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Our Department of Pharmacology was established in 1926 as the Pharmacological Laboratories of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain under the directorship of Professor J. H. Burn.
In 1946 the Wellcome Trustees endowed a chair of pharmacology at the School and provided funding for the first Wellcome Professor (Professor G. A. H. Buttle) to undertake research in pharmacology and its application to pharmacy. Neuroscience became the main focus of the Department’s research activity in the 1970s and its researchers are at the forefront of developing and using electrophysiological recording to investigate neural function.
Research
Today the department continues to have a strong core of neuroscience research with a growing emphasis on translational approaches that can directly improve patients’ lives.
Ali: Research aims to help answer key questions in Alzheimer’s disease and bring new potential drugs towards pre-clinical investigations using the INVOLVE model to ensure patient and public involvement in research and teaching of the MPharm Degree.
Constanti: Concerned with the electrophysiology and pharmacology of mammalian cortical neurones, including in models of epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
Della Pasqua: Using pharmacokinetics and in silico models to develop rational drug dosing in patients.
Harvey: Research into cell biological and signalling pathways in genetic models of late-onset neurodegeneration with a focus on LRRK2 and APP mutations in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease respectively.
Jovanovic: Characterisation of molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate formation of inhibitory synapses in the brain and their regulation by psychoactive drugs.
Lever: Endothelial function in the regulation of inflammation, haemostasis and vascular tone, with a focus on target identification for the development of novel treatments for inflammatory and vascular diseases.
Mercer: Dissecting healthy cortical circuitry and understanding changes in early stage Parkinson’s disease to test novel treatments
Phillips: Nervous system regenerative medicine including the use of cell, drug, gene and biomaterials therapies, biomechanics, nerve engineering, and the development of Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products to treat nervous system trauma and disease.
Rahim: Pre-clinical testing of novel treatments for lethal neurological disorders including gene therapy, exosomes, small molecule and peptide drugs.
Ruiz: Functional analysis of neuronal and circuit dysfunction linked to genetic mutations in ion channels and related proteins, with emphasis on paroxysmal disorders.
Shah: Understanding how neurons within the cortex and hippocampus process information and thereby influence neural network activity, using imaging and electrophysiology to identify key roles for different channels including within subcellular compartments.
Research in the department is generously funded by the Wellcome trust through an endowed chair, as well as through UKRI, the EU, charities and links to industry.
Departmental resources
The department hosts several research resources which are available to UCL staff through the electronic catalogue. These include live-cell or fixed sample confocal imaging, cell sorting and flow cytometry with a FACS Aria II. In addition, success with recent infrastructure funding will provide a super-resolution confocal microscope with live-cell imaging capability (currently out for tender and arriving 2020) and a facility supporting gene therapy for neuroscience (arriving 2020).
Teaching
Pharmacology is one of the principal disciplines of pharmacy, and the Research Department of Pharmacology contributes significantly to underpinning knowledge in the MPharm degree programme, particularly in the Body Systems and Therapeutics modules in years 1,2 and 3.
The Department also provides teaching in specialised options in later years and hosts students undertaking research projects in pharmacology, as well as students on MSc and MRes programmes. PhD studentships are available through UCL and Pharmacy training programmes or by contacting staff directly.
The Department hosts the MSc Experimental Pharmacology and Therapeutics as a joint programme with the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology (UCL Division of Biosciences). The programme teaches advanced experimental approaches in pharmacology coupled with current developments in drug discovery and therapeutics.