Extracellular vesicles in cardiometabolic disease, friend or foe
Speaker: Naveed Akbar, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, UK
Talk: Extracellular vesicles in cardiometabolic disease, friend or foe
Time: 26.06.2026
Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58, hall 042B
Naveed Akbar is an Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Science at the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, (Cardiovascular Medicine) University of Oxford. He obtained his PhD in Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Dundee, where he investigated innate immune signalling pathways involved in vascular inflammation using in vivo imaging approaches. He later joined the University of Oxford as a Postdoctoral Scientist, progressing to Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, also as a Somerville College Fulford Junior Research Fellow. In addition, Naveed spent time as a Visiting Scientist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he worked with Professor Shannon Stott on extracellular vesicle microfluidics, advancing technologies for EV isolation and analysis.
Currently, he is a British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellow and a Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford. He now leads the Akbar Group, which investigates extracellular vesicle (EV) biology in cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic disease.
He serves on the Boards of Oxosome, the UK Society for Extracellular Vesicles, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles, and contributes to multiple editorial boards. He is also a member of the UK Medical Research Council’s Infection and Immunity Board, supporting national research strategy and funding in immunology and inflammation.
His research focuses on extracellular vesicle-mediated communication in cardiovascular and metabolic inflammation, integrating vascular biology with nanoscale technologies to uncover how EV-derived molecular signals activate immune pathways after heart injury. His work aims to define how these vesicles modulate inflammation, repair, and regeneration following myocardial infarction, for improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Beyond his laboratory work, Dr Akbar has been involved in public engagement, coordinating Oxford’s Pint of Science festival for 13 years and serves on the Oxford Sparks Advisory Board.