Outstanding academic achievements marked with Sir James Black Awards

Published On Tue 23 Jun 2015 by Grant Hill

The Sir James Black Awards for 2015 will give four University of Dundee graduands double reason to celebrate this week.

The Sir James Black Award for Outstanding Achievement is an annual prize presented by each College of the University to the final year undergraduate student making the biggest contribution to research and scholarship in their field.

The Awards are named after the former Chancellor of the University. Sir James Black was a Nobel-prize winning scientist renowned for his discovery of the beta-blocker, propranolol, and the H2 blocker, cimetidine (Tagemet), which transformed the treatment of angina and stomach ulcers respectively.

Sir James was Chancellor of the University between 1992 and 2006 and took a deep interest in the growth of the University. The University presents the Awards in memory of his remarkable contribution to science, to society and to the University of Dundee.

The winners will be presented with their awards by Sir James’ widow Lady Black at a special lunch to mark Graduation on Wednesday, 24th June.

This year's winners of the Awards are:

  • Fiona Plain (College of Life Sciences)

Fiona investigated the molecular physiology of a mechanism vital in cardiology but poorly understood, furthering knowledge of a challenging and emerging field with only a narrow base of published literature for guidance. She has accepted a prestigious British Heart Foundation PhD Scholarship to pursue her honours project work.

  • Matthew Hilley (College of Art, Science & Engineering)

Matthew developed a project titled ‘One Heart’, which aims to encourage personal engagement and responsibility in hypertension treatment. Matthew’s work has the potential for significant impact in the field of healthcare and to enhance quality of life and extend life expectancy for people with hypertension with subsequent financial efficiency for the NHS.

  • Zoe Ross (College of Arts & Social Sciences)

Zoe joined a joint Edinburgh-Cambridge University Expedition to south Iceland to carry out her dissertation project as part a wider research project. Zoe developed an important new methodology which will help researchers to interpret the palaeorecord of soil erosion and accumulation dating back to the 9th Century.  She will now take up a highly competitive funded PhD studentship at the University.

  • Katie Gardner (College of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing)

Katie investigated the effects of diabetes drug metformin on Haemoglobin concentrations. She has established that, unexpectedly, metformin use causes an early and sustained reduction in Haemoglobin. These findings were then replicated by one of the world’s foremost authorities on medicine and, as metformin is used by over 100 million people across the globe, they have significant importance.

 

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