Helen Walden Receives Prestigious Colworth Medal

The Colworth Medal, the most distinguished award that a biochemical researcher in the early stages of their independent research can receive in the UK, has been awarded to Dr Helen Walden, principle investigator at the University of Dundee’s MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit.

Sponsored by Unilever and presented by the Biochemical Society the award includes an honorarium of £3000 and an invitation to present lectures at a Biochemical Society meeting and another at the Unilever research laboratory.

Dr Walden’s research focuses on the understanding of a critical biological process called `protein ubiquitylation.’ This plays a fundamental role in controlling virtually all aspects of biology and is highly relevant to a better understanding of diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Author of numerous highly cited research papers, she also won a young investigator award 2012, from the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).

Dr Walden said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be awarded the Colworth Medal.  It is a wonderful endorsement of the efforts in my lab to understand the molecular processes underlying protein regulation.”

Helen is the tenth recipient of the Award from the Universities department of life sciences and only the third woman researcher to receive this accolade.

Professor Anne Dell, Chair of the Awards Committee, said, “The Biochemical Society's Awards recognise scientists at all career stages, across the full spectrum of the molecular biosciences. The award lectures in 2015 will showcase the outstanding contributions that the winners have made."