Awards made during 1998-99

£69,502 over two years to Drs J. Grant Burgess (Biological Sciences) & Phillip Wright (Mechanical & Chemical Engineering, Heriot-Watt University) to develop novel approaches for the generation of antibiotics active against multi-drug resistant pathogens present in clinical environments.

£70,000 over two years to Dr Keiran C. Breen (Pharmacology, Dundee University) to continue his research into the role of tau protein glycosylation in the generation of neurofibrillary tangles associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

£69,307 over two years to Drs Alison C. MacKinnon & Tariq Sethi (Rayne Laboratories, Edinburgh University) to study the inhibition of small cell lung cancaer cell growth and the stimulation of apoptosis by substance P analogues.

£69,278 over two years to Dr Ralf M. Zwacka (Surgery, Edinburgh Unviersity) to investigate the modulation of NF-kappaB signalling as a potential gene therapy approach for colorectal cancer liver metastases.

£40,695 over one year to Drs Alasdair M.J. MacLullich (Molecular Endocrinology Unit) & Joanna M. Wardlaw (Clinical Neurosciences) and Professors Jonathan R. Seckl (Molecular Endocrinology Unit) & Ian J. Deary (Psychology, Edinburgh University) to investigate the relationshp between hippocampal structure, metabolites, glucocorticoids and age-related cognitive decline by means of an mri and specroscopy study.

£68,037 over two years to Dr Vladimir Buchman (Biomedical Sciences, St Andrews University) to study the interactions of persyn with members of the Bcl-2 family and other proteins in tumour cells.

£69,061 over two years to Dr David Kluth (Medicine & Therapeutics, Aberdeen University) to investigate the possibilities for macrohage-mediated gene therapy in glomerulonephritis.

£67,639 over two years to Drs Graeme Nixon (Biomedical Science) & Isobel Ford (Medicine & Therapeutics, Aberdeen University) for a study of activation of calcium-indepentent regulation of myosin light chain phosphorylation in platelets - a novel mechanism for activation.

£67,364 over two years to Drs Howard McLeod (Medicine & Therapeutics), Graeme Murray (Pathology) and Professor Jim Cassidy (Medicine & Therapeutics, Aberdeen University) for an evaluation of chromosomal regions associated with resistance to chemotherapy.

£40,881 over one year to Drs Jim McWhir (Roslin Institute, Edinburgh) and Peter Gilmour (Applied Chemical & Physical Science, Napier University) to investigate inactivation of the ovine cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator.

£70,000 over two years to Dr James Shaw (Diabetes Research Laboaratory, Aberdeen University) and Charlotte Maltin (Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen) for an evaluation of the potential for 'off-the-shelf' gene therapy for diabetes by simple intramuscular injection of an insulin gene.

£87,119 over two years to Drs Christopher N. Connolly & John Peters and Professor Jeremy Lambert (Neurosciences Institue, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee) for the cloning and characterisation of notel 5-HT3 receptors and interacting proteins that regulate native receptor function.

£40,545 over one year to Miss Dorin Ziyaie, Mr Alastair M. Thompson & Professor Robert J.C. Steele (Surgery) and Dr Theodore R. Hupp (Molecular & Cellular Pathology, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee) and Dr Kathryn L. Ball (Biochemistry, Dundee University) to study regulation of p53 activity during breast cancer treatment.

£68,952 over two years to Professor Timothy Mitchell & Dr John Coote (Infection & Immunity, Glasgow University) and Mr Stuart Clarke (Microbiology, Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow) for a study of the role of RTX proteins in the pathogenesis of disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis and their potential as vaccine molecules.

£63,819 over 18 months to Drs Naveed Sattar (Biochemistry, Glasgow Royal Infirmary), Jane Ramsay & Alan Mathers (Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital), William Ferrell (Medicine, Glasgow Royal Infirmary) and Professor Ian A. Greer (Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Glasgow University) for direct assessemnt of microvascular function in pre-eclampsia using laser Doppler imaging.

£18,587 for a one-year project to Drs Andrew J. Thomson, Jane E. Norman and Professor Ian A. Greer (Obstetrics & Gynaecology) and Miss Marshia Crawford (Molecular & Cellular Biology, Glasgow University) to study the role of leucocytes in term and pre-term labour.

£68,382 over two years to Dr Mary McElroy & Professor Christopher Haslett (Rayne Laboratories, Edinburgh Unviersity) to study the mechanism of Staphyloccocus aureus injury to the alveolar-capillary barrier in bacterial infection of the lung.

£69,929 over two years to Dr Richard G. Phelps & Professor Andrew N. Turner (Clinical & Surgical Sciences, Edinburgh University) for the development and evaluation of a novel mass spectrometric approach to T-cell eiptope identification.

£69,225 over two years to Drs Simon Brown (Centre for Inflammation Research) & Seamus Donnelly (Respiratory Medicine, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary) to study a new mechanism promoting resolution of lung inflammation: macrophage-directed deletion of neutrophils.

The Mrs Jean V. Baxter Medical Research Fellowship 1999-2000 was awarded to Dr Sophie V. Barrett (Beatson Oncology Centre, Western Infirmary Glasgow) to investigate mismatch DNA repair and drug resistance of breast tumours.

The Medical Research Scholarships 1999-2000 were awarded to:

Research Workshops

Dr Kieran Breen (Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre, Dundee University) for Social and medical aspects of dementia - bridging the gap.

Dr Fiona Skinner (Highland Psychiatric Research Foundation, Craig Dunain Hospital, Inverness) for New research leads in neurodevelopmental disorders.