18 September 2006

£14.9 million award to MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit

The Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit at the University of Dundee has had its funding for the next five years almost doubled to £14.9 million after an overwhelmingly positive review of its activities.

The MRC Council has approved a recommendation from its Physiological Systems and Clinical Sciences Board to provide an increased budget of £14.9 million over the five year period April 2007-2012.

The Unit received funding of £7.5 million for the period 2002-2007.

After a rigorous review which involved seeking the opinions of 30 international experts in the field, the MRC Council gave the highest possible 6.0 rating for the Unit's recent work and future proposals.

The Council also approved the appointment of Professor Dario Alessi as Deputy Director of the Unit.

"This major new commitment from the MRC to the Unit in Dundee is a tremendous boost, and recognises the pre-eminence we have achieved in this field worldwide," said Professor Sir Philip Cohen, Director of the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit.

"The additional funding will allow us to expand our cutting-edge research programmes - which aim to understand the causes of global diseases such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and Parkinson's - and to use this information to facilitate the development of drugs to treat these conditions in partnership with the six major pharmaceutical companies with whom we collaborate."

When the new positions awarded are filled, the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit will have nine Programme Leaders and 115 staff and account for 16% of the on-going research in the College of Life Sciences at Dundee.

Over the past five years some of the highlights of the Unit's research have included the explanation of how a tumour suppressor called LKB1 prevents cancers from forming, the validation of the enzyme PDK1 as a key target for the development of an anti-cancer drug, the discovery of why mutations in an enzyme called WNK1 cause an inherited hypertension syndrome and the identification of new drug targets to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.

The MRC Council also announced that Dr Nick Morrice, Head of Proteomics in the Unit would be promoted from Band 3 to Band 2 and Dr Kei Sakamoto, Head of the Unit's Molecular Physiology Laboratory from Band 4 to Band 3, both effective April 2007.

The Council also gave approval for the Unit to recruit a biologically-focused Programme Leader with significant X-ray crystallographic expertise, a position which has just been advertised.

Notes for Editors

* The Unit’s Director, Sir Philip Cohen, was ranked the world’s 4th most cited scientist in the field of biology and biochemistry from January 1995 to August 2005.

* Professor Dario Alessi was ranked the world's 13th most cited scientist in the field of biology and biochemistry from January 1995 to August 2005 - a remarkable achievement for a researcher not yet 40 years old. He was the 2005 winner of the EMBO Gold Medal, presented annually to a young European researcher for outstanding contributions to life sciences research. Professor Alessi received the award in recognition of his landmark work in cell signalling.

* The MRC Unit was established in October 1990. The Unit's work has implications for understanding cancers, diabetes, chronic inflammatory conditions and other diseases. It led to the establishment of the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) in the School of Life Sciences, a collaboration with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies which was awarded the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2006

* The Medical Research Council: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is funded by the UK tax-payer. It aims to improve human health. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and universities. The MRC has funded work which has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. http://www.mrc.ac.uk

* The picture shows the Principal Investigators in the MRC PPU.
(back row from left: Professor Tricia Cohen, Prof Dario Alessi, Dr Nick Morrice and Dr Simon Arthur.
front row from left: Prof Carol MacKintosh, Prof Sir Philip Cohen, Mr Kei Sakamoto, Dr John Rouse)

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