Coventry Researcher Awarded UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship

A Coventry University researcher has been awarded £1.35 million in funding to lead research teams across the UK to help develop treatments for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

Dr Jennifer Greaves from the university’s Centre for Sports, Exercise and Life Sciences has been awarded the prestigious UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship in recognition of her research in molecular cell biology.

The UKRI’s flagship Future Leaders Fellowships scheme is designed to accelerate the careers of the next wave of world-class future research and innovation leaders.

The £1.35 million fellowship has been awarded to Dr Greaves to support the delivery of an in-depth study that will explore how fatty acids are reversibly attached to specific sites on proteins, a process that is vital for regulating how cells operate. As this process is linked to many diseases, there is significant interest in understanding its role in cancer and diabetes, brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease, and in immunity, inflammation and pain.

This research programme will involve Dr Greaves working with international experts in medicinal chemistry, chemical proteomics, structural biology and molecular modelling, co-ordinating teams from the University of Strathclyde, University of Warwick, Coventry University and Diamond Light Source. She will draw upon her experience using a comprehensive suite of recently-developed cutting-edge techniques to develop novel chemical-biology tools and use state-of-the-art mass spectrometry methods to uncover how fatty acids are removed from proteins.

This insight will help to not only understand how this fundamental process is regulated, but will also identify new therapeutic targets and support the development of novel drugs to treat a range of diseases that threaten global human health.

Find out more about Dr Jennifer Greaves and the Centre for Sports, Exercise and Life Sciences.