University of Dundee Professor Elected to the Royal Society

Professor Grahame Hardie, Head of the Division of Molecular Physiology in the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee, has been elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of London, the highest accolade that British and Commonwealth scientists can receive.

Professor Hardie's election to the Society comes in recognition of his discovery over twenty years ago of an enzyme (acronym AMPK) that is a sensor of changes in the energy status of living cells and organisms.

Each year, just 40 people across the UK and Commonwealth working in all branches of science ranging from mathematics to astronomy, chemistry, genetics, botany and medicine are elected to The Royal Society Fellowship. It is the world’s oldest scientific academy founded by King Charles 2nd, and legendary figures of science such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Frances Crick have been elected as Fellows in the past.

Commenting on the award, Professor Hardie said:

“The AMPK story has been like a fairytale - when we originally found it I had no idea how important it would turn out to be. My election to the Royal Society is an accolade not only for myself but also for the excellent people I have had working in my laboratory over the years. It is also a testament to the superb research environment established in Dundee by Sir Philip Cohen and others in the College of Life Sciences, as well as various University Principals who have supported the College”.

The AMPK enzyme is switched on when energy levels fall, and drives processes that stimulate energy production, while preventing energy-consuming processes. For example, during exercise, when the demand for energy is dramatically increased in muscle, AMPK switches on the uptake and metabolism of glucose and fats to provide the required energy.

The AMPK system is involved in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, which can be regarded as disorders of energy balance. It is the target for the drug metformin (Glucophage), currently prescribed to no less than 120 million diabetics worldwide. The AMPK system is also being pursued by almost every major pharmaceutical company to develop improved drugs for the treatment of these disorders. Professor Hardie's discovery of this enzyme opened up a whole new field of research that is still growing rapidly. Over 400 research papers on the enzyme were published in 2006 alone, and major conferences on the ramifications of the AMPK system are held worldwide almost every year.

Professor Hardie came to Dundee in 1976 to work as a postdoctoral fellow with David Stansfield in the Department of Biochemistry. In 1977 he was appointed as a temporary lecturer and gained a permanent post in 1983. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1987, Reader in 1990 and Professor of Cellular Signalling in 1994. He assumed the leadership of the Division of Molecular Physiology in 2004 following the creation of the School (now the College) of Life Sciences in 2000. Grahame is married to Lyn, an anaesthetist at Ninewells Hospital, and they have four sons.

The Royal Society - www.royalsoc.ac.uk