Name:
Dr Stephen Kelley FBPhS
Organisation:
University of Dundee
Year elected:
2018
Primary professional setting:
Academia
My journey to becoming a pharmacologist actually started with psychology, where I had a strong interest in psychopharmacology while obtaining my Bachelor’s degree at Rhode Island College. My interests then carried into neuropharmacology at the University of Memphis for my Master’s degree, focusing on how specific brain areas can modulate the effects of psychostimulants. At the Gallo Center in San Francisco, my research focused on how drugs acting at GABAA and 5-HT3 receptors can produce behavioural and neurochemical changes influencing addiction and anxiety. I then completed my PhD at the University of Dundee, focusing on biophysical properties of 5-HT3 and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Following post-doctoral research at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, I joined the Medway School of Pharmacy, University of Kent, where I have been actively teaching pharmacology to undergraduate students for the past 12 years. Starting in 2012, I led the creation of a new BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology and Physiology at the Medway School of Pharmacy.