Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery (BCDD)

Improving our understanding of pathogen biology and transforming drug discovery for both infectious and non-infectious diseases; making the previously undruggable, druggable.

test tubes in lab environment

We target lethal and debilitating pathogens, address urgent unmet patient needs, and deliver new medicines; working in a multi-disciplinary, highly collaborative and well-resourced research environment. Delivery is enabled through technological innovation, research excellence, and partnerships with research and development organisations and pharmaceutical companies.

World-leading centres and teams

BCDD incorporates the following world-leading centres and teams:
 

Core strengths

Cross-cutting core strengths and innovation areas include:

  • drug-resistance
  • chemical biology
  • glycobiology
  • medicinal chemistry
  • gene expression control mechanisms
  • genetic manipulation
  • high-throughput screening
  • proteomics
  • molecular interactions
  • imaging
  • informatics

Infectious diseases

Infectious diseases we target include:

  • African trypanosomiasis
  • leishmaniasis
  • Chagas disease
  • malaria
  • cryptosporidiosis
  • cryptococcosis
  • schistosomiasis
  • tuberculosis

Training and mentoring are embedded at all levels. Several highly successful spinouts and start-ups have attracted major investment.

Read about our 2021 impact case studies

Head of Division

Deputy Head of Division

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Dr Manu De Rycker

  • Principal Investigator and Head of Biology

  • Drug discovery for infectious diseases, development of cell-based screening cascades and understanding of persisters in infectious diseases

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 386211

Academic staff

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Dr Beatriz Baragana

  • Principal Investigator, Apicomplexan Portfolio Manager

  • Delivering effective and safe treatments for malaria, cryptosporidiosis and schistosomiasis exploiting novel biological pathways.

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 386059

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Professor Alessio Ciulli

  • Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology and Director of the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation

  • Chemical and Structural Biology of Targeted Protein Degradation

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 386230

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Dr Laura Cleghorn

  • Principal Investigator (Reader), Tuberculosis Portfolio Manager

  • Identifying novel candidates to potentially become new therapies for Tuberculosis (TB)

    [email protected]

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Dr Peter Cossar

  • Principal Investigator

  • Developing chemical tools to tackle key questions in molecular biophysics and chemical biology

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 385018

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Professor Sir Michael Ferguson

  • Regius Professor of Life Sciences and Interim Dean

  • Professor Sir Michael is an expert on the biochemistry of protozoan parasites, the molecular details of infection in general and on drug discovery for infectious and non-infectious diseases. He serves on the boards of the Medicines for Malaria Venture and UK Biobank and previously of the Wellcome Trust.

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 384219

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Professor Ian Gilbert

  • Professor/Head of the Drug Discovery Unit and Roscoe Chair in Drug Discovery

  • Design and synthesis of potential therapeutic agents

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 386240

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Professor Marcus Lee

  • Professor of Parasite Molecular Genetics

  • Understanding antimalarial drug resistance and the validation of new drug targets

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 383059

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Professor Kevin Read

  • Professor of Quantitative Pharmacology and Head of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics

  • Drug discovery, lead optimisation and preclinical development

    [email protected]

    +44 (0)1382 388688

Associates

Emeritus

Key contacts

Name Role Email
Jamie Curran Lab Manager [email protected]
Nancy Kirk and Fiona Ross  Lab Manager [email protected]
Susan Ross Senior Technical Support [email protected] & [email protected]
Kirstie Hughes PA to Prof Ian Gilbert [email protected]
  PA to Prof Alessio Ciulli [email protected]
  Secretary [email protected]
Aaron Hendry Technician [email protected] & [email protected]

Publications

View Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery publications

Stories

Press release

Lifetime Achievement Award caps glory night for University

Professor Sir Mike Ferguson, one of Scotland’s pre-eminent scientists, was recognised for his outstanding research career when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award during a night of celebration for the University of Dundee.

  • Published on 13 March 2026
Press release

Startup company receives Government AI backing

A start-up company founded by a University of Dundee researcher has been announced as the delivery partner for a £1 million project for the UK Government’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

  • Published on 29 October 2025
News

Meet the New Innovators Shaping the Future

To mark Scotland’s national Innovation Week 2025, we spoke to Ricardo Moreno Ballesteros and Peter Ibrahim from the School of Life Sciences who started their innovation journey during their PhD studies

  • Published on 26 September 2025
View all stories