Professor Dario Alessi - Rising Star in Diabetes Research

26 August 05

Dario, a highly regarded scientist, heads one of more than 70 research teams carrying out pioneering work in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee.

University of Dundee

Dario Alessi’s career path didn’t quite follow the route he had initially planned.

For one thing he never aimed to become involved in research, having originally planned to study medicine. And for another, Dundee was not the sort of destination he originally had in mind, as he looked set to stay in London after completing his PhD, which he had partly studied for at the National Institute of Medical Research in London.

"People like Philip Cohen, Peter Downes, Colin Watts, Mike Ferguson and Graham Hardie were all here when I arrived and they are all still here now. There is a very strong core of established scientists here in Dundee, and now they are being joined by an exciting younger generation of researchers."

Dario is the son of an Italian administrator for the then EEC and a Scottish mother, born in France and brought up in Belgium.

How did you end up being one of the key figures in the life sciences boom at the University of Dundee?

"On completing my PhD I was set to take up a position in London and had even agreed to stay on, only to then make a visit to Dundee which forced a change of mind," said Professor Alessi, in his office in the impressive Medical Research Council-funded labs at the University.

"I was hearing about all the work being done here, and what people like Professor Sir Philip Cohen were doing, so I came to have a quick look and when I saw what was being done, and all the things surrounding it - the lifestyle here, and the cost of living - I just knew I had to come."

That was in October 1991 and he has been here ever since, now leading a team of 12.

What have you been working on?

"I arrived here with one suitcase, and the first thing I worked on was something really obscure. I solved that problem and then wanted to work on something more medically relevant, so I switched to another area more to do with cancer. I spent three years working on a very particular problem and I couldn't solve it. But I am not too unhappy, because no-one else has solved it yet either! But we learnt a lot.

"Then around 1995 I became very interested in reading and learning more about insulin, because there was already a lot of very exciting work being done here in Dundee in that area.

"We have made some very good advances since then. Our work on the PDK1 enzyme is what has made us very well known."

Dundee is now established as one of the world's leading research hubs into diabetes. Dario’s is one of more than 70 research teams carrying out pioneering work in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee.

There is now a strong overall emphasis on inter-disciplinary work between basic and clinical research, and these teams are now working together under the recently-launched Dundee Diabetes Research Centre. This is enabling scientists working on different aspects of the disease to work more closely together and thus increase the chance of developing more effective treatments for patients.

The close links between different research groups also extend into other diseases. Groundbreaking research work into a class of enzyme termed kinases, is revealing more clues about other conditions such as hypertension, and early onset Parkinson’s Disease.

"We now have a large body of people working on many different aspects of research, but all interlinking very closely," said Dario. "In some places there can be a tendency for people to fence around their own particular laboratory. The great thing here in Dundee is that it is like one big laboratory where everyone is discussing things, exchanging ideas, and working together.

"There are some exciting things happening and it is great to see things moving forward as they are."

The latest big move for many of the scientists working on diabetes research comes this autumn as they move into cutting-edge facilities at the £20m Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, which is being integrated into the world famous Wellcome Trust Biocentre at the University. Over 70 scientists in the new CIR complex will research the causes of diabetes to identify protein targets for therapeutic intervention

The facilities at Dundee have expanded to a level that could hardly be dreamed of when Dario arrived with his one suitcase.

What has impressed you about the university?

"It was a relatively small department in Life Sciences when I arrived here and now it is huge, with the addition of this remarkable new building and the Wellcome Trust Biocentre," he said.

"But the important thing was that people like Philip Cohen, Peter Downes, Colin Watts, Mike Ferguson and Graham Hardie were all here when I arrived and they are all still here now. There is a very strong core of established scientists here in Dundee, and now they are being joined by an exciting younger generation of researchers."

More information

Dario wins Embo Gold

About University of Dundee

About living in Dundee