According to the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia, research papers published by scientists at the University of Dundee over the 10 year period from January 1993 until April 2003 were quoted more frequently by other scientists (termed citations) than papers from scientists at any other University in Europe.
And, a paper published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 1995 by three team leaders in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit in the School of Life Sciences at Dundee (Professor Dario Alessi, Dr Ana Cuenda and Sir Philip Cohen) was the most highly cited piece of original research over the 10 year period not only in Scotland, but in the whole of the UK with 1,736 citations. It describes the mechanism of action of a drug that targets an enzyme called MKK1 which is critical for cell transformation and cancer. More potent inhibitors of MKK1 developed subsequently by Pfizer have been reported to prevent the growth of human colon tumours.
In Biology and Biochemistry, citations per paper were 27.7, which compares with 21.6 for the University of Cambridge, 19.9 for University College London and 19.4 for the University of Oxford in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.
In the fields of Molecular Biology and Genetics, citations per paper were 34.18, just behind the University of Geneva in top spot (34.96) but ahead of the University College London (31.98), the University of Cambridge (31.95) and the University of Oxford (30.58) coming in 3rd, 4th and 5th.
No less than 22 of the Research Team Leaders in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee were in the top 1% of most quoted scientists in their fields.
Within Scotland, University of Dundee scientists published all the 7 most quoted papers in Biology and Biochemistry. Commenting on these latest statistics Sir Philip Cohen, Director of Research in the School of Life Sciences said "This latest information from the Institute for Scientific Information confirms that Dundee is at the forefront of biomedical research in Europe." It is staggering that so many of the Research Team Leaders in the School of Life Sciences are in the top 1% of the most quoted scientists in their area, and includes scientists working in immunology, plant and environmental sciences and computer sciences as well as biology, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics."
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk