Laura Pearce who undertook her PhD research project in Dario Alessi's laboratory (October 2007 - December 2010) has been awarded the UK's most sought-after postdoctoral fellowship to work in the laboratory of Sadaf Farooqi at the University of Cambridge. Laura's new project will be to make use of the state of the art technologies in this golden era of genetic research to identify mutations in key genes that induce obesity in humans.
During her PhD in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, Laura identified the Protor-1 and Protor-2 regulatory subunits of the mTOR complex 2. Laura the generated Protor-1 and Protor-2 knock-out mice and found that these subunits are required for normal activation of SGK isoforms in the kidney
The Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship aims 'to provide a unique opportunity for the most promising newly qualified postdoctoral researchers to make an early start in developing their independent research careers, working in the best laboratories in the UK and overseas.' Candidates are required to identify an important biomedical research question and to develop and deliver a personal programme to achieve their research aims. The fellowship is for four years and will provide Laura with an award of £250 000 to undertake her research over this period.
Laura is the second MRC-PPU student to be awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship. Elton Zeqiraj who worked jointly between Dario Alessi's and Daan van Aalten's laboratories was awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral Fellowship last year to work in Frank Sicheri's lab at the Samuel Lunenfeld Institute in Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto, Canada) on structural analysis of important signalling and metabolic components.
During her PhD in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit, Laura identified the Protor-1 and Protor-2 regulatory subunits of the mTOR complex 2. Laura the generated Protor-1 and Protor-2 knock-out mice and found that these subunits are required for normal activation of SGK isoforms in the kidney
The Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship aims 'to provide a unique opportunity for the most promising newly qualified postdoctoral researchers to make an early start in developing their independent research careers, working in the best laboratories in the UK and overseas.' Candidates are required to identify an important biomedical research question and to develop and deliver a personal programme to achieve their research aims. The fellowship is for four years and will provide Laura with an award of £250 000 to undertake her research over this period.
Laura is the second MRC-PPU student to be awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship. Elton Zeqiraj who worked jointly between Dario Alessi's and Daan van Aalten's laboratories was awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral Fellowship last year to work in Frank Sicheri's lab at the Samuel Lunenfeld Institute in Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto, Canada) on structural analysis of important signalling and metabolic components.