SCILLS - The Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling

SCILLS is dedicated to the study of how biological processes are controlled and how they become deregulated in disease. The Protein Ubiquitination Unit is the Institute's first research Division. Its major aims are to advance understanding of the role of protein ubiquitination and related modifications in cell regulation and human disease, to facilitate the development of drugs to treat diseases caused by abnormalities in this process, to generate reagents and improve technologies on which more rapid progress in this area depends, and to train the next generation of scientists who will advance the subject.

News

SCILLS Programme Leader elected a Fellow of The Royal Society

Ron Hay, a Programme Leader in SCILLS has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the characterisation of the process of SUMOylation and the understanding of its role as a biological control mechanism.

Commenting on his election Ron said, “I consider it a great honour to follow in the footsteps of so many distinguished scientists and be elected to the Royal Society. Having our work recognised in this fashion is extremely gratifying and is a direct result of the talent and dedication shown by the colleagues who make up my research group.

“Dundee provides a wonderful environment in which to carry out science and I would also like to extend my thanks to Philip Cohen for his support.”

Sir Philip Cohen, the Director of SCILLS said “ Ron’s election to the Royal Society is richly deserved, because of the major impact that his research has had on our understanding of ubiquitylation and related modifications, an area that is going to be increasingly important for the development of new medicines in the years to come. With Ron’s election, this means that, remarkably, three of the seven Programme Leaders of SCILLS are now Fellows of the Royal Society.”

“The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge” known simply as The Royal Society is the world’s oldest National Academy of Sciences. It was founded in 1660 by about 12 scientists and granted a Royal Charter by King James 2nd. 44 scientists who are citizens of the UK and British Commonwealth are elected each year from all branches of sciences, ranging from physical sciences, such as mathematics, chemistry and geology to biological sciences, such as biochemistry, pharmacology, immunology, genetics and medicine. The aim of the Royal Society is to promote excellence in science and Fellows elected in the past include Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein Ernest Rutherford, Dorothy Hodgkin, Francis Crick, James Watson and Stephen Hawking. There are currently more than 60 Nobel Laureates amongst the Society's 1314 Fellows and Foreign Members.

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