Nexxus Scotland

Graham, Duncan

Professor Duncan Graham, Professor, Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde.

Professor Duncan Graham has had a significant impact on the West of Scotland's life science sector. Appointed to a personal chair in the University of Strathclyde's Department of Chemistry aged just 33, Prof. Graham has built a research group of over 30 with funding of £3m to work in molecular nanometrology.

Molecular nanometrology is broadly defined as the use of chemistry to create new molecules for use in biosensing applications, such as rapid disease state diagnosis.

Prof. Graham's team's work has already resulted in over 70 academic publications and six patents, and has the potential of revolutionising molecular diagnostics by increasing the sensitivity and selectivity of biological detection systems.

He is currently working with Professor Ewen Smith, also of the University of Strathclyde, to create a university spin-out company to make this technology widely available.

Having graduated in 1992 from Edinburgh University with a BSc Hons in Chemistry, Prof. Duncan Graham completed his doctorate working on developing drugs that could be used in the treatment of HIV.

His thesis, entitled "Synthesis and study of chemically modified antisense anti-HIV oligonucleotides", provided some lead candidates for testing against HIV but they didn't prove as effective as current treatments.

Prof. Graham was subsequently offered a Postdoctoral fellowship with Prof Ewen Smith at the University of Strathclyde in 1996.  With sponsorship from Zeneca Diagnostics he began examining new methods of DNA detection and genotyping in relation to the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.  He made a number of considerable breakthroughs and as a result successfully secured two patents.

Prof Graham continued to build a formidable reputation for pioneering research and in 1997 was awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Five Year Fellowship, designed to support the career development of outstanding young scientists.  

This afforded Prof. Graham the independence to establish his own research team and within just five years he had secured a further four patents.

In 2002 Prof. Graham was awarded over £240,000 by the Royal Society of Chemistry to continue his work and received the prestigious Analytical Grand Prix Fellowship in recognition of his groundbreaking research into DNA diagnostics.

It was his application of a then highly specialised technique, SERRS (Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman Scattering) spectroscopy, for creating novel methods of bioanalysis which helped secure his second fellowship.  SERRS was seen as a major development in DNA diagnostics and is close to being used commercially to detect defects in DNA, such as cystic fibrosis.

Prof. Graham said, "Since the human genome project, there has been an increasing demand to be able to detect specific sequences of DNA that relate to disease states, or act as indicators of biochemical function. This demand for information requires new, advanced technology for providing this data in a fast and reliable manner, which is where the SERRS technique comes in."

Prof. Graham's research has also been employed in providing methods for detecting trace amounts of high explosives.  Along with Prof Smith, Prof. Graham spent seven years working on a Home Office funded project to develop a portable detector for Semtex - the favoured explosive of terrorists worldwide.

By employing the SERRS technique Prof. Graham was able to invent a process involving laser technology that could detect high explosives at levels found in the air.  His research has the potential to offer an alternative to sniffer dogs which are an expensive line of defence as they cost £50,000 each to train.

He said, "Obviously this has tremendous implications.  In the modern age of heightened security demands, the detection of high explosives by detecting their vapour in the air is an important tool."

Prof. Graham is also actively involved with WestCHEM which was established in 2005 to pool the strengths and resources of the two major chemistry research schools in the West of Scotland.  With funding provided by SHEFCE and the OST and investment from both the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow University, WestCHEM aims to strengthen and raise the international profile of chemical research in Scotland.

Prof. Graham added, "We are lucky in the West of Scotland that we have two of the most respected chemistry research schools in Europe and through initiatives such as WestCHEM we aim to promote our outstanding research environment outwith the UK and continue to produce world firsts."

In 2005 Prof. Graham received the Nexxus Award for Young Life Scientist of the Year which recognised the significant impact of his research in the life science sector.  The same year also saw him receive significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which, amongst other things, will enable Prof. Graham to expand into new research areas in collaboration with other researchers.

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