The Pharmacy Research Group (PRG) is the latest addition to the existing seven other distinct research groups within the Research Institute in Healthcare Science (RIHS).
The PRG has been set up to develop and carry out well coordinated research in Pharmacy, both at UG and PG levels, establish internal and external research collaborations, generate external grant income, and to publish in peer reviewed journals.
The central theme of the research activities within the PRG revolves around discovery, design, development and delivery of drugs for the treatment of infections, cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and current issues in Pharmacy profession.
The research within this group is managed by the Pharmacy Research Management Team (PRMT) comprising Professor Satya Sarker (Chair), Professor Michael Brown, Professor Ray Fitzpatrick, Professor John Howl, Professor Rae Morgan (HoD Pharmacy), Dr Claire Martin and Dr Paul Rutter.
Currently, there are 4 post-doctoral fellows, 15 PhD and 12 MSc students supervised by the members of the PRG.
The PRG plans to work in close collaboration with at least four recognised research groups within RIHS, namely:
Some members of the PRG already have established research collaborations nationally and internationally, notably, links with various international research groups in:
And in the UK in:
The PRG will continue with these collaborations, and hope to extend its collaborations with other research groups globally.
Research within this division focuses on new ‘drug lead’ discovery from natural products as well as through rational drug design, molecular modelling and synthesis for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases.
This division also aims to extend its activities towards the synthesis of nanoparticles and ‘molecular umbrellas’ for pharmaceutical applications (eg drug delivery).
This division incorporates research expertise from the areas of natural product chemistry, pharmaceutical microbiology, medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, and natural medicine.
This division utilises its existing research strengths and expertise in clinical trial, pharmaceutical formulations, liposomal drug delivery and molecular pharmacology of new or currently available anticancer, antidiabetic and antiinfective drugs.
This division also incorporates research in other modern drug delivery systems including ultrasound delivery, peptide delivery and ‘molecular umbrellas’. Research involving pharmaceutical analysis and assay development are also included.
Research on various aspects of pharmacy practice (which include safe and effective use of medicines, pharmacoeconomics and service development), pharmacy education (pedagogy) and prescription science (particularly, prescription pattern, prescription quality and electronic prescriptions) is incorporated within this division.
As part of the development of research culture and ethos within the Department of Pharmacy, the PRG has started regular lunch time journal club (8-9 annually) where all final year project students as well as SAS staff are encouraged to attend. Various cutting-age and current research topics and ideas are discussed in these journal club sessions in an informal and relaxed environment.
For further information on post-doc, PhD, MSc/MPhil and research collaboration opportunities, contact Professor Satya Sarker (S.Sarker@wlv.ac.uk)
