Promotions for Life Sciences academic and research staff

Davide Bulgarelli, Greg Findlay, David Martin, and Sarah McKim were promoted to Reader; Stephen Kelley to Senior Lecturer; and Lesley-Anne Pearson, Jennifer Riley, and Linda Sinclair to Grade 8 Researcher. They were promoted as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. Thomas Eadsforth and Alain-Pierre Petit were promoted via an internal process in the Drug Discovery Unit. 

Davide Bulgarelli 

Davide is a Principal Investigator in the Division of Plant Sciences and the James Hutton Institute and has been promoted to Reader as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. Davide’s team aims at resolving the molecular dialogue between plants and their associated microbial communities, collectively referred to as the plant microbiome. Like the microbiome populating the digestive tract of vertebrates, the plant microbiome modulates the growth, development and health of their host plants. Thus, novel insights into the plant microbiome may contribute to decouple crop production from non-renewable inputs in the environment.  

Since 2022 Davide has been Public Engagement champion for the Division of Plant Sciences and contributed, with colleagues in the School of Life Sciences, the James Hutton Insitute and the Botanical Garden, to increase the awareness of the public for the impact of plant sciences in our lives. 

Davide said: “I’d like to express my gratitude to co-workers and colleagues who contributed to the achievements of my team. This promotion represents a starting point to embark on new and exciting scientific challenges.” 

Greg Findlay 

Greg is a Principal Investigator in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC-PPU) and has been promoted to Reader as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. Greg’s team aims to understand how dysregulated cell communication causes neurodevelopmental disorders that lead to intellectual disability and other problems. By unravelling how these signaling systems are wired, Greg’s team hope to identify new ways to treat patients with these devastating conditions. 

Greg is co-chair of the School of Life Sciences (SLS) equality, diversity and inclusion committee and an organizer of the SLS junior faculty mentorship program. Through these roles, Greg aims to help SLS achieve and maintain a professional and research culture of the highest standard. 

Greg said: “I’m very grateful to the University of Dundee for this promotion. My readership recognizes the achievements of my fantastically talented team, who have made important contributions in a very challenging research area over the last 5 years. I’d also like to thank my colleagues in the MRC-PPU and SLS for their fantastic support.” 

Prof Dario Alessi, Director of the MRC-PPU, said “I would like to congratulate Greg on his richly deserved promotion to Reader. He is undertaking bold research to understand how signaling pathways link to intellectual disability, a major and understudied mental health problem, affecting up to 3% of people. We wish Greg and his team all the best with this vital research.” 

David Martin  

David is a member of the D’Arcy Thompson Unit and is Programme Lead for the Core Curriculum Level 1 and 2 of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences degrees. He has been promoted to Reader as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff.

David has shown continued innovation in teaching methods with the development of the novel lecture interaction software AskMyClass, and developed the core curriculum following the COVID pandemic. He has pioneered the local use of AI methods in biodiversity monitoring and in public engagement with the environment.  

David said “I am extremely honoured to have been promoted to Reader. It is thanks to the opportunities available at Dundee and the confidence vested in me by my colleagues that have enabled this to happen.” 

Sarah McKim 

Sarah is a Principal Investigator in the Division of Plant Sciences and has been promoted to Reader as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. Her research examines several aspects of barley growth and development, focusing on gene function and mechanism, and how these regulatory pathways interact with the environment.  

Stephen Kelley  

Stephen is a member of the D’Arcy Thompson Unit and is Programme Lead for the Biomedical Sciences degree. He has been promoted to Senior Lecturer as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. 

Thomas Eadsforth 

Thomas is a Senior Research Scientist in the Drug Discovery Unit. He was promoted via an internal process in the Unit.

Lesley-Anne Pearson 

Lesley-Anne is a Senior Biologist in the Drug Discovery Unit where she works in the Innovative Targets Portfolio. Lesley-Anne has been promoted as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. During the pandemic she led and published work on a Covid target, contributing to vital research at a time of global need, and resulting in a successful grant application of $5.3 million from the Gates Foundation. 

She served as a member and then as co-Chair of the Athena Swan Committee for the past 5 years. Last year, the School went through its renewal process led by Lesley-Anne and co-chairs Melissa D’Ascenzio and Gopal Sapkota where the School received a silver award.  

Lesley-Anne said, “I am so proud to have been promoted to Senior Biologist, in recognition of both the ground-breaking work we do in the DDU and the important work I have been privileged to contribute to in furthering the cause of gender equality in science. I would like to thank my co-chairs, Melissa and Gopal, as well as all my colleagues in the DDU. I look forward to continuing to contribute not only to the scientific work of the School but also to its supportive research culture through the ED&I committee and our newly formed Neurodivergence working group”. 

Alain-Pierre Petit 

Alain-Pierre is a Senior Research Scientist in the Drug Discovery Unit. He was promoted via an internal process in the Unit.

Jennifer Riley 

Jennifer is a Senior Researcher in the Drug Discovery Unit. She has been promoted as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. She is part of the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) team and has contributed to 25 articles since 2018. This work has been published in journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Nature Communications and RSC Medicinal Chemistry. 

Jennifer was part of the teams awarded the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) Project of the Year in 2023 for Early Discovery for Chagas and the Biochemical Society Industry and Academic Collaboration Award 2024 awarded to the Drug Discovery Unit-GSK Kinetoplastid Drug Discovery Team.   

Linda Sinclair 

Linda Sinclair is a Senior Researcher working with Doreen Cantrell in the Division of Cell Signalling and Immunology. She has been promoted as part of the University 2023-24 Annual Review process for academic and research staff. Linda’s research is focused on how nutrient availability influences T cell function. She is Co-chair of the BSI Immunometabolism Affinity group and currently Treasurer of the Tayside Immunology Group (TIG).  

Linda said “The immunometabolism field has really exploded in recent years. I am very pleased that my contribution to this is recognised and I am extremely grateful for this promotion. In particular, I want to thank Professor Doreen Cantrell and all my wonderful colleagues in CSI.”