Appointment of first Professor of Biotechnology

Julie Frearson, Director of Biology at BioFocus plc, Cambridge, has been appointed to the first Chair of Biotechnology in the School of Life Sciences.

Professor Frearson has an outstanding reputation in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industries for successfully delivering on target screening and drug development projects. Her skills lie in so-called 'high-throughput screening', a process where tens of thousands of molecules are tested as potential drug leads using robots, and the downstream management of drug development programmes.

Boosting 'translational research' - the conversion of basic academic research into new medical treatments for diseases like type-2 diabetes, allergy, cancer, African sleeping sickness and malaria - will be Professor Frearson’s key role. Her purpose-built laboratory, research team and robots will be based in the new Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (CIR).

Professor Mike Ferguson, who has played a key role in fundraising and recruiting for the CIR, especially the infrastructure for its new drug development capacity, said, "We are delighted to have recruited a high-flyer from industry to help us set up our drug development platform at the University. Professor Frearson's appointment is a key part of expanding our activities at the Chemistry/Biology interface. Together with our existing staff and other recent appointments, like that of Ian Gilbert as Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, we will have a set of scientific and technical skills that can take us from basic discoveries through to advanced drug leads ready for clinical trials. This is virtually unheard of in academia and reflects Dundee’s continual development and ability to stay at the forefront of Life Sciences research at a national and international level."