youtu.be/BtSPur-5XBk

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 2022, John Radcliffe Hospital. This is 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 years meeting . We hope the next MitOX meeting will be a fusion of face to face and online delegates and talks. Currently in the planning stage!

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.

New cutting Edge research IN diagnostics and the identification of causal factors in ME/CFs, Long Covid and PANS PANDAS

As we build in 2022 with our new research publications we are looking to maintain momentum with a series of small research projects.  These projects will build on our promising current research.

Our new research can be split into two areas:

1) Intervention and Longitudinal studies which aim to move beyond simple associations and identify causal elements in ME/CFS and Long Covid 

2) Diagnostic projects looking to identify a diagnostic signature in ME/CFS, Long Covid and PANS PANDAS

To donate please visit our donations page here:

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.