Institute for Regeneration and Repair

10/09/2026

New vision condition identified 👁️

A gene previously known to cause one inherited eye condition has also been found to cause a different form of retinal degeneration, triggered by a separate genetic mutation.

The new eye condition, called EFEMP1-associated late-onset retinal degeneration (L-ORD) leaves patients finding it difficult to see at night, or adapt to changes in light.

Summary: https://edin.ac/4r8otEI
Full paper: https://edin.ac/4xP6C8g

Universität Basel | Charles University | Penn Medicine | Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn | The University of Edinburgh

08/09/2026

To mark 300 years of Edinburgh Medical School , we're taking part in Doors Open Day on Saturday, 26 September! 👋

This is your chance to learn more about our research, meet some of our researchers, and take a guided tour of our institute here at the Edinburgh BioQuarter . Our neighbours in the Usher Institute - The University of Edinburgh will also have guided tours of the building, as well as family-friendly drop-in activities. We'll see you there! 🏢

Learn more about Doors Open Day at the BioQuarter: https://edin.ac/4wXrYj8

26/08/2026

Accelerating drug discovery with new real-time cell imaging method 🔬💡

The Vendrell lab has developed a new method that allows for fluorescent probes to light up when bound to targets of interest on the cell surface. They found the drug avasimibe affects immune cell behaviour important in cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Summary 🔎: https://edin.ac/4hJIZsz
Full paper 🗞️: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-026-02228-0

Image: Microscopy images showing lead fluorogenic peptide (red) binds to PD-1 cell-surface receptor on T-cells when activated (right), but not when T cells are inactive (left).

22/07/2026

Congratulations to IRR Group Leader Dr Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez who co-led a fantastic UK Space Biology Summit with Dr Katherine Baxter (University of Glasgow)! 🚀

The UK Space Biology Summit, held in Edinburgh, brought together researchers, industry, government, and representatives from UK and international space agencies to establish a co-ordinated vision for the future of UK space-life sciences. 🔭🔬

It’s exciting times for UK Space Biology.

Read more: https://edin.ac/3TfVz8D

21/07/2026

Our IRR researchers are presenting at this year's 'The Provocateurs', a staple of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe !

The academics will be joined by a comedian and will cover their cutting edge research with audiences at The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh

Book your tickets now!

https://www.thestand.co.uk/whats-on/show-tag/159/the-provocateurs-fringe-2026

16/07/2026

IRR's Rod Mitchell was featured in the Guardian this week in a piece on male fertility decline: Spermageddon
https://www.theguardian.com/society/ng-interactive/2026/jul/11/s***mageddon-world-facing-male-reproductive-crisis

You can hear his thoughts (and those of IRR's Richard Weller) LIVE at their Provocateurs show at The Stand as part of the Edinburgh Fringe in August! Tickets are selling fast! https://www.thestand.co.uk/performance/22517/the-provocateurs-this-dermatologist-recommends-sunshine-s***mageddon/20260829/stand%204

Reports of falling s***m counts and testosterone levels have fuelled fears over chemicals, pollution and modern lifestyles. But how much do scientists agree on what is affecting male fertility?

15/07/2026

Earlier this year we had a visit from the BBC to film IRR spinout, Trogenix. Learn more about the company's groundbreaking research into glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer, below

Tech Now meets a firm developing treatments to target cancer cells and stop them returning.

10/07/2026

Dr Lucy Whitaker's research into the use of total-body PET scaning for endometriosis has been featured as a case study by the National PET Imaging Platform. Read more about the research here: https://npip.org.uk/resources/case-studies/

09/07/2026

Congratulations to Roseanne Rosario for winning IRR's 3rd Research in a Flash competition! 🏆

The winner was chosen by audience vote for giving the most accessible and engaging presentation.

A huge thank you to all of our speakers for sharing their work: Georgia Morgan, Heather Love, Ian Chambers, Isabella Jamieson Morris, John Henderson, Roseanne Rosario and Matthieu Vermeren.

And thank you to everyone who joined us. It was especially great to welcome 10 high school interns from local schools, who are spending the summer at IRR and INCR through the Edinburgh BioQuarter internship programme. We hope you enjoyed hearing the breadth of research taking place across IRR!

07/07/2026

Douglas Gibson's team at the Centre for Reproductive Health have shown that people with endometriosis have a distinct pattern of hormones which could be identified by a blood test.
The research looks at androgens (typically thought of as 'male hormones' but are present in females too) and has been 95% accurate in identifying people with endometriosis.

https://regeneration-repair.ed.ac.uk/hormone-differences-could-pave-way-for-endometriosis-blood-test