The School of Pharmacy, University of London

The School of Pharmacy is a constituent college of the University of London. It is located in Brunswick Square in Bloomsbury, London.

It is the only institution in the United Kingdom that is dedicated to teaching and research in pharmacy and the pharmaceutical sciences. The only undergraduate degree it offers is the MPharm, Master of Pharmacy. It also offers a number of Masters Degree programmes, in subjects including Drug Discovery, Drug Delivery, Pharmacognosy and Pharmacy Practice. The School of Pharmacy also offers PhD research degrees. The school offered BSc degrees in Toxicology and Pharmacology until 2001.

Founded in 1842 by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as the College of the Pharmaceutical Society, it began offering University of London degrees in 1925. It was renamed The School of Pharmacy in 1949 when it became independent of the Pharmaceutical Society and was incorporated into the University of London. To its alumni and colleagues in the pharmacy profession, it is known as "the Square", which refers to the fact that it was originally located in Bloomsbury Square and now in Brunswick Square. It was granted a Royal Charter in 1952.

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Organisation

The School is organised into four academic departments, each with one or more associated specialist research centres. The work of the School is further supported by staff in the Administration and Library and Information Services Departments. The Dean and Principal of the School is Professor Anthony W Smith.

Academic Departments

Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry

Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry is the largest of the four Departments at The School of Pharmacy, and the research conducted there is very wide-ranging. Much of this research is focused in cancer, natural products and phytomedicines, molecular neurosciences and biopharmaceutical analysis.

Departmental staff help teach the undergraduate MPharm degree in the areas of drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacognosy/medicinal plants, and an MSc in Pharmacognosy is to be offered for the first time this year.

Pharmacology

The Department of Pharmacology is one of the oldest departments of pharmacology in the UK. The Department has played a major role in the development of Pharmacology in the UK and many pharmacologists who trained here are to be found in academies and in industries all over the world.

The research focuses on the nervous system, and a wide range of approaches are used to study normal brain function and the causes of many neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Pharmaceutics

The Department of Pharmaceutics is home to a wide range of research activities, such as in Materials Science and Processing and Clinical Pharmaceutical Science.

Their research in Materials Science and Processing is centred on the fundamental properties of materials and their adaptation to optimise processing and enhance drug delivery. They have many joint ventures, such as in the Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research, a joint venture with Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, and in the Clinical Pharmaceutics with University College Hospitals and Camden and Islington's NHS Trust.

The Microbiology Research Group is also well-established, with work focusing mainly in overcoming antibiotic resistance and obtaining new actives from natural sources. The Group has been particularly successful in investigating new approaches to the treatment of the ‘superbug’ MRSA.

Practice and Policy

The clear goal of the Department of Practice and Policy is to make the use of medicines safer and more effective through teaching, service and research.

They are a diverse group of pharmacists and social science researchers who have developed a wide network of associations with other academic disciplines, including anthropology, economics, mathematical modelling, and psychology. Their academic collaborators include University College London, Imperial College London, London School of Economics, the Institute of Education and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. They also have strong links with several major London hospitals including Guy's and St Thomas’s, University College Hospitals, Hammersmith, Barts and the London, and Great Ormond Street.

Practice and Policy staff are involved in curricular development and teaching across all four years of the MPharm course, and the School has one of the largest postgraduate programmes in Europe. Its student body includes hospital pharmacists studying for a range of Certificate, Diploma and MSc qualifications.

Research Themes

In 2006, the School of Pharmacy ranked fifth out of a total of 146 institutions in the UK for research income as a percentage of total income. Their research focuses on advancing and understanding medicines and health care, and in creating new medicines. It is organised into four divisions.

• Drug Discovery
• Formulation Sciences
• Neurosciences
• Medicines Use and Health

Research Centres

Cancer Research UK Biomolecular Structure Group; Cancer Research UK Gene Targeted Design Research Group; Molecular Neuroscience Research Group; Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy; Centre for Pharmaceutical Analysis; Centre for Drug Delivery Research; Centre for Toxicology; Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research; Centre for Behavioural Medicine; and Centre for Cancer Medicines

See also

• Pharmacy
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
• List of schools of pharmacy in the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06. Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. Retrieved on 2007-05-09.