Blog

Pharmacology 2018: introducing our prize lecturers

16 Oct 2018 by Stephen Hill in President's message published October 2018

These lectures are deserved recognition for the winners of these Society awards, all of whom have made significant and sustained contributions to their field, and often to the wider science, industry or medical landscape.

AllTrials: have you reported all of your trials?

21 Sep 2018 by Síle Lane published September 2018

Randomised clinical trials are by far the best tool we have to assess whether a medicine works or not. Governments and regulators demand to see the results of the highest quality trials to make decisions about treatments. Thousands of trials happen every year, all around the world, and hundreds of thousands of people volunteer to be part of them.

Solving puzzles in nanotechnology: how to transform an artifact into an antidote

14 Sep 2018 published September 2018

The idea of a magic bullet is very compelling and attractive. Curing diseases with the precise delivery of therapeutics to the target cell or microorganism has received the attention of many laboratories around the world and has captured the imagination of writers and film directors for many years.

Drug discovery challenges now the low hanging fruit has been harvested

07 Sep 2018 by Michael Curtis published September 2018

Up until the late 70s, pharmacological discovery was a process exemplified by increasing technical expertise in surgery and bioassay, and was associated with a series of important discoveries. However we tend to view this ‘golden era’ through rose tinted spectacles. The reality is that the vast majority of research, as will be evident from a perusal of old volumes of pharmacology journals, was unimportant and anodyne. We remember only the ‘good bits’.

SUSTAIN – enabling female scientists to thrive

01 Sep 2018 in Equality, diversity and inclusion published September 2018

At the Academy of Medical Sciences, we have a commitment to developing talented researchers. To do this, we have created a range of innovative programmes of tailored support that respond to specific need.

An Antarctic expedition for women in science leadership

29 Aug 2018 by Katherine Duncan in Equality, diversity and inclusion published August 2018

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest and driest continent on Earth, yet it is the unexplored nature of its landscape that is the defining characteristic. The Antarctic Treaty1 which protects areas below 60° South latitude, represents 80% of the World’s population, yet very few people have experienced Antarctica.

Updates from the Glasgow Pharmacological Society

28 Aug 2018 by Charles Kennedy, Abdulaziz Alzahrani, Yvonne Dempsie, Eleanna Kritikaki in Ambassadors published Ambassadors

We were delighted to be part of the team which formed the Glasgow Pharmacological Society (GPS) in 2016, with funding from the British Pharmacological Society’s Ambassadors scheme. The idea behind the GPS was to bring together students and staff with an interest in pharmacology from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), the University of Glasgow (UoG), and the University of Strathclyde (UoS). We hoped to showcase pharmacology and inspire current and future scientists.

Evidence for gender inequality in pharmacology: raising awareness and motivating change

26 Aug 2018 by Karen Gregory in Equality, diversity and inclusion published August 2018

The exchange of ideas and knowledge is an essential aspect of being a scientist that enhances our collective progress. As academics our contributions to the field, both as individuals and teams, are measured by our metrics. Peer reviewed publications are the core ingredients we use to demonstrate our productivity and capability. However, the quality and impact of our research relies on a variety of evidence, including peer recognition in the form of invited conference presentations and scientific awards.

Inclusion at the British Pharmacological Society

17 Aug 2018 by Lisa Hevey in Equality, diversity and inclusion published August 2018

The first objective set out in the Society’s new five-year strategy for 2018-2022, which launched at the end of 2017, is “To remove barriers to participation and success, while welcoming equality and celebrating diversity, and being inclusive in all we do”.

The opioid epidemic: new approaches to an old problem

08 Aug 2018 by David Kendall, Sarah Nickolls in Affinity groups published August 2018

Opioid analgesics have been a mainstay of pain treatment for centuries but over the past few decades, their overuse for both medical and non-medical reasons has led to what has been described in the popular press as a worldwide opioid epidemic, and by the USA Department of Health and Human Services as a public health emergency.

Three ways to address the mental health crisis: better funding, better understanding, better medication

06 Aug 2018 by S Clare Stanford published August 2018

PhD programs have always been tough. In my postgraduate days, ‘second-year blues’ was rampant: the process seemed to have taken an age already, but there was still such a long haul ahead. What seems to have changed is that too many students now perceive the stress as intolerable and do not pull through the process.

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