The Kennedy Network Conference 2026 brought together students, professors, leading researchers, and distinguished keynote speakers for a vibrant and wide‑ranging exploration of advances in rheumatology and immunology. Attendees enjoyed an exciting mix of student flash talks, rich poster sessions, hands‑on...

Eleven new grant awards have been awarded by the Kennedy Trust in 2025, totaling £2.6m over the next 5 years. Five early career researchers have been funded through the Trust’s new Transition Fellowship scheme, which is designed to support postdoctoral...

The Kennedy Trust is delighted to welcome four new Trustees to our Board: Professor Paul Peter Tak, Dr Edith Hessel, Professor Paul Emery and Dr Tony Wood. These recognised leaders in biomedical research and commercialisation bring a breadth of experience...

The Kennedy Trust’s funding for the Arthritis Therapy Acceleration Programme (A-TAP) has contributed to new developments in the understanding of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a world first, researchers at the Kennedy Institute, Oxford have mapped the cellular...

The Kennedy Trust is excited to announce a new schedule of funding calls: . . Transition Fellowship (£500k): opening October 2024 Research Ignition Awards (£100k): opening March 2025 Senior Research Fellowship (£1.5m): opening October 2025 . . Further details of...

A perspectives piece published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) sheds light on the importance of mechanical forces in the early activation of T cells, a critical part of the immune response. Professor Marco Fritzsche, a...

Professor Sir Ravinder Maini and Professor Sir Marc Feldmann have jointly received The Royal Society’s Royal Medal (Applied) for inventing anti-TNF therapy to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), bringing it from bench to bedside in one of the biggest success stories...

The Kennedy Trust’s support for the Oxford-ZEISS Centre of Excellence has contributed to the development of a new microscopy technique. The new technique, developed by researchers at the Kennedy Institute, enables detailed analysis of molecular interactions in live cell membranes,...

Over 30 years ago, the Kennedy Trust supported the early research and clinical trials that led to the discovery of anti-TNF therapy, a groundbreaking treatment that has improved the lives of millions of patients with musculoskeletal and inflammatory diseases across...

Following a highly competitive call, we are delighted to announce that Dr Tetsuo Hasegawa at the University of Cambridge has been awarded a prestigious Kennedy Trust Senior Research Fellowship of £1.9m over five years. The Senior Research Fellowship scheme was...

We are delighted to announce that The Kennedy Trust and Medical Research Council (MRC) are co-funding a new Daphne Jackson Fellowship, supporting Dr Kate Coldwell. Kate will be starting her Fellowship on the 30th July 2024 at the Kennedy Institute...

Kennedy Trust Senior Research Fellow Dr Elizabeth (Lizzy) C. Rosser, based at University College London, has been awarded a research prize from the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine for her work on eye damage in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). JIA...

Kennedy Trust Senior Research Fellow Professor Adam Croft has been appointed as the new Versus Arthritis Chair of Rheumatology and Head of the Rheumatology Research group at the University of Birmingham. The appointment recognises Professor Croft’s wealth of experience in...

The Kennedy Trust launched its Research Ignition Awards in 2023, with the aim of pump-priming innovative and ambitious avenues of research into rheumatic and related musculoskeletal, immunological and inflammatory diseases. Following peer-review by an independent panel of experts, ten awards...

VEXAS syndrome is an autoinflammatory condition that leads to fevers, general inflammation, skin rash, anaemia and organ damage. It can affect almost any organ in the body, result in bone marrow failure and it is associated with reduced survival. A...

Two professorships in translational medicine have been endowed at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology thanks to a generous gift from the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research.  The Kennedy Trust has been a long-time supporter of the University of Oxford through...

We are delighted to announce that we have awarded ten new Research Ignition Awards, the Kennedy Trust’s inaugural pump-priming grant scheme designed to enable researchers to build ambitious programmes of research.  The research themes cover diverse areas, including osteoarthritic pain,...

In June 2022, The Kennedy Trust began funding a project to catalogue and house our archive at Wellcome Collection. Cataloguing Archivist Annie Lord was recruited to process the archive and she has spent the past 16 months sorting, listing, arranging,...

The Kennedy Trust has partnered with Versus Arthritis to fund a comprehensive scoping review on the ways of measuring, assessing and treating severe fatigue associated with rheumatic and related musculoskeletal disorders. The review will be carried out by Assistant Professor...

We are thrilled to announce that The Kennedy Trust and Medical Research Council (MRC) are co-sponsoring two Daphne Jackson Fellowships to aid supporting research returners. Dr Stephen Simpson, CEO of the Kennedy Trust, commented, “we are delighted to partner with...

The Kennedy Institute’s Professor Michael Dustin has been awarded a prestigious Fellowship from the Royal Society in recognition of his outstanding contribution to immunology research. The Kennedy Trust extends its many congratulations to Professor Dustin on this well-deserved appointment. Read...

The Kennedy Trust was proud to be the principal sponsor of the inaugural British Society for Immunology Awards 2023, which took place on Thursday 20th April at the Royal College of Physicians, London. Designed to celebrate the remarkable achievements of...

Research Ignition Awards 2023: applications now closed The Kennedy Trust is delighted to announce the launch of an innovative new funding scheme: the Research Ignition Awards. With the goal of stimulating new and ambitious avenues of research, these awards will...

The Kennedy Institute opened its in-house single cell and spatial facility in 2021 with funding from the Kennedy Trust. Led by Professor Irina Udalova and Associate Professor Stephen Sansom (pictured above), the new facility will enhance research both at the...

Professor Michael Dustin has been awarded the Trust’s first Statutory Chair position as the Kennedy Trust Chair in Molecular Immunology at the Kennedy Institute, Oxford. Professor Dustin joined the Kennedy Institute in 2013 as Head of Immunology with a Principal...

The Kennedy Trust has carried out its four-yearly review of the Kennedy Institute over a two-day site visit on 14-15th November. The Trust Scientific Review Board (TSRB) was made up of an eminent panel of international scientists including Professors Tim...

The Kennedy Trust is thrilled to support Dr Yang Luo, who joins the Kennedy Institute from Harvard Medical School as a KTRR Senior Research Fellow in Data Science and the Principal Investigator of the Luo Group. Dr Luo’s lab is...

In 1985, Professors Sir Marc Feldmann and Sir Ravinder Maini identified Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFα) as a key component in diseases of inflammation. They suggested treatment for such diseases could improve by blocking TNFα. This discovery led to decades...

The Kennedy Trust has partnered with Versus Arthritis to fund a comprehensive scoping review on the ways of measuring, assessing, and treating chronic fatigue. Maximum Duration: 12 months Costs: £100,000 Application Deadline: 16:00 Monday 7 November 2022 Contact: awards@versusarthritis.org   A summary of the call...

The Kennedy Trust is delighted to welcome two new Fellows onto its prestigious Senior Research Fellowship scheme. Following a highly competitive recruitment process, Dr Sinisa Savic at the University of Leeds and Dr Elizabeth Rosser at University College London have...

The Kennedy Trust is delighted to announce that Dr Stephen Simpson will take over as its new Chief Executive Officer from 1 July 2022. Stephen joins the Trust with a background in medical research and in life sciences research funding. ...

Professor Fiona Powrie, Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, has been appointed Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Medical Science. The Kennedy Trust extends its sincere...

Kennedy Trust Senior Research Fellow Associate Professor Tal Arnon and colleagues at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology have published an article in Immunity defining the mechanisms that enable resident memory B (BRM) cells to rapidly deliver antibodies at sites infected...

The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (KIR) and the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM) have launched a new Biomedical Imaging centre with support from the Kennedy Trust. The first centre of its kind in the UK and Europe will...

Professor Fiona Powrie, Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, has been recognised for her outstanding contributions to immunology with an Honorary Lifetime Membership of the British Society for Immunology. Read more here....

The Kennedy Institute roof extension, co-funded by the Kennedy Trust, has been awarded the 2021 Green Award for Sustainability by the Oxford Preservation Trust, alongside a Certificate in the New Building category. Read more here....

Professor Fiona Powrie, Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, has been been selected as the next Deputy Chair of Wellcome’s Board of Governors. The Trust extends its many congratulations to Professor Powrie on her prestigious appointment. Read more here....

The Kennedy Trust has funded research into musculoskeletal and related inflammatory diseases for over 50 years. The focus of its support has historically been centred around the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, now based at the University of Oxford, where it...

Applications are invited for a Kennedy Trust sponsored three year Daphne Jackson Fellowship to be held at any UK university or research establishment. The Fellowship is intended for a scientist wishing to return to research into any clinical or pre-clinical...

A new study by researchers at the University of Oxford, including Kennedy Trust researchers Professor Fiona Powrie and Associate Professor Stephen Sansom, has identified potential new therapeutic targets for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Read more here....

Kennedy Trust researchers Professors Chris Buckley and Mark Coles, both at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, have been awarded fellowships as part of the Oxford-Bristol Myers Squibb Fellowship Programme. The programme, established in 2015, will provide them with an opportunity...

A new study, published in eLife, uses advanced tissue analysis technology to show how the incorporation of new proteins changes in bone and cartilage with age. The research team at the Kennedy Institute included Kennedy Trust researchers Professor Tonia Vincent...

Professor Tonia Vincent and Associate Professor Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic, both based at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, have been awarded funding grants by the Medical Research Council (MRC). Professor Tonia Vincent will carry out research that will aim to understand...

Kennedy Trust Senior Research Fellows Audrey Gérard and Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic, both based at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, have been awarded the title of Associate Professor in recognition of their excellence in research and teaching. Audrey is currently exploring the...

An additional third floor has been added to the roof of the Kennedy Institute building. The extension, which was co-funded by the Kennedy Trust, will provide additional meeting and collaboration space for data science and offices for the management of...

The Oxford Centre for Microbiome Research was launched in February 2019 with continued support from the Kennedy Trust. The Centre’s Deputy Director Jethro Johnson explains how the centre is building a research community to understand the microbiome and harness its...

The Kennedy Trust has joined the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), a network of 150 medical and health research charities who deliver high-quality research that saves and improves lives. In joining the organisation, the Trust has demonstrated that its...

The Kennedy Trust has co-funded the installation of a ZEISS Lattice Lightsheet 7 microscope at the Kennedy Institute, in partnership with the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM). The state-of-the-art optical imaging equipment will offer an unparalleled combination of...

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of immunology, Professor Michael Dustin, Professor of Molecular Immunology and Director of Research at the Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Read more here....

Professor Marco Fritzsche’s group at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology and the Rosalind Franklin Institute has used advanced microscopy techniques to measure previously unseen forces generated by cells during an immune response; a breakthrough for mechanobiology and future advances in...

Trustees and staff at the Kennedy Trust attended a dinner hosted by the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in celebration of a recent donation made by the Trust to enable the endowment of two new professorships in translational medicine at the...