Trustees
Professor Stephen Hill, President
Steve studied Pharmacology in Bristol and then undertook PhD studies in the Department of Pharmacology in Cambridge. After postdoctoral studies in Cambridge he was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham in 1981. Steve is currently Professor of Molecular Pharmacology in the School of Life Sciences in Nottingham and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. His research interests are the molecular pharmacology of G Protein-coupled receptors and the study of single ligand-receptor interactions in membrane microdomains using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.
Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, President-Elect
Munir is the NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics in the UK at the University of Liverpool, and is Director of the Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine. He is a Commissioner on Human Medicines and is the Chair of its Pharmacovigilance Expert Advisory Group. He is also an inaugural NIHR Senior Investigator. His research focuses on individual variability in drug response with a view to evaluating the mechanisms, and identifying strategies to personalise medicines in order to optimise drug efficacy and minimise toxicity. The work spans the whole spectrum from discovery to implementation with the aim of developing the evidence base that can move discoveries from the lab to the clinic.
Professor Robin Plevin, Honorary Treasurer
Robin did his undergraduate degree in pharmacology at Edinburgh and completed his PhD at the University of Southampton and MS&D (Terlings Park). In 1991 he became a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde within the department of Physiology and Pharmacology headed by Professor Bill Bowman. His current interests are in the understanding and targeting of key cell signalling pathways for the development of new anticancer and anti-arthritic drugs. Robin is currently the Head of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Strathclyde and a fellow of the Society.
Charles Gloor, Appointed Trustee (Business)
Charles Gloor is a founding partner of birgli, an interim management and consulting company providing services and support to pharmaceutical companies, wholesalers, pharmacy chains & banner groups, and investors in the sector. Nominated by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), he is currently a NED of Monos, the leading pharmaceutical wholesaler, retailer, and manufacturer in Mongolia. Prior to founding birgli in 2006, Charles established & led AVS Health (now Movianto) providing distribution and marketing services to leading healthcare companies throughout Europe. He previously established Zuellig Pharma as Vietnam’s largest foreign pharmaceutical distributor and marketing services provider.
Dr Rachel Quinn, Appointed Trustee (Policy Impact)
Rachel has been Director of Medical Science Policy at the Academy of Medical Sciences since 2009. Prior to that she was at the Royal Society for nine years in various science policy roles. She is on secondment to the Medical Research Council until March 2018 as Interim Director of External Affairs. Rachel has a degree in Applied Biology from Cardiff University and a PhD in Ecology from Imperial College London.
Aidan Seeley, Appointed Trustee (Young Pharmacologist)
Aidan graduated in 2015 from the University of Aberdeen in Biomedical Sciences (Pharmacology), where he was awarded the Pharmacology Prize. While studying in Aberdeen, Aidan established the Aberdeen Medical Science Network, a student-run organisation aimed at promoting networking between staff and students, for which he was awarded the Society's Student Contribution to Pharmacology Prize. Aidan is currently at Queen’s University Belfast working with Dr Emma Evergren & Dr Daniel Longley for his PhD, which focuses on receptor mediated endocytosis in cancer cells.
Dr Emma Morrison, Elected Trustee (Clinical)
Emma is an Edinburgh-based registrar in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2008 with an intercalated medical degree, moving to the east coast of Scotland in 2010 to continue her medical training. While in Edinburgh, she has completed a PhD investigating to role of short RNAs as biomarkers and mediators of systemic illness. Her NHS work continues to support her interest in toxicology, drug regulation and clinical research. Emma currently chairs the Society’s STR Affinity Group and is a member of Clinical Committee.
Dr Malcolm Skingle, Elected Trustee (Industry)
Malcolm has a BSc in Pharmacology/Biochemistry and a PhD in Neuropharmacology. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 40 years and has gained a wide breadth of experience in the management of research activities. He was awarded a CBE in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours List in recognition of his contribution to the pharmaceutical industry as well as an Honorary Professorship from the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, an honorary DSc from the University of Hertfordshire, an honorary degree from the University of Dundee and a fellowship from Imperial College London medical faculty. He was elected as a Fellow into the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London in 2011.
Professor Clare Stanford, Elected Trustee (General)
Clare graduated in physiology at University College London (UCL). This was followed by postgraduate and postdoctoral research, with Marianne Fillenz at the University of Oxford, investigating neurochemical mechanisms that regulate noradrenergic transmission in the brain and periphery. On moving back to UCL, her interests broadened to include the neurobiology of mood and behaviour, especially in respect of the pharmacology of antidepressants, anti-obesity agents and psychostimulants, all of which target noradrenergic neurones. This work has involved preclinical research in vitro and in vivo, as well as several human studies. She is currently Professor (Emerita) of Translational Neuropharmacology at UCL.
Professor Ian McFadzean, Elected Trustee (Senior Academic Leadership)
Ian graduated with a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Strathclyde before completing a PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge. After post-doc positions in the Department of Pharmacology UCL, Ian was appointed to a lectureship in pharmacology at King’s College London in 1990, and he has been at King’s ever since where he is currently the Dean of Bioscience Education within the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. Ian has been an active member of the Society since 1987 and most recently served as the Vice-President, Academic Development from 2013 to 2016.
Vice Presidents
Dr Jeffrey Aronson, Vice President - Publications (non-Trustee)
Jeff is a Clinical Pharmacologist working in the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine in the University of Oxford. He is President Emeritus and an Honorary Fellow of the Society, Emeritus Fellow of Green-Templeton College, Oxford, and Honorary Consultant Physician in the West Midlands Centre for Adverse Drug Reactions. His research interests include all aspects of clinical pharmacology (especially adverse drug reactions and interactions and monitoring therapeutic interventions), medical history, and philology.
Professor Emma Baker, Vice President - Clinical
Professor Emma Baker trained in medicine in Edinburgh and did her PhD in Manchester before completing training in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics in London with Joe Collier. She is currently Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at St George's, where she conducts experimental medicine studies and investigator-led clinical trials relating to COPD exacerbations and co-morbidity. She has a strong educational background, being a recipient of a national teaching fellowship and is an author of two recent textbooks designed to help students develop prescribing knowledge and skills. Her NHS work includes medicines management and educational supervision of clinical pharmacology trainees.
Dr Niall Hyland, Vice President - Meetings (non-Trustee)
Niall was appointed Lecturer in Pharmacology in the School of Medicine at University College Cork in 2008. He also holds a Faculty position at the APC Microbiome Institute where his research focuses on the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Niall has a PhD in Pharmacology from King’s College London and trained in both the USA and Canada. He is Co-chair of the Society's Integrated Systems Pharmacology Affinity Group and on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Pharmacology. He also contributes to the activities of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility and The American Gastroenterological Association Institute Council.
Dr Alister McNeish, Vice President - Policy & Public Engagement (non-Trustee)
Alister joined the Society as a final year undergraduate pharmacology student at the University of Edinburgh in 1998-99. He gained a PhD in vascular pharmacology from the University of Glasgow and post-docs and research fellowships in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the University of Bath. He is now a lecturer in pharmacology in the pharmacy department of the University of Reading - still researching vascular pharmacology. Most recently he has been an editor of the British Journal of Pharmacology and a member of the Society's Policy & Public Engagement Committee, which he now chairs.
Dr Melisa (Lisa) Wallace, Vice President - Academic Development (non-Trustee)
Lisa gained her BSc in Biology and PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia in the United States. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco studying the basic science of addiction, she was appointed to a lectureship in Medical Pharmacology at Cardiff University. She is now an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Medical Sciences at Swansea University. She is interested in curriculum development and quality assurance and has worked on projects with the British Pharmacological Society, the Royal Society of Biology, the Quality Assurance Agency, and the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education.