Subject

Biochemistry and Pharmacology

Research Interests

I obtained a BSc in Zoology at Imperial College University of London, and a PhD from University of Bath in Animal Physiology. I was a post-doctoral fellow at Washington University Medical School in St Louis, USA. I returned to the UK in 1989 (to the Biochemistry Department, University of Oxford) and focused on how the abnormal accumulation of glycosphingolipids results in pathology in lysosomal storage diseases.

I was a Lister Institute Senior Research Fellow from 1996-2002. A major focus of my work has been on the development of substrate reduction therapy (SRT) using the drug miglustat to treat several of these disorders. Proof of principle of SRT was demonstrated in mouse models of these primarily neurodegenerative diseases. In 2002 miglustat was approved by the regulatory authorities for clinical use in the commonest of these diseases (type 1 Gaucher disease) and in Europe in 2009 for treating Niemann-Pick disease type C.

My current research interests focus on the cell biology and pathobiology of glycosphingolipids and on the development of novel therapies for treating diseases resulting from defects in gycolipid metabolism.

Department Information

I moved to the Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford in April 2006. From October 1999 to September 2004 I was a Research Fellow at Merton College Oxford, and in 2007 I became a Supernumerary Fellow.

Department Website

http://plattlab.nsms.ox.ac.uk/

Contact Information

Email: Professor Frances Platt

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