Recent biomedical science awards

29 August 2010

Among the new awards made through our Neuroscience and Mental Health funding stream is one to Professor Phil Maguire, a psychiatrist at King’s College London who will be researching psychosis at an early outreach clinic in south London. He will investigate why individuals develop the condition using a combination of neuroimaging methods.

Prof. Andrew Wilkie has been awarded a programme grant through our Molecules, Genes and Cells stream to explore the consequences of ‘selfish mutations’, which confer a growth advantage to cells in the testes that produce sperm. He and colleagues at the University of Oxford will investigate whether these mutations are more common than thought and whether they contribute to cancers and other complex diseases in the offspring.

Prof. Dario Alessi from the University of Dundee will use a project grant awarded through the Physiological Sciences stream to investigate a kidney protein that’s targeted in the first-line treatment for high blood pressure. His work, in conjunction with researchers in Mexico, should improve our understanding of hypertension, which could ultimately lead to new treatments.

Image: Single rat kidney cell. Credit: Wellcome Images.