21 June 2001

A University of Dundee professor whose research has cast important light on how embryonic limbs are formed has been awarded a rare distinction by the Royal Society of London.

Professor Cheryll Tickle, a principal investigator in the Wellcome Trust Biocentre at the University of Dundee has been appointed to the Foulerton Research Professorship of the Royal Society of London, the UK's National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Tickle will be one of only 17 Royal Society research professors in the UK and one of only two women to hold this award.

She and her colleague Sir Philip Cohen are the only two Royal Society research professors working in Scotland.

Speaking about the award, Professor Tickle said: "I feel extremely honoured to have been awarded a professorship from The Royal Society. It has been a long-term ambition to be able to devote myself to the fascinating problem of how embryos develop."

Sir Philip Cohen said: "This is a fantastic vote of confidence in Cheryll's work and a further tremendous boost for the Wellcome Trust Biocentre at the University of Dundee."

Principal of the University, Sir Alan Langlands said, "Everyone at the University is delighted by this award - it recognises the current achievements and future potential of Cheryll Tickle's work. We are very proud to have her in Dundee."

Cheryll Tickle moved to Dundee from University College London nearly three years ago, soon after the Wellcome Trust Biocentre was opened.

A leading figure in the field of developmental biology, she has produced an impressive number of scientific papers which are now considered classics in their field. She was significantly involved in the unveiling of the molecular network which is responsible for the patterning and growth of the vertebrate limb and is a major contributor to the knowledge and understanding of how the vertebrate body plan is laid down. She has pioneered the understanding of how limbs develop.

She lives near Arbroath with her husband John.

The Royal Society will be making a significant contribution towards the cost of her research. The Foulerton Research Professorship was established in 1923 after Miss Lucy A Foulerton bequeathed her estate to the Royal Society in 1919 and was used to provide grants for original research in medicine for the discovery of disease, the causes of it and the relief therefrom of human suffering. These professorships provide long-term funding between ten and fifteen years to allow world class scientists to concentrate on research largely free from teaching and administrative duties and enable cutting edge research programmes to be developed.