Professor Frances Platt is the Head of the Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2021.

Plants are a rich source of therapeutic molecules and, for most of her career, Fran has worked on a drug that was originally derived from mulberry and other natural sources. The drug was known to have anti-viral properties and while working on its mechanism of action, Fran’s research found it had another activity that in principle would make it a treatment for a group of severe inherited rare diseases.

Fran will give the background to this drug and take you on a scientific journey from basic science to clinical translation, discussing the many factors that influenced her path along the way.