We aim to raise £250,000 which the Kirby
Laing Foundation will match to make
a total of £500,000
Break Down of Funds
Thanks to the generous support of our
alumni and of the Kirby Laing Foundation,
the endowment fund of the Isobel Laing
Fellowship in Medicine has grown to its
current level of £500,000.
A further £500,000 is needed to ensure that
the College can continue to fund the post
in future years. With your help, the College
hopes to raise £250,000 which will then be
matched by the Foundation.
Every gift will make a real impact. For
example, if 45 Orielenses were to pledge
£30 per month for five years, after gift aid is
claimed we would raise just over £100,000
towards our target and this would then be
matched pound for pound. Every gift made
to the Fellowship will help Oriel academics to
engage in cutting-edge medical research and
will help to educate the doctors of the future.
How to give
By Post
Make your donation by completing and
returning the enclosed donation form to the
Development Office. Please remember to
sign the gift aid declaration if you are eligible,
which will allow the College to claim a further
20% on your donation.
If you are a higher rate tax payer, you can
claim back the difference between the basic
and the higher rate of tax on your tax return.
Online
You can donate online by going to
www.campaign.ox.ac.uk/oriel-college
The Raleigh Society is open to all those who
have donated £10,000 or more to the College.
As a UK taxpayer a donation of £8,000 will
qualify you for the Society as the College is able
to claim a further £2,000 in gift aid. Please
contact the Development Office if you have any
queries on gift aid or donor groups at Oriel.
Oriel College Development Office
Oriel Square
Oxford
OX1 4EW
Tel: 01865 286541
Email: [email protected]
The Isobel Laing
Fellowship in Medicine
Help to secure the future of vital medical research at Oriel
Oriel has been offered a rare opportunity to fund the permanent endowment of the Isobel
Laing Research Fellowship in Medicine, currently held by Dr Damian Tyler. The research
into cardiac function that Dr Tyler is carrying out will directly enhance our understanding of
cardiovascular diseases. There are currently nearly 2.3 million people living with coronary
heart disease in the UK* and research projects such as Dr Tyler’s are vital to ensuring this
statistic improves in the future.
The Kirby Laing Foundation, long supporters
of medical research and teaching at Oriel,
have offered to match pound for pound
every donation made to the Fellowship.
£500,000 is needed to secure the post
in perpetuity, and the Foundation is
prepared to match all donations up to
£250,000 to enable us to reach our goal.
In recent times, Oriel has built real academic
strength in the natural sciences and the
Research Fellowship in Medicine is an
essential part of this. It is the College’s vision
to nurture and maintain this excellence and,
in order to achieve this, we must work to
secure our academic posts for the future.
*British Heart Foundation, http://www.bhf.org.uk/media/
news-from-the-bhf/bhf-facts.aspx
Dr Damian Tyler – Current Research
Dr Tyler is the current
Isobel Laing Research
Fellow and a University
Research Lecturer in the
Department of Physiology,
Anatomy and Genetics.
Dr Tyler’s research is based on the
study of cardiac structure, function and
metabolism in normal and diseased hearts
using Magnetic Resonance Imaging and
Spectroscopy (MRI/MRS). His work focuses
on the development of the novel technique
of Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DNP), an
A member of Dr Tyler’s research
team working in the lab.
area that has the potential to provide new
clinical tools to help in the diagnosis of a
range of cardiovascular diseases. Due to the
impact of Dr Tyler’s work, the British Heart
Foundation has recently awarded him a highly
prestigious Senior Research Fellowship.
Alongside his ground-breaking research,
Dr Tyler is responsible for teaching
Biochemistry and Medicine to undergraduates.
He is also supervising three postgraduate
students on projects relating to the study
of cardiac metabolism, which will further
expand upon this vital field of research.
Metabolic images
of normal and
diseased hearts
produced by
MRI/MRS.
Why Donate to the Fellowship in Medicine?
Following the cuts in government funding to
higher education of recent times, obtaining
philanthropic support has become even
more vital to the College if it is to achieve
its long-term aims. Financial support from
alumni and friends who share the College’s
vision is therefore key to the future success of
Oriel. Central to this vision is the permanent
endowment of our academic posts.
The Isobel Laing Fellowship in Medicine
was established through the visionary
support of alumni, friends and the Kirby
Laing Foundation. We are very grateful to
all those who have been giving regularly
to support the Fellowship since the first
appeal was launched in the early 1990’s.
Looking forward, the matched funding proposed
by the Foundation offers a real chance to secure
the Fellowship in perpetuity at the College.
What will my gift achieve?
Research
Your support will allow Oriel academics
to continue to carry out ground-breaking
and critical research such as the work that
Dr Tyler is engaged in. Oriel is proud that
our Fellows are part of, and contribute to,
a global research community. With a fully
endowed post in Medicine, our academics
will have the ability to plan their research
with confidence and Oriel will be able to
support this vital work for years to come.
Teaching
The tutorial system is the crucible within
which so many fine intellects are honed and
is essential to the Oxford education. Oriel
is committed to maintaining the system for
future generations of students and your
support of the Fellowship in Medicine will
bring us closer to ensuring that top quality
teaching has a permanent home at Oriel.
Academic Excellence
Your donation will support excellence in
research and teaching at the College.
Oriel aims to attract the brightest and best
academics and post-graduate students
to come to Oriel, and we must be able to
compete with the offerings of top universities
and colleges around the world. The security of
long-term investment is vital to achieving this.