Researchers celebrate their work at the final Chris McGuigan Drug Discovery Awards
19 October 2025
The final Chris McGuigan Drug Discovery Awards took place on 18 September 2025 at the Redwood building on Cathays Park, home of Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
These prestigious awards celebrate excellence in drug discovery and are made possible by a generous endowment from Dr Geoff Henson, a friend of the late Professor Chris McGuigan, who sadly passed away in 2015. Professor McGuigan was a hugely influential figure in drug discovery, not only as a brilliant scientist but also thanks to his extraordinary ability to achieve clinical translation of his work.
Awarding scientists at various stages of their careers, prizes are given to a Cardiff University PhD author, an under 35 rising star and a main prize to a scientist who has achieved outstanding success in the course of their whole career.
After a rigorous judging process by members of industry and academia, the winners were announced: Dr Tabitha Cunliffe won the McGuigan Outstanding PhD Thesis Award, Dr Ashleigh Shannon the McGuigan Rising Star Award, and the McGuigan Award for Distinguished Work in Drug Discovery went to Professor Stephan Urban.
Dr Cunliffe, winner of the Outstanding PhD Thesis in Drug Discovery, studied for an undergraduate degree in Reading before moving to Cardiff for her PhD, where she completed her thesis on novel bacteriophages with the intention of developing oncolytic viruses. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Cardiff University.
Being recognised with this award is both a privilege and an encouragement to continue my career in drug discovery, working to perform impactful research. This award is especially meaningful as my thesis work was a scientifically challenging blue-sky project and was made even more difficult by my serious illness during the pandemic. To have that work acknowledged despite those obstacles makes this award particularly special.
The winner of the U35 Drug Discovery star was Dr Ashleigh Shannon of Laboratoire Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Marseille. Dr Shannon obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2017, where she investigated the structure and activity of the dengue virus NS3 protease. Following this, she worked in research and development at the biotechnology company Vaxxas, contributing to their innovative, needle-free vaccine delivery platform, the Nanopatch.
In 2018, Dr. Shannon was awarded an Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship to join the team of Dr. Bruno Canard at the AFMB laboratory, Aix-Marseille Université (France). Her postdoctoral work was principally centered on the structure and function of the coronavirus replication-transcription complex, with a particular focus on antiviral targeting.
She was appointed in 2023 as a permanent researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and in 2024 was awarded an ERC Starting Grant. Her group is focused on the molecular evolution and regulation of viral replication across the Nidovirales order, with a focus on how key enzymes—particularly the viral RNA polymerase and its NiRAN domain—have adapted structurally and functionally to manage the distinct replication demands of small- and large-genome nidoviruses. This work aims to uncover fundamental principles of viral genome regulation and inform novel antiviral strategies.
As someone who works on nucleoside analogues, I was already familiar with Chris’s extraordinary contributions to the field—he is affectionately referred to in our lab as “Mr. ProTide.” Naturally, I felt deeply honoured and humbled to receive an award in his name. The award ceremony and dinner only deepened this feeling. Listening to his colleagues share stories about both his work and his character was profoundly moving, and I was struck by the warmth and admiration that surrounds his memory. Though I never had the privilege of meeting him, I genuinely felt as though I was given a glimpse into who he was. For me, this award has therefore been much more than a career milestone. It has also been a moment of reflection and inspiration, reminding me of the values and passion that drive great science and great scientists. I left the event not only encouraged in my own career, but also deeply touched by the celebration of Chris’s legacy.
The winner of the Distinguished Work in Drug Discovery prize was Professor Stephan Urban, the head of the Translational Virology unit at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology at Heidelberg University Hospital. Sadly, Professor Urban was unable to join the symposium in person but was able to attend virtually, where he presented on his extraordinary scientific career.
Professor Urban completed a Diploma in Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen in 1991 and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1995 under Prof. Dr. P.H. Hofschneider Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, Martinsried. Undertaking Postdoctoral research at the Centre for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), Heidelberg University he worked alongside Prof. Dr. H. Schaller, which he followed by becoming an independent group leader.
Professor Urban’s research interests comprise Molecular mechanisms of Hepatitis B- and Hepatitis D Virus/host interactions with a focus on the early and late events of viral infection. He and his group also developed bulevirtide (BLV)/ Hepcludex, the first approved therapy for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis D.
He is the recipient of the Pettenkofer Price of the Pettenkofer Foundation. He was awarded with the first DZIF Research Award (2014), the Distinguished Award in Hepatitis B Research (in 2021), the Wolfgang-Gerok-Preis (in 2022), the Baruch S. Blumberg Preis and a honorary doctorate from the University of Basel (in 2023).
Receiving the McGuigan Award for Distinguished Work in Drug Discovery is a great honour for both me and my research team. Trained as a biochemist and motivated by a desire to understand virus-host interactions at the molecular level—a focus that also influenced Chris McGuigan's contributions to drug development—this recognition holds particular significance.
Last Thursday’s event was the fourth and final instalment of the awards ceremony, which began in 2019. Since then the prize has recognized scientists in such diverse fields as hepatitis C to norovirus to cancer to antiviral strategies to computational pharmacogenomics. Diverse and yet unified in their aim of improving the experience and outcomes of patients worldwide, the same noble goal that drove the beloved and much-missed Chris McGuigan.
Next year, the remainder of Dr Henson’s endowment will used to fund a PhD studentship that will provisionally be entitled the McGuigan Henson Studentship, in honour of the School of Pharmacy’s late scientist, Dr Henson and his wife, Lucy.
Head of School, Professor Mark Gumbleton, who has presided over the awards since their inception, said, ““We owe a great thanks to Geoff and Lucy Henson who generously established the endowment fund in memory of Chris. It was an endowment to celebrate his life and outstanding achievements in drug discovery. The Chris McGuigan Awards in Drug Discovery have, since their first launch in 2019, recognised truly preeminent work in the field, from established world leading researchers through to rising stars, to Doctoral student theses. The Awardees have honoured greatly the memory and legacy of Chris. This will continue as we transition the endowment to the funding of Doctoral training via the Henson-McGuigan Doctoral studentship scheme.”
