Division of Signal Transduction Therapy

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Division of Signal Transduction Therapy
Formation 1998
Leader Dario Alessi, Philip Cohen, Ron Hay
Parent organization
University of Dundee
Affiliations AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono
, Janssen Pharmaceutica and Pfizer
Budget
2.75 million/year
Staff
200
Website http://www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/research/dstt/
The Division of Signal Transduction Therapy or DSTT is an organization managed b
y the University of Dundee, the Medical Research Council, and the pharmaceutical
companies AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono, Jan
ssen Pharmaceutica, and Pfizer. The purpose of the collaboration is to conduct c
ell signalling research and to encourage development of new drug treatments for
global diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Parkinson s Disease. Spe
cifically the collaboration aims to target protein kinases and the ubiquitylatio
n system in the development of these therapies. It is one of the largest ever co
llaborations between the commercial pharmaceutical industry and any academic res
earch institute.
Contents [hide]
1 Organizational resources and management
2 Research
3 Awards
4 References
5 External links
Organizational resources and management[edit]
The organization was founded by Professor Sir Philip Cohen and Professor Pete Do
wnes in 1998. In 2003 the organization's existence was renewed with 15 million fu
nding, and in 2008 further renewed with 11 million. In July 2012 the collaboratio
n was renewed once more with core support funding of 14.4 million under the direc
torship of Professor Dario Alessi.[1]
It is made up from fifteen research teams based at the University of Dundee and
along with support personnel totals nearly 200 members of staff. Thirteen of the
teams are based within the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit
at the College of Life Sciences. The amount of funding and staff make DSTT the l
argest collaboration between the for-profit pharmaceutical industry and a univer
sity in the United Kingdom.[2]
Under the DSTT's agreement, the commercial companies and the DSTT share access t
o their unpublished results, equipment, and staff expertise in the participating
laboratories. The university staff gets steady funding, while the commercial co
mpanies get rights to license certain intellectual property produced. The DSTT d
oes not conduct contract research on behalf of member companies; 60% of the budg
et is consumed by basic research chosen by the companies and the remaining 40% i
s used to provide analytical services and maintain the collection of reagents. T
he DSTT itself produces protein and lipid kinases, phosphatases and ubiquitin re
agents for member companies to use in research and as targets for high-throughpu
t screening. These reagents are prerequisites to the development of new drug lea
ds, and the variety kept available by the DSTT is vast compared to what typical
laboratories keep.[2]
Research[edit]
The focus of the DSTT is the study of protein phosphorylation and ubiquitylation
.
Protein phosphorylation is a principal control mechanism in almost all aspects o
f cellular regulation of most organisms.[citation needed] Abnormalities in phosp
orylation contribute to many classes of diseases including cancer, diabetes, and
rheumatoid arthritis.
Awards[edit]
The University of Dundee received a Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of
the DSTT being a model for research sharing between academic and commercial sect
ors.[3] Elizabeth II and Prince Philip presented the prize on 16 February 2006.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Firms invest 14m in disease research at Dundee" BBC News Scotland Busi
ness. Retrieved 21 August 2013
^ Jump up to: a b "Division of Signal Transduction Therapy". Dundee's College of
Life Science website. University of Dundee. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
Jump up ^ "Prizewinners 2005". Queen's Anniversary Prize. Royal Anniversary Trus
t. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
External links[edit]
Division of Signal Transduction Therapy
[show] v t e
University of Dundee
Categories: Biomedical research foundationsUniversity of DundeeResearch institut
es in the United Kingdom
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