A University of Dundee scientist whose pioneering work holds promise for developing new treatments for “undruggable” diseases has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), one of the highest honours for any scientist.

Professor Alessio Ciulli, founder and Director of the University’s Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation (CeTPD), is part of the newest cohort elected to the UK’s national academy of sciences.

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) is a transformative approach in drug discovery, harnessing the cell’s own waste disposal machinery to eliminate disease-causing proteins. It is applicable across a broad range of therapeutic areas — including cancer, inflammation, metabolic, and neurological disorders.

Protein degrader medicines have the potential to be more effective than traditional drugs and offer hope for patients who have no treatment options or who no longer respond to therapies.

Under Professor Ciulli’s leadership, Dundee has pioneered numerous impactful discoveries and technologies that have significantly advanced the field.

Professor Ciulli said,

“Being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society is an incredible and humbling honour, and it’s a privilege to be recognised alongside so many esteemed colleagues. Our main goal is to make meaningful advances in fundamental understanding that accelerate the development of new medicines. It is therefore very encouraging to see our efforts acknowledged by the Royal Society.”

“This recognition reflects both the innovative work of my research group over the past 15 years, during which I’ve been mentoring 200 team members, and the exceptional environment at Dundee that has been vital to our progress."

“The recent establishment of CeTPD marks an exciting new chapter for our research. I look forward to leading our efforts in uncovering new discoveries and developing solutions to some of the most pressing medical challenges. This award motivates us all to continue advancing in this dynamic, impactful field.”

Regius Professor of Life Sciences Sir Mike Ferguson said,

“Alessio is widely recognised as one of the global leaders in his field. His achievements are outstanding. We are absolutely delighted that Dundee is his scientific home, where his research and leadership have gone from strength-to-strength. He joins a distinguished group of Fellows at our School of Life Sciences, which has one of the highest concentrations of FRS scientists in the UK.”

Professor Ciulli earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Florence before completing a PhD at Cambridge. He also spent four months at Yale University before returning to Cambridge to start his independent research group.

In April 2013, he joined Dundee as a Principal Investigator in the School of Life Sciences and was promoted to full Professor in 2016. In 2017, he co-founded Amphista Therapeutics, a company focused on developing drugs based on targeted protein degradation. He became the inaugural Director of CeTPD upon its opening in 2023. Later that year, he was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The Royal Society is the world's oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The 2025 cohort of Royal Society Fellows includes trailblazers across diverse fields—from artificial intelligence and electron microscopy to global health and neuroscience.

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said,

“It is with great pleasure that I welcome the latest cohort of outstanding researchers into the Fellowship of the Royal Society."

“Their achievements represent the very best of scientific endeavour, from basic discovery to research with real-world impact across health, technology and policy. From tackling global health challenges to reimagining what AI can do for humanity, their work is a testament to the power of curiosity-driven research and innovation."

“The strength of the Fellowship lies not only in individual excellence, but in the diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences each new member brings. This cohort represents the truly global nature of modern science and the importance of collaboration in driving scientific breakthroughs.”

The new Fellows join an illustrious list that includes Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and Dorothy Hodgkin. They come from over 20 UK institutions and countries including South Africa, China, Switzerland, Singapore, and Malaysia