A scientist from the University of Dundee has been named one of Europe's best - and is one of only 4 scientists in the UK to receive the accolade this year.
Dr Daan van Aalten (32) has been selected by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) as one of 23 of the best young biomedical and life scientists in Europe.
Daan is working to identify key proteins involved in human disease, determine their 3D structures, understand their mechanisms of action at the molecular level and use this knowledge to design novel drugs against diseases such as cancer and microbial infections.
The news comes in the same week the National Cancer Research Institute published figures showing that Dundee attracts a significantly larger share of cancer research funding than its size of University and population would expect. Dundee wins 3% - 10.5 million of the UK pot behind only the much larger research institutions in London, Oxford Cambridge, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Daan van Aalten who recently established his own research group within the Division of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Microbiology, will now receive additional support to help develop the laboratory. He came to Dundee in 1999 having held postdoctoral positions at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA and Oulu University Finland.
Daan is the fourth Principal Investigator with the Wellcome Trust Biocentre to receive this award. In 2001 Drs Tom Owen-Hughes, Tomo Tanaka and Anne Donaldson were among the first 14 UK scientists to receive awards.
Contact Daan van Aalten 01382 344979
By Jenny Marra, Press Officer 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk