On March 27th 2024, Elisha McCrory gave a great final PhD seminar entitled “Identification of HOIL-1 catalysed ester-linked ubiquitylation sites and their deubiquitylation by DUBs” and then defended her thesis successfully during a three hour private viva examination with external examiner Professor Sylvie Urbe from the University of Liverpool and internal examiner Professor Sir Michael Ferguson. Commenting on her four years as a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD student in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit at Dundee, Dr McCrory said: “The Cohen lab within the MRC PPU has been a fantastic place to undertake my PhD training and to produce some great research. It has been a privilege to be part of this great milestone as Philip’s 50th PhD student!”. Elisha is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation at Dundee, directed by Alessio Ciulli, which she joined in December 2023 after her PhD thesis was submitted.

Elisha becomes the 50th student to have received a PhD under Philip Cohen’s supervision. Commenting on the unusual milestone he has reached, Philip said: “There is nothing more rewarding for a Principal Investigator than to see a student succeed in obtaining their PhD and then to watch their subsequent career as it develops over the years. I have been privileged to have had many great students over the past 51+ years, many of whom have subsequently become leaders in their chosen field and includes numerous University Professors or Captains of Industry. It has been a real pleasure to have been Elisha’s supervisor. I am confident that she will have a very successful career and wish her well for the future. I am already missing her infectious laugh!“