Bill Carton (PhD student; Sapkota Lab) lands multiple awards at the University of Dundee “Three Minute Thesis” competition

Bill Carton
Bill Carton

Held annually by many universities worldwide, including the University of Dundee, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition challenges doctoral candidates to present a compelling spoken presentation on their research topic and its significance in just three minutes to non-specialist audiences.

This year, University of Dundee held the 3MT competition virtually. With over 65 entrants, the judging panel whittled down the list to six finalists from across different schools and the finals were held on 23rd June 2021. Bill Carton, who is undertaking his PhD research in the Sapkota lab within the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, was the only contestant from the School of Life Sciences to reach the finals.

His entry for the 3MT was entitled “Targeting the undruggable: How we can use the cell’s own machinery to target proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases”. His presentation at the finals can be accessed <here>.

Bill not only bagged an overall runner-up prize but he also won the people’s choice award, which was voted for by the audience.

Bill, originally from Ireland, is carrying out his project in the Sapkota lab looking at using the affinity-directed protein missile (AdPROM) system to try and degrade proteins found to aggregate in neurodegenerative diseases. These diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, are a major burden on our healthcare system with no currently available cures. Bill is hoping that his project might help to develop a new strategy for trying to reverse the effects of these neurodegenerative diseases. Bill’s PhD research is funded by the Cunningham Trust.

Principal Investigator

Lab Member