The British Pharmacological Society is pleased to announce that its members have voted for Professor Simon Maxwell to become its new President-Elect.
Simon is Professor of Student Learning/Clinical Pharmacology and Director of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics Teaching at the University of Edinburgh. He has been active in developing e-Learning strategies to support Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT) education. His NHS clinical responsibilities include supervision of acute medical admissions and the management of outpatients at increased cardiovascular risk.
Simon was formerly Chair of the British Pharmacological Society Prescribing Committee and was the lead author of the core curriculum for CPT teaching in UK medical schools.
He is the Medical Director of the Prescribing Safety Assessment, the national, online exam for UK medical students and doctors to test their competency in prescribing medicines safely. It is a joint initiative by the BPS and Medical Schools Council (MSC) to support medical students and doctors, and ensure safer prescribing and better patient outcomes.
Simon will serve a two-year term as President-Elect from 1 January 2026 and commence his Presidency on 1 January 2028. He will work alongside Professor Cherry Wainwright, who begins her term as President on 1 January 2026.
In July 2026, Simon will be a keynote speaker at the 20th World Congress of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2026) in Melbourne, Australia. He has been invited by the organisers, the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology & Toxicology and the International Union of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) to give a lecture on 15 July 2026. The British Pharmacological Society will also be there to support our Australasian colleagues, as they did when we hosted WCP2023 in Glasgow. Find out more about the keynote speakers and how to register for WCP2026.
The BPS welcomes Simon’s appointment and looks forward to working with him in the coming years.
