Ricardo Moreno Ballesteros, a PhD student in the Virdee lab, has been awarded first prize in the Converge Kickstart Challenge. This competition is for aspiring entrepreneurs, emerging from Scottish universities, to showcase their aptitude and passion for commercialising their research. Ricardo’s proposal is for GenProtex, a biotech company which aims to be a validation platform to aid the drug discovery process. The prize is for £10,000 and includes eligibility for the 2024 competition where he will have an opportunity to compete for a £50,000 supplement.

Ricardo’s PhD supervisor Prof. Virdee said ”Ric’s entrepreneurship is extraordinary. He has the vision and scientific background to really make a success of this. The premise of Genprotex could be of huge appeal to the pharmaceutical sector. It could also have a beneficial effect on society by accelerating the development of new medicines for diseases with unmet need.”

We congratulate Ricardo and wish him all the success with GenProtex.