Emma Gibson appointed to the 2nd Tricia Cohen Prize Studentship
The Tricia Cohen Memorial Trust is delighted to announce that Emma Gibson has been selected as the 2nd Tricia Cohen Prize Student.
Emma emerged as the top candidate for the position after the final set of interviews were held on January 19th 2024.
Emma will join Adrian Saurin’s research team in the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee and start her PhD project on September 2nd 2024. Emma’s project will focus on the development of Phosphatase-Targeting Chimeras, called “PHOSTACs”, which are small synthetic molecules that direct protein phosphatases to remove covalently bound phosphate from particular phosphoproteins. PHOSTACs not only have the potential to enhance our understanding of cell regulation but also to treat diseases caused by abnormalities in phosphorylation.
It is a project that would have been of great interest to Tricia Cohen whose pioneering research on protein phosphatases helped to lay the foundations of this field.
About Emma Gibson.
Emma was raised in Grantown-on-Spey, a small town in the Scottish Highlands 34 miles southeast of Inverness. She was educated at Grantown Grammar School where she was awarded the “ Peter Moir Medal for Scientific Achievement”. Emma is now in her fourth and final year as an undergraduate at the University of Dundee from where she will graduate with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences in Summer 2024. When not doing science, Emma likes to spend time in the Scottish Highlands and to view its wildlife. She also enjoys cooking and is a trained Chef. Her mother runs a small restaurant in Grantown-on-Spey, called the Wee Puffin.
Emma Gibson at the entrance of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee