6 November 2006

Scientist named among Europe's best

A scientist from the University of Dundee’s has been named one of Europe’s best - and is one of only five scientists in the UK to receive the accolade this year.

Dr John Rouse of the College of Life Sciences has been selected by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) as an EMBO Young Investigator - one of only twenty-one of the best young biomedical and life scientists in Europe to receive this award.

The EMBO Young Investigator Programme identifies and supports outstanding European life scientists who are within four years of having established their first independent laboratories. The aim of the programme is to give prominence to talented young scientists by drawing attention to the quality of their research and enhancing their standing in the scientific community.

The focus of the research in Dr Rouse’s laboratory is to understand how cells recognise and repair DNA damage to prevent mutations and diseases such as cancer.

The DNA in every cell of our body is like an instruction manual for the normal functioning of cells. A major problem is that DNA is constantly under attack from agents that arise inside and outside the cell and which cause DNA damage. This can give rise to changes or "mutations" in DNA. Ordinarily, mutations occur at very low levels because healthy cells have the remarkable ability to detect and eliminate DNA damage. However, DNA damage sometimes leads to a gradual accumulation of mutations in cells, leading to “re-writing” of the instructions encoded in DNA. These undesirable changes underlie a wide range of human disease including cancer.

Dr Rouse established his own research group within the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit (MRC-PPU) in the College of Life Sciences in 2002. Previously, Dr Rouse obtained his PhD under the supervision of Sir Philip Cohen in the MRC-PPU at Dundee in 1996 then held a postdoctoral position at the University of Cambridge until 2002 before returning to Dundee as a Principal Investigator.

John is the fourth Principal Investigator with the College of Life Sciences to receive the EMBO Young Investigator Award. The previous recipients are Drs Tom Owen-Hughes, Tomo Tanaka and Professor Daan van Aalten.

For media enquiries contact:

Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk