Professor Laurence Pearl

Pioneering work at Sussex into molecular structure and disease has been awarded £2.6m as part of the Wellcome Trust's inaugural Investigator Awards, made to some of the "brightest minds in science" and announced on Thursday (2 June). 

The £56 million worth of funding to "exceptional" researchers working in medicine and related sciences aims to ensure that science is addressing some of the most important questions about health and disease. 

Laurence Pearl, who heads the School of Life Sciences and is Professor of Structural Biology in the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, has been given one of just 20 Senior Investigator Awards, to study the molecule Hsp90, which is believed to play a key role in cancer as well as viral and parasitic infections. 

Hsp90 stabilises the regulatory systems that control our cells. Fundamental scientific study of the structure of this protein, which is hijacked by cancers and by viruses, can lead directly to the development of new drugs that block these diseases. 

Earlier work by Professor Pearl and his team has already led to the development of drugs that are currently in clinical trial. 

Professor Pearl says: "This award gives me and my research team the time and resources to ask the central and technically challenging questions that will lead to a real understanding of how the Hsp90 system actually works. 

"The long-term funding will help me sustain an effective and integrated laboratory, and provide the intellectual and financial flexibility to develop new approaches and take scientific risks." 

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Farthing, says: "This is absolutely marvellous news. What a wonderful example of academic leadership in the school and university." 

Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, says: "The Wellcome Trust Investigators, together with our existing Fellowship holders, represent some of the very brightest minds in biomedical science. They are seeking answers to challenging research questions that could potentially transform our understanding of the mechanisms of health and disease. 

"We are demonstrating our confidence in these outstanding individuals by providing longer-term, flexible funding; in return, we expect that they will make significant advances in knowledge in their field and act as ambassadors within the research community, helping us achieve our aim of improving human and animal health."