21 September 2009

Flagship Wellcome Trust programme welcomes five more clinical fellows

A programme designed to attract the most promising young doctors to academic research has welcomed five more Fellows to the University of Dundee.

Funded by the Wellcome Trust, the innovative £4.5million PhD programme trains clinicians in basic science to prepare them for a career in academic medicine. Dundee is one of only seven universities in the UK to benefit from the funding.

Following an intensive six week training period, the clinicians will begin a PhD project supervised by highly experienced researchers in their fields of interest. The programme benefits from the strong basic science research, clinical excellence and commitment to translational research already established within the College of Life Sciences and College of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing at the University.

It will improve the clinician’s understanding of diseases at a molecular level and will have important implications for drug design and discovery. This year’s intake includes clinicians from across the UK specialising in haematology, neurosurgery, infectious diseases, pain medicine and childhood cancer.

Professor Pete Downes, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, welcomed the new Fellows to Dundee, saying, 'The push to develop translational medicine in the UK requires clinicians motivated to lead world class research teams and who have received the best possible training in research.'

'This is one of the only places in Britain where clinicians can train in basic scientific research with some of Europe's best scientists.'

Dundee Programme co-director Professor Sara Marshall explained the benefits that the initiative brought to all parties, saying, 'This prestigious programme enables high-flying young clinicians to develop a deep understanding of basic scientific research during the next three years.'

'This will give them the expertise to identify new approaches to the treatment of human diseases, and ensures that new scientific discoveries can be translated into improved clinical care.'

The purpose of the scheme is to attract young doctors and prepare them for a career pathway in academic medicine. This is an important initiative as it seeks to tackle the shortage of clinicians undertaking research in the UK.

The programme is now in its second year. In September 2008, five clinicians joined the Dundee programme and are now working on research projects that will help our understanding of illnesses such as diabetes, brain tumours, leukaemia, and autoimmune diseases.

Notes to editors:

The clinicians who have taken up posts at Dundee are:

1. Dr Madhumita Dandapani, India, 30, Female, Specialist Registrar, Paediatrics (last post in Aberdeen)
2. Dr Stephen Humble, Bridge of Allan, 31, Specialist Registrar, Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine (last post in Ninewells Hosipital)
3. Dr Meghan Perry, South Africa, 30, Infectious Diseases Specialist Registrar (last post in Edinburgh)
4. Dr Katherine Walker, Glasgow, 28, Speciality Trainee in Haematology (last post in Ninewells Hospital)
5. Dr Shuaibu Dambatta, Nigeria, 35, Male, Specialist Registrar in Neurosurgery (last post in Newcastle).

Pic shows (left to right) Dr Madhumita Dandapani, Dr Katherine Walker, Dr Meghan Perry, Dr Stephen Humble. Missing from the pic is Dr Shuaibu Dambatta

Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health that was established in 1936. With an endowment of around £13 billion, it is the UK's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research.

Universityof Dundee
The University of Dundee has an international reputation for excellence in life sciences and carries out world-leading medical research into a number of diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and tropical diseases.

The University hosts research expanding from "the cell to the clinic to the community", and boasts one of the largest medical research complexes in the UK. It has an excellent track record in attracting research income and commercialising research activity.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277