Personal Biography

As a clinician scientist at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, I lead the Retinal Disease and Repair Group investigating the mechanisms of retinal diseases with a focus on neuroinflammation and inherited retinal degenerations. Based on our understanding of the genetic basis of these blinding diseases, we are developing novel advanced therapies such as gene therapy, CRISPR-mediated gene editing and antisense oligonucleotide therapy. I have previously led the first clinical trials of retinal gene therapy for choroideremia and X-linked retinitis pigmentosa as an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, and the first-in-human study of robotic retinal surgery.

I graduated from Brasenose College Oxford with the Martin Wronker Prize for the top first class in Medicine. This was followed by an MB-PhD programme in Cambridge, where I conducted doctoral research into how DNA editing brings about antibody class switching at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and clinical training at Trinity College Cambridge. After completing ophthalmology specialist training in the Oxford Deanery and an Academic Clinical Lectureship, I undertook an intensive vitreoretinal fellowship at the Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, before establishing my research group back in Oxford as a Wellcome Trust clinician scientist fellow and Honorary Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon.

Research and Teaching

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of sight loss affecting one in eight individuals over the age of 60. Its pathogenesis remains poorly understood and involves interactions between age, genetic, and lifestyle risk factors. Uveitis is another major cause of severe visual impairment in the working age. It is characterised by autoimmune intraocular inflammation. We are currently investigating the role of retinal inflammation in both diseases and developing targeted genetic therapies which we hope to translate into clinical trials in the future. The scope of genetic therapies has expanded rapidly over recent years, and we are actively exploring multiple therapeutic avenues, including gene augmentation, gene editing, and antisense oligonucleotide therapy.

My translational research team closely integrates basic science with clinical observations and clinical trials. Our clinical research currently aim to characterise genotype-phenotype-dietary correlations in patients with macular degeneration and gain novel insights into early retinal development in infants with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

I supervise both laboratory and clinical research, and provide lectures on the visual system, retinal development (stem cells), clinical ophthalmology, and robotic surgery. I was previously an academic tutor for BA in Physiology (pre-clinical medicine) at Corpus Christi College Cambridge.

Awards

  • Ruskell Medal
  • Ian Fraser Cup
  • Luigi Barca Award
  • Martin Wronker Prize in Medicine

Selected Publications

Wang G, Liu X, Ying Z, Yang G, Chen Z, Liu Z, Zhang M, Yan HM, Lu YX, Gao YX, Xue K, Li XY, Chen Y. Optimized glycemic control of type 2 diabetes with reinforcement learning: a proof-of-concept trial. Nature Medicine. 2023. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02552-9)

Szeligowski T, Fu DJ, Fernandez-Ledo N, Birtel J, Aslam SA, Patel CK, Xue K & Charbel Issa P. Photoreceptor damage in Terson syndrome. Retina. 2023;43:1557-1562.

Chang ET, Josan AS, Purohit R, Patel CK, Xue K. A network meta-analysis of retreatment rates following bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept and laser for retinopathy of prematurity. Ophthalmology. 2022;129:1389-1401.

Chandler LC, McClements ME, Yusuf IH, Martinez-Fernandez de la Camara C, MacLaren RE, Xue K. Characterizing the cellular immune response to subretinal AAV gene therapy in the murine retina. Molecular Therapy – Methods & Clinical Development. 2021;22:52-65.

Quinn J & Musa A, Kantor A, McClements ME, Cehajic-Kapetanovic J, MacLaren RE, Xue K. Genome editing strategies for treating human retinal degenerations. Human Gene Therapy. 2021;32:247-259.

Cehajic-Kapetanovic J & Xue K, Martinez-Fernandez de la Camara C, Nanda A, Davies A, Wood L, Salvetti AP, Fischer MD, Aylward JW, Barnard AR, Jolly JK, Luo E, Lujan BJ, Ong T, Girach A, Black, Gregory NZ, Davies JL, Rosa PR, Lotery AJ, Lam BL, Stanga PE, MacLaren RE. Initial results from a first-in-human gene therapy trial on X-linked retinitis pigmentosa caused by mutations in RPGR. Nature Medicine. 2020;26:354–359.

Chandler LC, Barnard AR, Caddy SL, Patrício MI, Fu H, Rada C, MacLaren RE, Xue K. Enhancement of adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene therapy using hydroxychloroquine in murine and human tissues. Molecular Therapy – Methods & Clinical Development 2019;14:77-89.

Xue K, Jolly JK, Barnard AR, Rudenko A, Salvetti AP, Patrício MI, Edwards TL, Groppe M, Tolmachova T, Black GC, Webster AR, Lotery AJ, Holder GE, Downes SM, Seabra MC, MacLaren RE. Beneficial effects on vision in patients undergoing retinal gene therapy for choroideremia. Nature Medicine. 2018;24:1507-1512.

Edwards TL, Xue K, Meenink TC, Beelen MJ, Naus G, Simunovic MP, Latasiewicz M, Farmery AD, de Smet MD, MacLaren RE. First-in-human study of the safety and viability of intraocular robotic surgery. Nature Biomedical Engineering. 2018;2:649-656.