UCL School of Pharmacy

UCL School of Pharmacy
Motto	Salutifer Orbi
Motto in English	Bringing Health to the World
Established	1949 (incorporated into the University of London) 1842 (founded as the College of the Pharmaceutical Society)
Type	Pharmacy school
Director	Dr Brian Pearce (acting director)
Students	1,355
Undergraduates	730
Postgraduates	625
Location	London, England
Campus	Central London
Nickname	The Square
Mascot	Oni
Website	ucl.ac.uk/pharmacy/

The UCL School of Pharmacy (formerly The School of Pharmacy, University of London) is a pharmacy school located in London, United Kingdom and a school of the Faculty of Life Sciences of University College London (UCL).

The School was founded by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1842 as the College of the Pharmaceutical Society and became a school of the University of London in 1926. It was renamed The School of Pharmacy in 1949 when it became independent of the Pharmaceutical Society and was incorporated into the University of London as a constituent college. The School was granted a royal charter in 1952 and merged with UCL on 1 January 2012.

The School offers a number of Masters Degree programmes, including Drug Discovery, Drug Delivery, Pharmacognosy and Pharmacy Practice, and PhD research degrees. The only undergraduate degree which it currently offers is the four year MPharm, Master of Pharmacy. The School offered BSc degrees in Toxicology and Pharmacology until 2001.

History

Designed by Herbert Rowse, construction of the current building began in 1938 however, construction work was stopped on the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The building was not completed until 1960. To its alumni and colleagues in the profession it is known as "the Square", which refers to the fact that it was originally located in Bloomsbury Square and now in Brunswick Square.

It was decided on 13 May 2011, after a consultation and development process, that the School of Pharmacy, University of London would merge with University College London (UCL). The merger was completed on 1 January 2012.

Organisation

The School is organised into four academic departments, each with one or more associated specialist research centres. The work of the School is further supported by staff in the Administration and Library and Information Services Departments. The Acting Director of the school is Dr Brian Pearce.

Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry

Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry is the largest of the four Departments at the School, and the research conducted there is very wide-ranging. Much of this research is focused in cancer, natural products and phytomedicines, molecular neurosciences and biopharmaceutical analysis.

Departmental staff help teach the undergraduate MPharm degree in the areas of drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacognosy/medicinal plants, and an MSc in Pharmacognosy is to be offered for the first time this year.

Pharmacology

The Wellcome Department of Pharmacology is one of the oldest departments of pharmacology in the UK. The Department has played a major role in the development of Pharmacology in the UK and many pharmacologists who trained here are to be found in academies and in industries all over the world.

The research focuses on the nervous system, and a wide range of approaches are used to study normal brain function and the causes of many neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Pharmaceutics

The Department of Pharmaceutics is home to a wide range of research activities, such as in Materials Science and Processing and Clinical Pharmaceutical Science.

Their research in Materials Science and Processing is centred on the fundamental properties of materials and their adaptation to optimise processing and enhance drug delivery. They have many joint ventures, such as in the Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research, a joint venture with Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, and in the Clinical Pharmaceutics with University College Hospitals and Camden and Islington's NHS Trust.

The Microbiology Research Group is also well-established, with work focusing mainly in overcoming antibiotic resistance and obtaining new actives from natural sources. The Group has been particularly successful in investigating new approaches to the treatment of the ‘superbug’ MRSA.

Practice and Policy

The clear goal of the Department of Practice and Policy is to make the use of medicines safer and more effective through teaching, service and research.

They are a diverse group of pharmacists and social science researchers who have developed a wide network of associations with other academic disciplines, including anthropology, economics, mathematical modelling, and psychology. Their academic collaborators include Imperial College London, London School of Economics, the Institute of Education and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. They also have strong links with several major London hospitals including Guy's and St Thomas’s, University College Hospitals, Hammersmith, Barts and the London, and Great Ormond Street.

Practice and Policy staff are involved in curricular development and teaching across all four years of the MPharm course, and the School has one of the largest postgraduate programmes in Europe. Its student body includes hospital pharmacists studying for a range of Certificate, Diploma and MSc qualifications.

Research

In 2006, the School of Pharmacy ranked fifth out of a total of 146 institutions in the UK for research income as a percentage of total income. Their research focuses on advancing and understanding medicines and health care, and in creating new medicines. It is organised into four divisions.

• Drug Discovery
• Formulation Sciences
• Neurosciences
• Medicines Use and Health

Research Centres

Cancer Research UK Biomolecular Structure Group; Cancer Research UK Gene Targeted Design Research Group; Molecular Neuroscience Research Group; Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy; Centre for Pharmaceutical Analysis; Centre for Drug Delivery Research; Centre for Toxicology; Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research; Centre for Behavioural Medicine; and Centre for Cancer Medicines

See also

• Pharmacy
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
• List of schools of pharmacy in the United Kingdom

External links

• UCL School of Pharmacy website