CeTPD will expand following the award of the Levelling Up Fund

The Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation (CeTPD) is honoured to receive £ 2 million from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities’ Levelling Up Partnership. After visiting the University and the CeTPD, Jacob Yung, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Levelling Up), announced the award, on Thursday 9th of May. The CeTPD will use this award to develop the next phase of building the centre on the Technopole site.
Over the next five years, the CeTPD is projected to double in size and sustain over 120 highly skilled employees under Professor Alessio Ciulli’s direction. Additionally, it will foster and establish new spinout enterprises, converting research into feasible products that will assist patients everywhere.

Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD), which targets disease-causing proteins in cells for elimination or degradation using molecules known as degraders, is the key base of research at the CeTPD.
One of the foremost experts in TPD is Professor Alessio Ciulli of the University’s School of Life Sciences, Director of the CeTPD. Today, researchers all over the world are using the degrader molecules he and his colleagues work to create novel treatments for neurological, dermatological, and cancerous diseases. Recent years have seen billions of pounds invested worldwide in TPD research, with Dundee being seen as a global leader in the subject.

Alessio, when interviewed, said: “Since 2019, we have worked together to build our initial CeTPD facilities to time and on budget, staffed it, installed initial critical instrumentation and infrastructure, published some of the field’s most recent breakthrough papers, and continued to make progress on our drug discovery programmes toward the clinic. We really see this as only the tip of the iceberg in the field. Now, we want to push forward our vision to unravel the full potential of TPD and accelerate the development of novel tools and therapeutic molecules in areas such as cancer, immunology and neurodegeneration. This instalment of funds is very welcome indeed and will greatly help us achieve this goal.”

Dr. David McBeth, the University’s Vice-Principal for Enterprise & Economic Transformation, when asked about the CeTPD award said: “The CeTPD investment will make it ready for the next phase of its growth in collaboration with global pharmaceutical companies, while the investment in our Law School’s partnership with Thorntons has the potential to make Dundee a focal point for innovation in professional services.”