Local lodge donates to diabetes

The local community has come together to support diabetes research at Dundee, raising more than £2,000 for research being undertaken in the College of Life Sciences.

Members of Camperdown Lodge raised £2,257 at a Gala Day and brik-a-brac sale in aid of diabetes research, specifically the research being undertaken in the laboratory of Professor Dario Alessi and Dr Kei Sakamoto in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit. Their work is aimed at better understanding the causes of diabetes and researching for improved ways to treat this serious disease.

Professor Alessi said, "It is a great privilege to receive support for our research from the local community of Dundee. We are also particularly grateful that this is the third year that the Camperdown Lodge has raised money to support research in our laboratory."

"Diabetes is a very serious and debilitating disease affecting nearly 14,000 people in Tayside. Compared to other ailments such as cancer, funds available for research into the causes and treatments of diabetes are extremely limited."

"I would like to extend my thanks to all those of the Camperdown Lodge who made a tremendous effort in their Gala Day to raise so much money that will enable us to perform research into understanding the causes of type-2 diabetes."

"Funds raised in previous years were used to enable promising students from India and Germany to visit and work in Dundee to gain expertise and knowledge in diabetes research."

Last year's donation funded the visit of Jürgen Goebel from Germany.

Jürgen's research project turned out to be extremely successful. His work has led to the clarification of the three dimensional structure of part of an enzyme that is believed to play an important role in regulating blood pressure in humans. This work forms the basis of an important paper that is currently being submitted for publication.

Based on his success, Jürgen has now secured a PhD position in the laboratory of Professor Doreen Cantrell in the College of Life Sciences Division of Cell Biology and Immunology.

Professor Alessi said, "It is very satisfying that the funds raised by Camperdown Lodge not only went to fund high quality diabetes relevant research, but also provided the opportunity for a talented young researcher to develop a passion for research and demonstrate their ability, as well as encouraging them to embark on a career in research."

Professor Alessi and Dr Sakamoto recently visited Camperdown Lodge with Jürgen to explain the research that had been undertaken with the Lodge's donation and welcomed Mr Abbie Clark and members of the Lodge to a tour of the laboratories in the College of Life Sciences.

Cheque lodged: Following a tour of the laboratories, Camperdown Lodge members presented a cheque for diabetes research. Front row from left: Lodge member Bobby Duncan, Dr Kei Sakamoto, Professor Dario Alessi and lodge member Abbie Clark.