Ruth Drury

I am a paediatric trainee and bioinformatician focusing on the role of small RNAs (including microRNAs) in the immune response to vaccination and infection. In collaboration with Daniel O'Connor, I design and analyze multi-omic studies to investigate this area. My area of expertise includes small RNA expression and proteomic data sets. 

My DPhil research explored how vaccination and infection influence the expression of small RNAs in blood and how these changes are linked to clinical outcomes, such as vaccine-related fever, vaccine efficacy, and infection severity. My work centred on infant vaccines, typhoid vaccination and infection, and COVID-19.

I am currently setting up a project to determine whether extracellular RNA and DNA could serve as diagnostic biomarkers for necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening bowel condition affecting premature infants.

In addition, I run a wet-lab project investigating the role of miR-122-5p in the acute phase response.

As a Clinical Lecturer, I also teach and tutor medical students on the paediatrics module of the University of Oxford medical degree program.