Professor David Sabatini Delivers MRC Student-hosted Seminar

David Sabatini
David Sabatini

In 2017, for the first time, MRC-funded PhD students were given the task of organising and hosting a seminar. This year, Professor David M. Sabatini was chosen as the preferred speaker, and he graciously accepted the offer to visit Dundee and present some of his highly interesting research. David is Professor of Biology at MIT, a member of the Whitehead Institute, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

David is best known for his discovery and characterisation of the protein mTOR, a key, central signalling node that exists in two complexes. mTOR is a critical regulator of cell growth and metabolism, both at the cellular and tissue level. David presented an excellent, inspiring seminar on his current mTOR research that was of interest to a wide audience. Given the central role mTOR plays in many diverse cellular processes, David’s talk attracted many researchers from both the college of life sciences, and Ninewells hospital.

During his scientific career, David has received many awards and honours in testimony to his research, including his receipt of the Paul Marks Prize for cancer research, the NAS Award in Molecular Biology, and the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences. Last year, David was elected to the very prestigious National Academy of Sciences – the highest honour for an American scientist.

The nominations for next years MRC-funded student seminar speaker will start in due course and any student interested in organising the event should contact Sonia Rocha to voice their interest.