Drug Discovery Unit
We translate basic science into lead compounds to validate putative drug targets, to use as tools to investigate disease pathways and, when appropriate, advance to pre-clinical drug candidates.
We work to biotech style philosophy and standards incorporating, dynamic, goal driven project management based on target product profiles and compound selection criteria. Our major research themes are:
- neglected tropical diseases
- innovative targets and pathways
The DDU has all of the capabilities required for:
- early phase drug discovery
- assay development
- high throughput screening
- cell biology
- medicinal chemistry
- structural biology
- computational chemistry
- DMPK
All of these capabilities operate under one management structure to ensure an integrated approach and rapid progress.
Currently the team is about 120 people and includes substantial experience from the pharmaceutical/ biotech sector. This website contains details of current programmes and supporting infrastructure.
Head of Unit

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Executive

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Leadership
Name | Role | |
---|---|---|
Dr Laura Cleghorn | TB Portfolio Manager | L.A.T.Cleghorn@dundee.ac.uk |
Dr Vincent Postis | Molecular Interaction Team Leader | vpostis001@dundee.ac.uk |
Dr Gary Tarver | Synthetic Methodologies Team Leader | g.j.tarver@dundee.ac.uk |
Dr Duncan Scott | Team Leader | dscott004@dundee.ac.uk |
Publications
News
News
Review of the Year 20212 took place last week with the Dean, Julian Blow sharing the highlights of activity within the School from 2022.

Press release
A drug developed at the University of Dundee for a neglected tropical disease could be repurposed to treat leukaemia following Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

News
We have a bumper crop of promotions this year as part of the 2022 Annual Review process for academic staff.