6 November
Prestigious European prize for Dundee researcher
Dr Victoria Cowling, of the University of Dundee, has been named as one of this year's winners of the prestigious European
Molecular Biology Organisation Young Investigator Programme (EMBO YIP) Prize.
Every year EMBO go to great efforts to scour Europe, Israel, Turkey and Singapore to identify the brightest young
Life science researchers and award them with an EMBO YIP Prize.
In addition to the prestige, the EMBO YIP Prize also provides awardees with significant academic, practical and
financial support. Dr Cowling is one of a group of only 23 early stage PIs who have received this award this year.
Dr Cowling is based in the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation (MRC-PPU) Unit
in the College of Life Sciences at Dundee. Her research aims to find new methods of killing cancer cells by targeting
how proteins are made.
Upon receiving news of the prize Vicky said, 'I am delighted to join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme. I'm looking
forward to working with the Fellows from across Europe and beyond. I'd like to thank the members of my lab for their
contributions to this fellowship, and the MRC unit and the College of Life Sciences for their support.'
Professor Dario Alessi, Director of the MRC-PPU Unit added, 'I am delighted that Vicky has been awarded this great
accolade that is richly deserved. Vicky is the fifth PI from the MRC-PPU to be awarded an EMBO-YIP with John Rouse,
Daan van Aalten, Karim Labib and Helen Walden previously receiving this honour. This is a great reflection of the
strength and calibre of our Unit's researchers.'
The EMBO Young Investigator Programme is for researchers under forty years of age who have established their first
laboratories in the past four years. The successful candidates work in ten European countries, Israel and Singapore.
"The newly elected EMBO Young Investigators have the potential to be tomorrow's life science leaders," says Gerlind Wallon,
EMBO Deputy Director and Manager of the Young Investigator Programme. 'The status of Young Investigator offers a level
of recognition that brings immediate benefits to scientists at an early stage of their careers.'
Dr Cowling recently made a major molecular discovery about how genes are regulated and how mutations in cancer genes
promote unrestrained cell growth which can result in tumour formation.
Earlier this year she was awarded a Medical Research Council Senior Non-Clinical Fellowship to continue her ground
breaking research on how mutations in cancer genes can result in tumours forming. That award came with funding
of £2.5million over seven years to build upon the discoveries that her research group has made over the last five years.
About EMBO
EMBO is an organisation of almost 1600 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences. The major goals
of the organisation are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific
information, and help build a European research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.
EMBO helps young scientists to advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility.
Courses, workshops, conferences and scientific journals disseminate the latest research and offer training in techniques
to maintain high standards of excellence in research practice. EMBO helps to shape science and research policy by
seeking input and feedback from our community and by following closely the trends in science in Europe. For more
information: www.embo.org.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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