Undergraduate Vacation Scholarships

There were 17 Vacation Scholarships during summer 2011. Summary information about the students and their vacation projects is available for download. (Read also about the 2010 Vacation Scholarships.)
Applications are now open for up to 20 Vacation Scholarships to be held during summer 2012.

Read More

Current & Recent Research Project Grants

The following are those whose research is currently being supported by Medical Research Scotland.

• Dr Leanne McKay (Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, Glasgow University), for a three-year study aiming to improve understanding of the development and maturation of the neural control of breathing.
• Dr Barry J.A. Laird & Professor Marie Fallon (Palliative Medicine, Edinburgh Cancer Centre, Edinburgh University), Professor Donald Macmillan (Surgery, Glasgow University) & Professor Kenneth Fearon (Surgery, Edinburgh University), for a three-year investigation of inflammatory biomarkers in prognosis in advanced cancer (IPAC Study).
• Dr Louise S. Bicknell (Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, Edinburgh University) for a three-year project which seeks to uncover the genetic causes of primordial dwarfism: harnessing gene discovery to gain insights into how humans grow.
  
• Dr Paul Hoskisson (Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, Strathclyde University) for a 24-month study of non-toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae  -  a pathogen of emerging importance in Scotland.
• Dr Vicky MacRae & Professor Colin Farquharson (Roslin Institute & Royal [Dick] Vet School, Edinburgh), Professor Sayed Ahmed (Child Health, Glasgow University) & Dr Nicholas Morton (Cardiovascular Scienes, QMRI, Edinburgh) for an investigation of the regulation of insulin signalling in bone by PC-1.
• Dr Richard Mort & Professor Iain Jackson (Medical & Developmental Genetics, MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh) & Dr Kevin Painter (Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University), for a 36-month project to take an integrated multidisciplinary approach to modelling normal neural crest cell development and the abnormalities that contribute to human birth defects.
• Dr Hui-Rong Jiang (Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, Strathclyde University), for a 30-month investigation of IL-33 activity in the development of neurological autoimmune diseases.
• Dr Sarah J. Coulthurst (Division of Molecular Biology, Dundee University) for a two-year investigation into the role of a new protein secretion system in the virulence of the opportunistic pathogen, Serratia marcescens.
• Dr Dana Faratian (Division of Pathology & Breakthrough Research Unit, Edinburgh University) & Dr Gillian Smith (Biomedical Research Institute, Dundee University), for a three-year study involving the grouping of colorectal cancers by phosphoprotein profiling, to refine prediction of responses to new and existing therapies.
• Dr Bing Lang, Dr Sanbing Shen & Professor Colin D. McCaig (Institute of Medical Sciences, Aberdeen University) and Dr Colin Smith (Pathology, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh), for a three-year project aiming to uncover novel biomarkers for schizophrenia.
• Dr Annette Sorensen, Dr Marie Boyd & Dr Anthony Mcclusky (Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, Strathclyde University) for an 18-month investigation of novel combination therapies for the treatment of medulloblastoma and other somatostatin receptor expressing tumours.
• Dr V. Anne Smith (School of Biology, St Andrews University) and Drs Simon Langdon & Dr Dana Faratian (Institute of Molecular Medicine & Genetics, Edinburgh University), for a project involving taking a systems biology approach to the development of predictive patient selection for ovarian cancer therapy.
• Dr Andrew J. Childs (MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit), Professor R.A. Anderson (Reproductive & Developmental Sciences) and Professor P.T. Saunders (Reproductive Sciences Unit, Edinburgh University), for an investigation of the regulation of germ cell development in the human fetal ovary in an effort to establish reproductive potential.
• Dr Carl S. Goodyear (Clinical Neurosciences, Glasgow University), Professor Margaret Harnett (Immunology, Infection & Inflammation, Glasgow University) & Dr Richard Soutar (Haematology, Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow), for a study of the inhibition of osteoclastogenesis by immunomodulatory complexes.[The Vipiana Award]
• Dr Colin Berry Scottish Senior Clinical Research Fellow (BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, Glasgow University), for his work on combining computer modelling and MRI to improve heart attack treatment.
• Dr Christine M. Dufes (Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences) and Professor Kevin Ryan (Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow), for the evaluation of systemic p73 gene therapy of cancer, using a novel transferring-targeted dendrimer.
• Dr Nancy Sabatier (Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh) for an investigation of hypothalamic mechanisms in obesity.
• Dr John A. Marwick (moving to Edinburgh from the National Hearth & Lung Institute, London) and Professor Adriano G. Rossi (MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh), to study the impact of oxidative stress and glucocorticoids on neutrophil function and macrophage clearance.
• Dr Nial J. Wheate, Dr Oliver Sutcliffe & Professor David Flint (Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, Strathclyde University), for a three-year investigation of the mechanisms of folic acid-directed delivery of platinum(II)-based anticancer drugs using PAMAM dendrimers.
• Dr Daniel Walker (Division of Infection & Immunity, Glasgow University), for a two-year study of the antimicrobial activity of novel protein antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the biofilm state.
• Dr Pasquale Maffia & Dr James Brewer (Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, Strathclyde University), for a two-year project on the visualisation of antigen presentation in models of atherosclerosis.
• Dr Andrew J. Roe (Infection & Immunity) & Dr Richard Burchmore (Functional Genomics Facility), University of Glasgow, for an 19-month project aiming to find new ways of blocking the infectivity of Escherichia coli 0157
• Dr Joanna L. Parish (Bute Medical School, University of St Andrews), for a three-year X-ray crystallographic study of an enzyme required for normal cell division and also in persistent papillomavirus infection
• Dr Hironori Ishizaki & Dr Elizabeth Patton (Edinburgh Cancer Centre, University of Edinburgh) for a three-year project aimed at improving understanding of the development of malignant melanoma
• Dr Gareth B. Miles (School of Biology, University of St Andrews) for a three-year project to test the 'synaptic stripping' hypothesis for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), by an investigation of cholinergic synapses on motoneurones in ALS.