A PHOTOGRAPHY exhibition showcasing ground-breaking NHS research taking place across the Thames Valley has been launched in Oxford.

Titled‘The Body Unlocked: How Research is Changing Lives’, it features life-sized photographs of people who have taken part in studies, researchers at work and microscopic images of cells and bacteria.

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Images include surgeons preparing a pioneering gene therapy injection for vision loss, dogs smelling urine to detect cancer, a close-up of cells responsible for controlling blood sugar and a virtual reality headset to treat mental illnesses.

The exhibition can be seen for the next two months at Oxford’s Covered Market, in the windows of a unit opposite Wicked Chocolate.

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Among those featured in the exhibition are dementia study participants Barry and Enid Reeves, of Abingdon, who have been married for 70 years.

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The couple, both 91, volunteered for the study at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust after Mrs Reeves was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. Her husband said: “We’ve become closer as a consequence of her diagnosis because I have become her carer now. The study is not for our benefit particularly, we took part to help others.”

In 2018/19, there were 1,930 studies involving 39,129 participants at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford and Banbury’s Horton General Hospital.

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Professor Keith Channon, director of research and development at the trust, said: “Oxford is one of the UK’s leading centres for healthcare research, often leading the world in specialties as diverse as neuroscience, cancer, cardiology, diabetes or surgery and delivering improvements in diagnosis and treatment for NHS patients.

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That research, and the ability to push forward our knowledge of different health conditions, is critically dependent on the participation of many thousands of patients and members of the public from across the region.

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“We hope that this exhibition, which showcases examples of the ground-breaking research that takes place here, highlights the contributions of patients and members of the public and encourages them to get involved in research studies.”

After the Covered Market, the exhibition will travel around the Thames Valley to be displayed at other venues. To find out more visit thebodyunlocked.info.