Dr. Helen Christian

Biography

Helen Christian is an Associate Professor and Director of Teaching and Education at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology in 1993 at the University of Edinburgh and earned her doctorate in Pharmacology in 1997 from the University of London. Helen joined the Department of Human Anatomy at Oxford in 1996 as a post-doctoral fellow and took on a Departmental Lectureship in Human Anatomy in 1997. In 2000, she became a University Lecturer and a Fellow at St Anne’s College. She has been recognized for her innovative teaching methods, receiving the University of Oxford Teaching Excellence Award in 2010 and the OxTalent award in 2011. Her research interests focus on the mechanisms of steroid hormone regulation in the pituitary gland, particularly the role of Annexin 1. Annexins are a conserved super-family of structurally related Ca2+-phospholipid-binding proteins that have wide-ranging functions in health and disease. Annexin 1, a 37kD protein induced by glucocorticoids, mediates glucocorticoid action in host defense and neuroendocrine systems.

Research Interests