Message from Rachel Lambert-Forsyth, CEO of the British Pharmacological Society
It was the second day of Pharmacology 2024; I was rushing from one session to the next when I made myself stop and pause. I looked around the buzzing exhibition hall and took a moment to soak in the atmosphere and reflect on just how much work had gone into the meeting. It was a culmination of everyone’s hard work across the year, a true showcase of the best of our community.
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I saw people discussing their posters, painstakingly detailing their projects and the potential they had to improve health. I saw our journal Editors heading to their meeting, utterly committed to disseminating world class research. I glanced down at the programme on my phone and appreciated the breadth of topics and speakers that we had assembled from across the world. I looked over at the Innovation Theatre, that hosted our ECR bootcamps every morning and was now filled with people hearing from established members about their career journey, and the exciting and varied path that pharmacology can take you on. In that moment I felt so proud to lead the BPS, which continues to be a home for all pharmacologists in ever-changing times.
Pharmacology 2024 was a snapshot of just how hard our staff and members have recommitted to our vision and goals this year. Throughout the year, we have continued to invest in our priorities — supporting early career scientists, advocating for the role of pharmacology in shaping better health outcomes, and deepening our commitment to creating an inclusive, welcoming community. I have been inspired by the many ways our members are making a difference, whether through groundbreaking research, mentorship, public engagement, clinical excellence or education.
As we move forward, our mission remains clear: to advance pharmacology for the benefit of all. I am excited for what lies ahead, and I am confident that, together, we will continue to drive positive change in science, medicine, and society.
Thank you for everything you bring to the Society — I look forward to seeing you throughout 2025 and hope you'll bring the same sense of joy and enthusiasm to Pharmacology 2025 in Belfast.
If you have any comments or questions about this annual review, please contact us at communications@bps.ac.uk.
Message from Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, President of the BPS 2024-2026
2024 was the first year of my Presidency at the BPS, and the external turbulence caused by global political and social events showed no signs of abating. I’ve been privileged to witness the strength of our community throughout this, and the vital role pharmacology continues to play in addressing the health challenges of our time.
From accelerating innovation in research to strengthening education, our members have made remarkable contributions across the field. Nowhere was this more evident than at Pharmacology 2024, where we came together to share knowledge, spark ideas, and reaffirm our shared commitment to science that improves lives.
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Looking to the future, I believe passionately that our greatest responsibility — and our greatest opportunity — lies in supporting the next generation. The future of our discipline, and of the Society itself, does not lie with people who look like me. It lies with a new wave of pharmacologists — more diverse in background, experience, and perspective — who will take our science to places we haven’t yet imagined. Our role is to create the conditions for them to thrive. We must ensure that we are a welcoming place for younger members, and broaden our church, be open to adapting to our members needs. This is how we will remain strong, stable, and member-focused so that no matter the turmoil outside, we can keep delivering the scientific advancements that will make the world a better place.
That’s why I’m especially proud of the Society’s continued work to build a more inclusive and supportive environment for early career scientists, to widen participation, and to ensure that excellence in pharmacology is truly accessible to all.
We are in a period of rapid change — in science, in society, and in the world around us. But with change comes opportunity. I have every confidence that the British Pharmacological Society is ready to meet this moment and to lead with purpose, humility, and hope.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to another outstanding year.
Progressing our pharmacology priorities
Strengthening the foundations of clinical pharmacology
A review of the MBBS Clinical Pharmacology Curriculum was coordinated by the Education and Training and Clinical Committees. Led by the Deputy Vice President - Clinical, Dr Dagan Lonsdale, this review will ensure the curriculum reflects changes in clinical pharmacology practices and inform and improve patient care over the long term. This work underpins our belief that pharmacology and therapeutics are evolving, and it is our responsibility to define, redefine and advance these disciplines.
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Following the publication of the independent review of Prescribing Safety Assessment, led by Professor Dame Jane Dacre in 2023, the Society has continued to work with the Medical Schools Council to progress the key recommendations. In 2024 we administered 9,700 UK undergraduate sittings, supporting the next generation of medical prescribers build their confidence and enter the medical profession with the skills, knowledge and competence to prescribe safely.
Over 120 delegates attended our event celebrating 50 years of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London, with very positive feedback from attendees. The event brought together past and present members of the editorial board and celebrated the significant contribution the journal has made to the specialty in 50 years. The symposium featured engaging sessions designed to illuminate the trajectory of clinical pharmacology by delving into the historical roots of the BJCP, through the exploration of pivotal moments post-WWII, and navigating contemporary issues and future trends in clinical pharmacology such as global outreach to personalised medicine and clinical drug development.
The UK Pharmacogenomics and Stratified Medicines Network hosted its 11th Annual Open Meeting at the Royal College of Physicians in London. This flagship event brought together over 120 experts from academia, healthcare, industry, and regulatory bodies to explore the latest developments in pharmacogenetics and stratified medicine. The meeting featured extended networking sessions and an exhibition showcasing innovative work in personalised medicine.
At the end of 2024, Professor Reecha Sofat's term as Vice President - Clinical came to and end. Reecha steered the Clinical Committee during a challenging time in the clinical space, and we are grateful for her work.
Bringing the pharmacological community together
In 2024, the BPS delivered a total of 34 events, including eight National Virtual Training workshops, five in-person training workshops, one Educator Network meeting, two in-person focus meetings, six webinars and three Pharmacogenetics and Stratified Medicine Network events.
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In addition, the team delivered five workshops as part of the Innovate UK Pharmacogenomics project. As well as BPS-run events, we supported three partner events, providing opportunities for members to present their science through sponsored tracks at these cross-sector meetings. Overall, the BPS received over 3,000 event registrations in 2024, and £158,085 in event registration income. The events portfolio recorded a surplus in excess of direct costs of over £20,000 this year.
Creating a meetings portfolio that is cost neutral has been part of our strategy to stabilise falling income and increasing costs. The positive financial position allowed the Society to release an additional £20,000 of travel bursaries for Pharmacology 2024 to support member attendance in the face of reduce institutional and personal funds. This will be reviewed regularly going forwards and already in 2025 we have been able to release £100,000 of additional funds to support member travel to meetings across the year.
Pharmacology 2024, held in December, brought together 777 delegates from 60 countries for a vibrant meeting showcasing the latest breakthroughs in pharmacological research. The event buzzed with scientific exchange, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and the energy of a truly international community.
This year’s meeting saw impressive growth in both partnership and registration income, reflecting its global profile and appeal. Although the event posted a small financial loss relative to direct costs, the net cost was significantly lower than in comparable previous years, thanks to strong financial performance across the Society’s 2024 events portfolio. Demonstrating our commitment to nurturing future leaders in pharmacology, the Society was able to release an additional £20,000 in bursaries, enabling over 50 early- and mid-career researchers to attend, present, and connect at the meeting.
Following the appointment of a Sponsorship and Partnerships Manager in January, we saw significant growth in our partnerships income. In addition, a successful partnership with AstraZeneca led to a joint conference generating a net surplus on direct costs of £42,000 in October, which enabled us to run additional free activities for members in the year. We have also been approached by several sister societies looking to partner with the BPS, and, as well as continuing our existing partnerships with the British Toxicology Society, The Physiology Society and the British Neuroscience Association, we are currently working towards a joint conference with the Federation for Innovative Drug Research Netherlands (FIGON) in the Netherlands in 2025, which will celebrate Dutch Medicines Days and bring together those working in pharmaceutical sciences from across Europe. We have also partnered with the Irish Association of Pharmacologists for Pharmacology 2025 in Belfast, as well as other potential joint meetings in the pipeline for 2026.
Growth of the portfolio of training workshops has been slower than planned, as the Society capitalised on the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Liverpool to apply successfully for a grant from Innovate UK to explore the potential to develop a Centre of Excellence in pharmacogenomics and regulation. This grant subsequently resulted in a larger joint-grant application being submitted in October 2024 with University of Liverpool, QMUL and other partners to launch the Centre, with funding approval received in late 2024 showcasing how we are building a portfolio of events and training that supports our ambitions to progress pharmacology priorities that are important to us and our community.
Celebrating and connecting our community
Celebrating and supporting our members
Members are at the heart of the Society and in 2024 we were delighted to announce our newest Fellows and Honorary Fellows at our Winter meeting. Our Fellows and Honorary Fellows play an incredibly important role in the Society. Through their work, they further all disciplines of pharmacology in the discovery, development and use of medicines. And through their leadership, and contribution to Society life, they inspire and support members at earlier stages of their career or study.
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This year 40 Fellows were elected and 13 Honorary Fellowships awarded, reflecting the broad expertise currently advancing pharmacology across academia, clinical care and industry. As a Society we are striving to ensure our membership reflects the breadth and diversity of those working in the sector, this year our cohort was split 60/40 male/female and over 34% are international. Following the extension of our Fellowship category to include early career members in 2022, we were delighted to elected two more early career researchers to Fellowship.
Throughout 2024 we awarded numerous awards and prizes. Our prizes and awards are designed to recognise the contributions to pharmacology made by our members and increase our impact on the discipline by supporting the career progression of early career pharmacologists. Crossing a range of disciplines, career stages and celebrating team and individual efforts, this year’s winners demonstrated excellence in clinical and non-clinical pharmacology. In total we awarded £232,000 of prizes, awards, grants and bursaries to 210 recipients.
Inclusion, equity and accessibility
The Society has committed to collecting better data to develop a framework to improve our approach to equity, diversity and inclusion. An EDI survey is now up and running within the Society’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) and has been soft launched with editorial boards to test its efficacy. Following this trial, it will be included in member renewal emails in 2025, and we hope members will share their data with us through this secure and anonymous process to help us benchmark the Society’s current position. These actions pave the way for a focused strategy to commence.
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Celebrating Our Committees: Driving Innovation and Engagement
The achievements of this past year would not have been possible without the dedication of our committees. The Engagement Committee, in collaboration with BPS staff and the world-renowned psychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt, produced an insightful and visually compelling video exploring the role of psychedelics (psilocybin/'magic mushrooms') in mental health treatment—an excellent initiative to share vital knowledge in this exciting and evolving field. Watch it here.
This year, the committee also awarded over £6,000 in Engagement Grants, supporting outstanding initiatives across the UK, Uganda, Nigeria, and beyond. Meanwhile, our Industry Sub-Committee, composed of leading experts, had the honour of presenting the Sir James Black Drug Discovery of the Year Award to Bristol Myers Squibb for their groundbreaking work on mavacamten, a first-in-class treatment for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)—a testament to the transformative power of pharmacology.
Our Early Career Pharmacologists Advisory Group (ECPAG) has now expanded to 25 exceptional members, ensuring that early-career voices play a key role in shaping BPS strategy. Their contributions have been instrumental in driving initiatives such as the Early Career Life Scientists' Symposia, the Student Society Fund, and the Student Choice Award for Excellence in Pharmacology Teaching—with the 2024 winner, Dr Aisah Aubdool, also being a valued member of our Engagement Committee.
Public Engagement Lectures: Inspiring Diverse Audiences
At our annual conference, we hosted three captivating public lectures, expertly organised by our Vice President of Engagement, Professor Pasquale Maffia. Highlights included Professor David Nutt and Professor Emeritus Cherry Wainwright’s thought-provoking discussion on psychedelics, Professor Emeritus Mandy MacLean’s inspiring career insights, and Professor Thomas Lüscher’s enlightening talk on cardiovascular pharmacotherapy. These events brought together attendees from all backgrounds, fostering meaningful discussions on cutting-edge treatments and scientific progress.
Webinars: Making Science Accessible to All
Our Engagement Webinar attracted over 50 live participants, featuring Yasmin Dickinson (@the.cardiac.scientist), a PhD student at Queen Mary University, who shared her journey as a dynamic science communicator—making complex topics engaging and accessible to all. We were also delighted to host Robin Craig, who provided valuable guidance on organizing inclusive, open-access events, ensuring our outreach remains welcoming to everyone.
Ambassador Scheme: Expanding Our Reach
Under the leadership of our new Community Engagement Officer, the Ambassador Scheme thrived in 2024. Ambassadors such as Alasdair Gibb, Samir Shawgy Ayoub, Aisah Aubdool, and Yvonne Dempsie organized fantastic events across the UK, bringing together the pharmacology community and beyond. Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to enhance the scheme with improved welcome materials, contracts, and support—further empowering our ambassadors to make an impact.
A Heartfelt Thanks to Our Volunteers
Finally, we extend our gratitude to the passionate members who volunteered their time and expertise. Special recognition goes to social media contributors Dexter Lutsili, Karim Akhtar, and Yasmin Dickinson (also on our Engagement Committee), who brilliantly captured the spirit of Pharmacology 2024, offering a glimpse into the energy and innovation of our annual conference.
Embracing digital opportunities
In 2024 we examined the ways that our community was connecting and exchanging information in digital spaces, to make sure that we were in step with the evolving nature of online communication, and to support our members with disseminating their work.
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We started with the BPS Community platform, undertaking a full review, followed by a refresh and relaunch in May. After a monitoring period, we noted that member engagement continued to be extremely low, and Council agreed that the limited value the platform offered to members did not justify the significant annual running costs and the platform was wound down.
The time freed up from maintaining the Community has allowed us to explore new social media channels, including Instagram, Bluesky and Reddit) and produce more varied content for our existing channels to help us reach new audiences. We have also worked on strengthening communication between our committees and groups through meetings, both online and in person, building opportunities for members to inform our work and communicate with each other.
This review of our online presence has aligned with the ongoing project to launch a new BPS website. We have made solid progress with the initial work on the new site, but the original tentative launch date of November 2024 has been extended to August 2025 to give enough time for significant rewriting and refining of content to give users the best experience possible. This is crucial as not only is the website a valuable resource to support our existing members, but it is also an important tool to attract new potential members.
Membership growth is critical for the Society’s future success and so time has been taken to ensure we understand the needs, expectations and aspirations of our members. Throughout 2024 we analysed the membership experience through:
- two workshops
- undertaking a review of membership fees and categories in consultation with various committees and members
- benchmarking our offer against other societies
- conducting a member survey.
Developing new member-centric activities in 2025 is a key priority and this groundwork will inform our progress.
Sharing stories
A new content strategy has been implemented, which saw us change how we deliver content, shifting from three online issues a year to regular publishing throughout the year. This strategy set out a commitment to delivering content related to the BPS’ key thematic priorities, and to provide more opportunities for members at all levels to contribute their ideas, and for staff to update members on projects.
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Since we launched the strategy, we have shared the stories of ECRs receiving funding to attend meetings, and senior members who have a unique insight on the history of the BPS. Editor-in-Chief Aisah Aubdool has steered the curation of this content, and has contributed two series herself: the continuing Pharmacologist in Phrame series, which spotlights pharmacologists from all disciplines, and the new Meet the Lab series, where we get to learn from exciting and innovative teams.
We have recruited new editors across industry, academia and clinical, including many Early Career Researchers. As well as bringing new ideas to the table, our new editors have also expanded what we can do as a team, opening the door to more video and social media content.
In 2024 we launched two new competitions, PharmaComedy and an Award for Public Engagement. PharmaComedy celebrates the memory of a very funny member, Sandy McKnight, and was a pitch by his friends and colleagues Allistair Corbett and Graeme Henderson. Members were asked to submit their best joke, funny story or silly pharmacology meme in his honour, the winners will be announced in 2025.
The new Public Engagement Award recognises high-quality public engagement, both of pharmacology research and inspiring the public about pharmacology generally. We hope it will also raise awareness within the pharmacology community of the importance of demonstrating pharmacology across a diverse range of public audiences. The inaurgural winners received £1,000, which was presented during Pharmacology 2024 to Dr Stefanie Lip, University of Glasgow and Professor Catriona Waitt, University of Liverpool.
As always, we encourage members to get involved in this area of our work – if you have a story to share, a blog idea or you want to write a longer piece about your research, please pitch your idea to us.
Sustaining our Society
Our publishing portfolio
The Society’s journals published 18% more articles in 2024 than in the previous year, significantly exceeding a target of 10% growth. This was driven by an increase in submissions, as more authors around the world choose the Society’s journals for their research. By publishing more articles, the journals have achieved greater global impact: the British Journal of Pharmacology (BJP), the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJCP) and Pharmacology Research & Perspectives (PR&P) were downloaded more in 2024 than any previous year.
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With a higher quantity of material passing through peer review, the burden on our expert Editors and reviewers is greater, and average decision turnaround times are slower. As well as work to continue our growth in high-quality output, we are implementing additional processes to reduce peer review turnaround times, to ensure we give constructive, prompt feedback to all submitting authors, while respecting the time given by volunteer peer reviewers and members of our Editorial Boards.
Our Editors-in-Chief – Serge Cremers, Jennifer Martin and Péter Ferdinandy – have provided skilled leadership to our Editorial Boards through 2024, fostering an engaged and lively community. The BJP, the BJCP and PR&P benefit hugely from expert input from our Editors across the globe, who provide invaluable support. Our Senior Editors, in particular, give a large amount of time to the Society through their work on the journals, and the success of the journals is largely down to their efforts.
Although the increased article output has improved the financial position of the journals, we held discussions with our publishing partner, Wiley, throughout the year on long-term trajectories for income, scenarios for transition to full Open Access, and measures to reduce risk across the overall publishing portfolio. In an increasingly complicated and uncertain publishing landscape, our collaborative relationship with Wiley is essential for navigating the long-term success of the Society’s journals. More work is needed on financial modelling for Open Access business models, and on risk assessment around these scenarios; this will be conducted in 2025.
BPS Assessment Ltd
All over the world, avoidable medication errors are having real-life implications to patient safety. In the UK alone, for example, the cost of avoidable medication errors is around £98.5 million every year. BPS Assessment is continuing to change this through a suite of online learning resources that help clinical professionals prescribe safely and effectively. There have been some significant wins this year such as the collaboration with The University of Ryukyus in Japan and the co-development of new functionality with the University of Manchester.
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Our work with Clinical Pharmacologists in Japan has strengthened the Society’s ties with colleagues, sharing our expertise and building new opportunities to improve prescribing education on a global basis. Our thanks to Professor Simon Maxwell, Dr Lynne Bollington who have worked tirelessly to deliver this complex project in partnership with our Japanese colleagues, Professor Shinchiro Ueda, Professor Takako Okumura and colleagues. These developments offer the potential for growth long term. As a critical aspect of the Society’s income diversification strategy, it was pleasing to see BPS Assessment Ltd grow in strength and impact, achieving sales of £471,946 which equated to 111% of the target set by the budget. Renewals have remained strong with 97% of renewals achieved. The year ended with 41 continuing customers in total, 23 of which are on multi-year agreements.
Developing new opportunities to support customers with their prescribing assessment needs is the foundation to future growth. The new Electronic Prescribing Simulator (EPS Simulator) went live in December. The EPS Simulator offers schools the ability to create realistic prescribing scenarios on a system which accurately reflects a real hospital or GP ePrescribing system. Demonstration content is currently being developed by our academic partners and once this is in place the system can be showcased to current and new customers, representing a potential new revenue stream. There is confirmed interest in the concept from several institutions. It is intended that the finalised product will be available for sale by the second quarter of 2025.
Financial statements
Download a PDF of the British Pharmacological Society’s financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
The financial statements include the Financial Review, Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet, together with the Notes to the Accounts. They show the overall financial performance of the Society and provide an analysis of the incoming resources and how they were applied in the performance of the Society’s objectives.
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Total Funds
The financial performance reported is of the “Group”, which means the Society together with its two trading subsidiaries, BPS Assessment Limited and BPS Trading Services Limited.
The total funds of the Group have increased by £641,867 and the resulting balance of total funds at 31 December 2024 amounted to £6,349,143.
Income
Income for the year totalled £4,742,376 which is a decrease of 11.3% from 2023, mostly attributable to the World Congress of Basical and Clinical Pharmacology which was held in 2023.
Charitable activity income from journal publishing, which is ordinarily the Society's main income source, increased by 10.2% to £3,531,732.
Member numbers increased by 8% to 4,613 and membership subscription income increased by 1.7% to £112,178. The increase is primarily attributable to increases in the numbers of Undergraduate and Early Career Members.
Scientific meetings income decreased by £1,070,154 to £317,712 due to WCP2023.
Income from educational activities came to £639,455 which is an increase of £109,425.
Investment income was £26,710 lower at £79,894.
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities totalled £4,300,927 which is a 23.1% decrease of £1,289,459 mostly attributable to WCP2023.
Journal publishing costs increased by £212,761 to £1,712,490 reflecting increased publisher costs and Society support costs associated with publishing.
Educational activities expenditure was £1,264,544 - a 26.2% decrease of £449,910 over the previous year., reflecting the full year effect of the 2023 restructure.
Projects and awards at £181,368 was a 7.8% decrease of £15,296 over the previous year.
Scientific meetings at £983,139 was a 51.5% decrease due to WCP2023.
Capital expenditure totalled £55,250 for a combination of enhancements to the prescribing assessment platform and initial development of the new website.
