Professor Sir Philip Cohen
FRS FRSE FAA FFMedSci
Research Professor
MRC PPU, School of Life Sciences

Contact
Research
Bacterial and viral infections activate the signal transduction networks that regulate the innate immune system, and trigger the production of inflammatory mediators to combat these pathogens. Understanding these signalling networks is important, not just because it may lead to the development of improved drugs to fight infection, but also because failure to control the production of inflammatory mediators causes major global diseases, such as arthritis, asthma, colitis, fibrosis, lupus, psoriasis and sepsis.
My group studies the activation and output of these signalling networks, and we also aim to identify which components are attractive drug targets for the treatment of disease. Another focus is to understand the interplay between protein phosphorylation and protein ubiquitylation in regulating the innate immune system, which we tackle by using a range of state-of-the-art techniques that include molecular, cellular and chemical biology, protein chemistry, mass spectrometry and mouse genetics.
Recently, we have made several unexpected discoveries. First, that hybrid ubiquitin chains containing several linkage types play critical roles in regulating innate immune signalling networks; second that the essential roles of TRAF6 in initiating innate immune signalling are independent of its E3 ligase activity; third that the HOIL-1 component of the Linear Ubiquitin Assembly Complex (LUBAC) is a remarkable E3 ligase that attaches ubiquitin to serine and threonine residues in proteins by forming ester bonds. Current projects are focused on understanding how the HOIL-1 E3 ligase controls innate immune signalling, why the SIK family of protein kinases are required for pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and why the TRAF6 E3 ligase restricts T cell activation. We are also studying how the ubiquitin-binding protein ABIN1 restricts activation of the MyD88-IRAK4-IRAK1 signaling axis to prevent lupus, and dissecting the TLR3 signaling network, which is critical for protection against Herpes Simplex Virus Encephalitis, a devasting disease of the central nervous system in young children.
Stories

Press release
Professor Sir Philip Cohen, one of the major influences in establishing Dundee as an international centre of excellence in life sciences research, has marked his 50th anniversary of joining the University of Dundee.
News
Eight years ago it was discovered that the SIK subfamily of protein kinases suppress the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by phosphorylating and activating CRTC3, co-activator of the transcription factor CREB.

News
On October 1st 1969 Philip Cohen became a postdoc in Edmond Fischer’s at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA and started his research on protein phosphorylation.
Research interests
Signaling Networks in the Innate Immune System
Awards
Award | Year |
---|---|
Major Personal Funding Awards / Wellcome Investigator Award | 2018 |
Honorary Degrees / Honorary Doctor of Science, University Autonoma, Madrid | 2016 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / Corresponding Member, Australian Academy of Sciences | 2014 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Albert Einstein World Award of Science , World Cultural Council | 2014 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / MRC Millenium Medal | 2013 |
Major Personal Funding Awards / Wellcome Investigator Award | 2012 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Scottish Enterprise Award for Leading Individual Achievement in the Life Sciences in Scotland | 2009 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) | 2008 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Royal Medal of The Royal Society | 2008 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / Rolf Luft Award, Karoslinka Institute, Sweden | 2006 |
Honorary Degrees / Honorary Doctorate of Medicine, University of Linkoping | 2004 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Royal Medal of The Royal Society of Edinburgh | 2004 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine, University of Debrecen, Hungary | 2004 |
Honorary Degrees / Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Debrecen, Hungary | 2004 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Bristol Myers Squibb Distinguished Achievement Award in Metabolic Research, USA | 2002 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Sir Hans Krebs Medal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies | 2001 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Pfizer Award for Innovative Science in Europe | 1999 |
Knights Bachelor of the British Empire | 1998 |
Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences | 1998 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Croonian Prize Lecture of the Royal Society of London | 1998 |
Fellows of Learned Societies and Colleges / Honorary D.Sc University of Abertay | 1998 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland | 1997 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Datta Medal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies | 1997 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The CIBA Medal and Prize of the British Biochemical Society | 1993 |
National Sciences Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Bruce Preller Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | 1993 |
International Science Prizes awarded since 1990 / The Prix van Gysel of the Belgian Royal Academies of Medicine | 1992 |
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | 1984 |
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organisation | 1982 |