Many congratulations to Claudia Bonfio, who is one of the 77 early-career researchers to be awarded a total of £120 million to lead vital research, collaborate with innovators and develop their careers as the research and innovation leaders of the future. The UKRI Future Leader Fellowship provides up to seven years of support to enable award holders to tackle ambitious programmes or multidisciplinary questions, and new or emerging research and innovation areas and partnerships.
The origin of cell membranes is a critical unresolved issue in evolution and Claudia's Future Leader Fellowship project addresses this evolutionary question through an interdisciplinary approach that bridges chemistry and biophysics. It investigates how the synergy between primitive lipids and peptides led to the emergence of membrane proteins – a hallmark of living cells.
Read more about the UKRI Future Leader Fellowship scheme and the awards to Cambridge researchers.