Matthew Wood, PhD

Professor of Neuroscience at University of Oxford

MATTHEW WOOD is Professor of Neuroscience and Deputy Head of the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. He directs the Laboratory of RNA biology and Neuromuscular Disease investigating development of RNA-based medicines for neuromuscular disease focusing on the development of advanced generation antisense oligonucleotides for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and related neuromuscular conditions. He is currently Director of MDUK Oxford Neuromuscular Centre and Director of the Oxford Harrington Rare Disease Centre. His research team will form a core component of a new Oxford-based institute known as the Institute for Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM). He has pioneered the development of novel drug delivery systems including peptide and exosome-based technologies for the targeted delivery of macromolecular biologics, including oligonucleotides, to tissues including the brain. He is a co-founder of the biotech spin-outs Evox Therapeutics (developing therapeutic exosome technology) and PepGen (developing peptide based drug delivery technology), and has recently led a major UK national initiative to establish a UK Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator (NATA). Matthew is or has been an advisor to numerous research funding agencies including the UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. In his role as Deputy Head of the Medical Sciences Division of the University of Oxford, Matthew leads strategic coordination of all innovation related activities. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of the University of Oxford’s technology transfer organization, Oxford University Innovation (OUI).