University of Leicester researcher awarded Academy of Medical Sciences funding to unlock secrets of cellular "antenna"

The Academy of Medical Sciences has awarded a prestigious Springboard grant to Dr Robert Mahen to investigate ciliogenesis - the process by which cells grow primary cilia, or "cellular antenna", essential for human development and health.

Dr Mahen, from the University of Leicester, is one of 55 early career researchers at 38 institutions across the UK receiving a share of £6.7 million in funding. 

His research, based in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, focuses on how cells build these microscopic, hair-like structures that sense and relay environmental signals. When cilia fail to form correctly, the result is a group of devastating conditions known as ciliopathies, which can cause blindness, kidney disease, and developmental disorders.

Delivered through the Academy’s flagship Springboard programme, the grant supports curiosity-driven, discovery-stage research. The award will enable Dr Mahen to establish his independent laboratory and tackle fundamental questions regarding how different cellular triggers govern the birth of a cilium.

His project will utilize high-resolution imaging to track how the cell’s internal machinery remodels itself into a functional cilium. By understanding how dynamic changes in cellular architecture occur, the research aims to identify new ways to intervene in diseases where ciliary signalling has gone wrong.

Dr Mahen said: "I am delighted and incredibly grateful to receive the Academy’s Springboard Award. This funding will allow us to investigate fundamental cellular 'decision-making' processes in unprecedented detail to understand how cells build cilia. In the longer term, this will advance the understanding of ciliopathies and potentially identify new therapeutic targets for these complex conditions."

With support from the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Wellcome and the British Heart Foundation, this year’s Springboard awards span the full breadth of biomedical and health research. Together, these projects aim to help people to live healthier lives, reduce health inequalities and strengthen the UK’s ability to prevent and respond to future health emergencies.

UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said: "To tackle cruel diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and chronic pain, and ultimately save lives, we must help researchers to take their ambitious discovery-stage work to the next level. This support is backing researchers at a stage where attracting commercial investment can be a challenge and builds on the Government’s record investment in research - unlocking more discoveries that benefit people across the UK and beyond."