12 September 2012

Professor Ron Hay awarded the Novartis Medal 2012

Professor Ron Hay, of the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee, has been presented with the 2012 Novartis Medal and Prize.

Professor Hay was awarded the prize in recognition of the discovery of a new biological control mechanism called "SUMOylation". The development of this field which has explained how a previously fatal form of leukaemia can now be cured by treatment with arsenic.

The Medal is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the development of any branch of biochemistry to scientists (of any nationality) working in the UK. The recipient receives the Novartis Medal and £3000.

This is the third consecutive year that the Novartis Prize has been awarded to someone from the College of Life Sciences. Professor Angus Lamond was the recipient of the prize for 2011 and Professor Grahame Hardie in 2010. Previous winners of the Prize from the College of Life Sciences include Sir Philip Cohen, who gave the Novartis Medal Lecture in 1992.

Sir Philip, who is a former President of the Biochemical Society, presented Professor Hay with the Medal at a Prize lecture at the College of Life Sciences.

Professor Hay’s lab is part of the Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, and he is also an honorary Programme Leader at the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling (SCILLS) at Dundee. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society last year.

"It is a great honour to be awarded the Novartis Medal of the Biochemical Society," said Professor Hay. "This recognition is a direct result of the hard work and creativity of the scientists who now work, and who have worked, in my laboratory. This also reflects on the high standard of the facilities available and the excellence of the scientific environment here in Dundee."

Professor Angus Lamond, Director of the Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, said, "This is a well deserved recognition of Ron Hay's outstanding research. The award of the Novartis Medal is a major distinction and underlines Ron's reputation as a world leading researcher."

Notes to editors

LIFE SCIENCES AT DUNDEE

With more than 1000 scientists, research students and support staff from 58 countries and external funding in excess of £30 million per year, the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee is one of the largest and most productive Life Sciences research institutes in Europe. Consistently voted one of 'the best places for a life scientist to work' by The Scientist magazine, the College has an international reputation for its basic and translational research and was recognised in the 2011 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Excellence with Impact Awards for 'Greatest Delivery of Impact'. The University of Dundee is the central hub for a multi-million pound biotechnology sector in the east of Scotland, which now accounts for 16% of the local economy.

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