Regina Dugan’s personal journey underscores her mission: driving the creation of innovative solutions to tackle critical health challenges within ambitious timeframes. Wellcome Leap was founded with the conviction that scientific ingenuity can transform the landscape of health research.
Drawing a parallel to the launch of Sputnik in 1957, which ignited the Space Age, Regina suggested that today’s global health challenges could inspire a new "Health Age." This era, she proposed, would be characterised by rapid advancements in treatments for cancer, mental health and infectious diseases, supported by a global research network spanning 150 organisations across six continents.
The lecture highlighted the power of Pasteur’s Quadrant — research that bridges the gap between fundamental science and real-world application — as the cornerstone of Wellcome Leap’s work. This unique approach has given rise to programmes such as Multi-Channel Psych (MCPsych), aimed at addressing mental health challenges, and Delta Tissue, which advances techniques for understanding cellular processes vital to drug development.
Following Regina’s keynote address, the event spotlighted the two Wellcome Leap-funded research projects being conducted at Kavli Oxford.
Tarick El-Baba and Corrinne Lutomski presented their work on anhedonia, a core symptom of several mental health conditions, funded through Wellcome Leap’s Multi-Channel Psych (MCPsych) programme. They are collaborating with Carol Robinson to explore novel approaches in this critical area of mental health.
Associate Professor Yujia Qing, from the Department of Chemistry, then introduced her project, developed in partnership with Kavli Professors Justin Benesch, Philipp Kukura and other Chemistry Professors . Funded by Wellcome Leap’s Delta Tissue programme, her research employs nanopore technology to map protein phosphorylation.
Read the full story on the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery website.