Graduate School
Pharmacy research overview
The School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences conducts wide-ranging and internationally recognised research in areas such as Drug Delivery, Drug Safety, Molecular Medicine, Pharmacy Practice, Neuropharmacology, Natural Products and Oncology. The research infrastructure has been strengthened by strategic investment in equipment and laboratories over the past 5 years.
The School receives research funding from the Department of Health, the Association for International Cancer Research, the World Cancer Research Fund, the Humane Research Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the Nuffield Foundation, the Royal Society, the British Council, the British Brain Tumour Association, the United Kingdom Brain Tumour Society, the National Lottery, Oxford Glycosciences and others.
With their support, we have made a considerable investment in equipment and laboratories over the past five years, strengthening our infrastructure and providing a thriving research environment for our postgraduate research students.
For more information about how to apply please contact the Faculty of Science using the Contact us page.
If you have any questions about studying for a research degree at the University of Portsmouth, please complete our enquiry form.
Key Facts
RAE rating: Allied Health Professions and Studies is one of the University's strongest areas of research. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Portsmouth was in the top three for funding in England in this subject area.
Our researchers contribute to the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences (IBBS), where the majority of the research was rated "internationally excellent or world-leading".
Academic staff: 48 academics and 15 research staff; please see link to thestaff list webpage.
Postgraduate research students: 43 PhD and MD students and 65 Professional Doctorate students.
Internal links: the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences has close links with the Department of Sport and Exercise Science and the schools of Biological Sciences, Health Sciences and Social Work.
External links: We undertake international collaborative research projects with laboratories in several countries: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Eire, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Norway, Poland, Pakistan, Slovenia, Thailand, USA and Venezuela. Our national links include organisations such as the Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU) at Burseldon, Hampshire.
Resources
We offer our postgraduate research students excellent state-of-the-art research facilities, including a new microscope suite with a wide range of instruments, cell culture facilities, large chemical synthesis suites and a formulation and drug-delivery laboratory.
You will conduct your research in a range of molecular biology laboratories and radioisotope facilities and solvent preparation rooms, all with equipment such as: GC-MS, FTIR and photon correlation spectroscopy, HPLC system, a FT Infrared Spectrophotometer and 400 MHz NMR machine.
In addittion, there are many other specialist instruments for pharmaceutical analysis, including rheology, dynamic vapour sorption and particle sizing, just to mention a few.
Research Centres
Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science
The Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science draws a significant number of members from five divisions in our School: Biomaterials and Drug Delivery, Cellular and Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Cellular Neurophysiology, Molecular Medicine and Respiratory Biology.
Centre for Molecular Design (CMD)
The Centre for Molecular Design was formed in 1993 to provide a central facility for research into molecular design, enabling researchers from a number of Schools across the University to pool resources and skills. CMD is a centre of excellence in computational chemistry and biology, with research focussed on the development of novel computational techniques for modelling, simulation, cheminformatics and bioinformatics.
Research Areas
Drug Delivery
Biomaterials and Bionanotechnology
The Biomaterials and Bionanotechnology researchers work and supervise students on projects about the design, synthesis and biomedical applications of biomaterials; biosensors, drugs and drug delivery systems, and the science that underpins these technologies. The activities of our researchres range from the development of methodologies for the analysis of biological fluids to the design and fabrication of biosensors and other biocompatible devices.
There is also significant research activity and postgraduate research supervision within other areas, including Natural Products and Environmental Microbiology.
Drug Safety
The researchers within this group work and supervise with particular focus on risk in therapeutics and the role of the pharmacist at every stage of medicines management in both primary and secondary care. Pharmacovigilance is an important part of that process.
The Division's researchers have strong links with the Drug Safety Research Unit at Bursledon, Hampshire and are collaborating with scientists, pharmacists and clinicians there to apply considerable expertise in post-marketing surveillance to a range of topics, including second-generation anticonvulsants and safety signal generation.
A pharmacovigilance project on herbal medicines is also underway in the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with the UAE Department of Health. Collaboration in postgraduate research training occurs at MSc, PhD and MD level.
Medicines Research
Pharmacy Practice
There are six full-time and seven part-time qualified pharmacists working in the Pharmacy Practice Division. As well as providing practice, pharmacology and research methodology teaching to over 600 undergraduate and postgraduate students, most are involved in research and development in a number of areas. NHS research focuses on the role of pharmacists in multidisciplinary healthcare teams and investigates ways of making healthcare delivery cost-effective, more efficient and safer, for the benefit of patients.
Our researchers collaborate with industry and both primary and secondary care providers to study ways of optimising the delivery of medicines information to patients and practitioners and the role the information plays in patient safety.
Pharmacy Practice educational research conducted and supervised by our research team has resulted in the development of innovative new postgraduate courses to Professional Doctorate level and assisted in the implementation of government initiatives in the areas of Pharmacist Supplementary Prescribing, and Medicines Management. The research team has developed pharmacy-specific, Observed Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) that now form an important part of the University's MPharm degree.
Applied Electrochemistry
Our researchers in this group conduct and supervise research on many aspects of materials electrochemistry, nanotechnology and archaeological electrochemistry. Our research projects are interdisciplinary and range from long term research to one day consultancy assignments (via the University of Portsmouth Enterprise Ltd., UPEL).
Neuropharmacology
The group's researchers investigate and supervise research in the area of regulatory mechanisms involved in the short and long term control of food intake and energy homeostasis and their roles in obesity. In particular, our researchers are examining the roles that leptin, GABA, serotonin and cholecystokinin (CCK) play in the control of food intake and energy homeostasis.
Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences
Our researchers are working and offer excellent supervision in fields such as: Cellular and molecular neuro-oncology; Cellular neurophysiology; Molecular medicine; Respiratory biology. For more information, please see the relevant webpages of the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences.