Medical funding chief in St Andrews

The Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council (MRC) paid a visit to St Andrews today (Thursday 6th September, 2001) to take a guided tour of the University’s state-of-the-art £9 million Centre for Biomolecular Sciences (BMS).

Sir George Radda met with Professor Garry Taylor, Director of the BMS building, and members of the University’s MRC Co- operative – a group of scientists awarded £1million by the MRC last year to study “Fighting infection: combining structural biology and biological chemistry in the search for new drugs”.

Professor Taylor and his group updated Sir George on the project, current research and plans for the future, including the expansion of research into discovering small molecules that have profound effects on biological processes. Such molecules will be useful research tools to dissect the complexity of the cellular events, and may themselves prove to be lead compounds for drug development.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The University of St Andrews has invested heavily in the interface of Biology and Chemistry, both in the building of the £9M Centre in 1998 on the North Haugh, and in the appointment of new faculty members. The Centre has had considerable success in raising research funding, currently around £11M, which has attracted interest from several quarters. The collaborative research environment at the Centre is almost unique in UK academia.

Issued by Beattie Media On behalf of the University of St Andrews Contact Gayle Cook on 01334 467227, mobile 07900 050103, or email [email protected]

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