Remarkable achievement
British-Bangladeshi Dr Miratul Mohamid Khan Muqit, a leading scientist based at the University of Dundee, has been named as one of this year's awardees of the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organisation Young Investigator Programme (EMBO YIP).
His research has made several important breakthroughs in the genetical mutation responsible for Parkinson's disease, according to a press release put up on the university website.
“I am absolutely delighted to be joining the EMBO YIP programme and interacting with researchers from all across Europe that will bring new ideas to enhance our research efforts,” said Dr Muqit.
A Welcome Trust Clinical Investigator in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, part of the university's School of Life Sciences, Dr Muqit has been using his cutting edge research to better understand the causes of the disease.
A consultant neurologist at Ninewells Hospital, he treats patients with the disabling conditions.
Muqit was born in Glasgow, Scotland on October 12, 1973. His father Abdul Muqit, a general practitioner, and his mother Mamataz Begum, a psychiatrist, are now living in Dhaka.
Muqit completed MBChB from the University of Edinburgh in 1997. He did his MD in Harvard University and Phd in the University of London. He was also awarded Kenedy scholarship.
Married and father of three children, he is now serving as a Scottish clinical neurologist and scientist at the University of Dundee Medical Research Council.
At this moment of pride, Muqit's mother told The Daily Star, “As a parent we are both delighted by his success. We also pray to Allah that he succeeds in his research and people get benefited.
In 2004, he was a key member of the London-based team that discovered that mutations in a gene known as PINK1 can cause Parkinson's.
Four years later, Dr Muqit began working at the University of Dundee to find out how disruption to the gene's activity leads to Parkinson's.
His work revealed a remarkable process of how PINK1, together with another gene called Parkin, plays a crucial role in keeping cells healthy by ensuring that the energy-producing centers of cells, mitochondria, are rapidly broken down and removed when damaged.
The EMBO YIP awards are among the most prestigious ones given to young researchers every year. Through this programme, EMBO strives to identify the brightest young Life Science researchers working in Europe, Israel, Turkey and Singapore.
In addition to the prestige, the prize provides awardees with significant academic, practical and financial support to help them realise their potential as future world-class researchers.
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