£50 million research milestone

Funding for research at the University has reached record levels surpassing the £50 million milestone for the first time.

Over the last year the University has attracted a total of £55.8 million to finance research projects - 30% up on last year - and ensuring Dundee's continued place in Scotland's top three universities for research alongside the much larger universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Congratulating research staff on their unparalleled success, Principal Sir Alan Langlands said: "Only state-of-the-art research attracts funding. This year's figures are a clear reflection of the University's position at the forefront of groundbreaking research in subjects such as psychology and geography and into illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and heart disease.

This year's research income represents 566 awards, seven of which were worth over £1 million each and three for £3.5 million or more.

Director of research and innovation services James Houston sounded one note of caution: "We should bear in mind that research income can be 'lumpy' with the possibility of funding for one or two large projects distorting a single year's results. Having said that, over the last four years research income here has steadily risen from just over £30 million in 1998/99 to £55.8million today. This year's figure is a £12.8 million increase on last year's £43 million."

He added: "It is also good to note that income from licensing University technologies is now running at over £1m per annum."

Nearly half (47%) of the University's research funding comes from charities, just less than a third (29%) from research councils and the rest from industry and collaborative ventures.

Leukaemia grant

One of these awards marking Dundee as a heavyweight research earner was presented last week to Professor Eric Wright in molecular and cellular pathology. Eric Wright's team received a grant of £1 million from the leukemia research fund to investigate blood cell development in leukemia and myelodysplasia.

Professor Wright is studying DNA to work out how it controls our cells to determine when and where mistakes occur in copying its information causing leukaemia. Exposure to carcinogens from a variety of sources - from naturally occurring radiation to manmade chemicals - can be powerful enough to disrupt DNA and the normal blood creating process to cause leukaemia and myelodysplasia.

However people's individual genetic make- ups react differently to factors making some more susceptible to these diseases than others. Eric Wright explains: "Our bodies vary in their ability to spot damaged DNA and to patch it up. It may be that some people inherit a poorer ability to do this than others, putting them at extra risk. That's one of the things we are investigating.

Our work will help unravel the complex way in which gene damage impacts on the working life of blood cells. Not only might that open up new opportunities for treating leukaemia by allowing us to target these unique communication pathways, but it will help us to understand how other carcinogens work and what might be done to reduce their risk."

Dr David Grant, Leukaemia Research Fund Director said that this £1 million boost to research underlined Dundee's importance in the pioneering world of medical research.

"Dundee is a cornerstone of an emerging Golden Triangle of research in Scotland that also includes Glasgow and Edinburgh. The quality of research undertaken in the city is world-leading and will have a major impact on the lives of people with leukaemia and the related diseases."

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