We are delighted to announce that Helen Walden has been promoted to a chair at the University of Dundee where she will become its Professor of Protein Structure and Function.

This promotion recognises the ground-breaking research that Helen and her laboratory have undertaken on unravelling the fundamental mechanisms of how ubiquitylation is conjugated to its target proteins. Helen’s recent work has made huge contributions to our understanding of the Parkin and FANCL E3 ligases that are mutated in Parkinson’s and Fanconi Anemia.

Helen commented “I am delighted to be promoted to Professor, this is a great reflection of the hard work and dedication of the lab members over the years. I'm looking forward to the challenges and opportunities the promotion will bring.”

Dario Alessi, Director of the MRC PPU was equally pleased by this promotion “This is fantastic recognition for the vital work that Helen has undertaken to better understand fundamental questions underpinning ubiquitylation biology. This research is providing us with deep insights into how genetic lesions in the ubiquitylation system cause diseases such as Parkinson’s and cancer. It’s been a tremendous past couple of years for Helen with a series of important publications coupled with prestigious awards such as the Colworth Medal and an ERC Consolidator Grant.”