Fundraising Supports Visiting Intern Student
Thanks to the generosity of the family of Abbie Clark, Sjoerd van Helvert, a visiting intern student from HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, is to benefit from the proceeds of a collection made at Abbie's funeral.
Abbie worked at the University for 11 years, including 8 as a technician at the College of Life Sciences (CLS) before retiring in the summer of 2010. Sadly, Abbie passed away in July 2011. Abbie was a major supporter of research in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit (MRC-PPU). Through Camperdown Lodge, he raised thousands of pounds to fund summer placements at CLS for research students from around the world. In recognition of his fundraising passion, Abbie's family decided to hold a collection for this cause at his funeral. His wife, Charlotte, son Kevin, and daughter Caroline presented the proceeds of this collection totalling £500 plus £250 from a further collection, to Professor Dario Alessi, from the MRC-PPU.
Sjoerd, who started on 1 February 2012, will be establishing and testing new research tools in Dr Satpal Virdee's laboratory in the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling. The technology should enable the detection of interacting partners of critical biomolecules which are otherwise difficult to detect by other methods. Identifying who these biomolecules 'talk' to will allow us to piece together communication pathways in cells and how faults in these pathways give rise to diseases such as cancer.
Sjoerd is one of a number of intern students to benefit from an agreement the HAN University of Applied Sciences has with the MRC-PPU which offers an opportunity for undergraduate students to study overseas for a term to gain experience at another institution.
Dario Alessi said 'Abbie was a very popular member of staff at the College of Life Sciences, and he helped raise a lot of money for the MRC-PPU, which we are very grateful for. I would also like to thank Charlotte, Kevin and Caroline for carrying on Abbie's fundraising work. Everyone here is humbled by this gesture and as Abbie's previous fundraising was used to support the cost of bringing research students to the UK we decided that this donation would be used for the same purpose. His work enabled three students to come to Dundee and get their first flavour of research and also gain expertise and knowledge in diabetes research. Importantly, the majority of these students have since gone on to complete successful PhDs and are still working in sciences. Without the funds that Abbie and the Camperdown Lodge raised these students may not have had an opportunity to undertake a scientific research project and potentially might not be where they are now. We wish Sjoerd the best of luck with his research project in Satpal's laboratory and I hope that he makes a significant discovery but above all gains a major interest and experience in undertaking scientific research that will help him in his future career. Towards the end of his project Sjoerd will have to give a talk at the Camperdown Lodge to let Abbie's family and friends know what he has been doing with the precious research funds that they raised!'
Abbie worked at the University for 11 years, including 8 as a technician at the College of Life Sciences (CLS) before retiring in the summer of 2010. Sadly, Abbie passed away in July 2011. Abbie was a major supporter of research in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit (MRC-PPU). Through Camperdown Lodge, he raised thousands of pounds to fund summer placements at CLS for research students from around the world. In recognition of his fundraising passion, Abbie's family decided to hold a collection for this cause at his funeral. His wife, Charlotte, son Kevin, and daughter Caroline presented the proceeds of this collection totalling £500 plus £250 from a further collection, to Professor Dario Alessi, from the MRC-PPU.
Sjoerd, who started on 1 February 2012, will be establishing and testing new research tools in Dr Satpal Virdee's laboratory in the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling. The technology should enable the detection of interacting partners of critical biomolecules which are otherwise difficult to detect by other methods. Identifying who these biomolecules 'talk' to will allow us to piece together communication pathways in cells and how faults in these pathways give rise to diseases such as cancer.
Sjoerd is one of a number of intern students to benefit from an agreement the HAN University of Applied Sciences has with the MRC-PPU which offers an opportunity for undergraduate students to study overseas for a term to gain experience at another institution.
Dario Alessi said 'Abbie was a very popular member of staff at the College of Life Sciences, and he helped raise a lot of money for the MRC-PPU, which we are very grateful for. I would also like to thank Charlotte, Kevin and Caroline for carrying on Abbie's fundraising work. Everyone here is humbled by this gesture and as Abbie's previous fundraising was used to support the cost of bringing research students to the UK we decided that this donation would be used for the same purpose. His work enabled three students to come to Dundee and get their first flavour of research and also gain expertise and knowledge in diabetes research. Importantly, the majority of these students have since gone on to complete successful PhDs and are still working in sciences. Without the funds that Abbie and the Camperdown Lodge raised these students may not have had an opportunity to undertake a scientific research project and potentially might not be where they are now. We wish Sjoerd the best of luck with his research project in Satpal's laboratory and I hope that he makes a significant discovery but above all gains a major interest and experience in undertaking scientific research that will help him in his future career. Towards the end of his project Sjoerd will have to give a talk at the Camperdown Lodge to let Abbie's family and friends know what he has been doing with the precious research funds that they raised!'