Scottish medical unit receives £24 million

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has awarded £24 million to the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC-PPU), based at the University of Dundee, funding its work over the next five years. As well as allowing the unit to recruit several new researchers, the award will also allow it to bring the Scottish Institute of Cell Signalling, established at Dundee in 2008, into the fold.

The MRC-PPU was set up in 1990 to investigate the role that protein phosphorylation plays in regulating human diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, immune system disorders and hypertension. It now plays host to over 160 staff from 25 countries, split between 20 major research groups.

'At these financially challenging times this is incredibly generous support from the MRC,' said Dario Alessi, director of the MRC-PPU. 'It is a strong endorsement of our research that aims to improve our understanding of human diseases. Importantly, this investment by the MRC will enable us to expand our research activities to new exciting areas such as investigating the role of ubiquitylation in human disease.'