The School of Pharmacy at the University of Reading offers top class facilities for research in all disciplines related to pharmacy. Specific areas of interest include G protein coupled and chemokine receptors with projects examining how ligands bind to these receptors, signalling and the mechanisms of action of antipsychotic drugs. Pharmacological interests extend to understanding and controlling cell cycle mechanisms for treatment of cardiovascular disease, and the delivery of genes and peptides to cardiac myocytes. Drug delivery research is broad ranging within the overall theme of transport across membranes. Specifically, transdermal drug delivery, non-viral nano-particulate delivery vectors and strategies to improve the delivery of poorly-water soluble drugs are current areas of activity. Pharmaceutical chemistry research focuses on the synthesis of novel carbohydrates for therapeutic uses and on pro-drug design; such compounds show both anti-tumour activity and some activity against HIV. Postgraduate and continuing professional development research and taught courses are also available for professional pharmacists. As the role of the pharmacist develops, medicines management and supplementary prescribing courses equip pharmacists for these new roles.
Extensive research facilities exist for research both within the School and in the broader university. Our pharmacology laboratories are equipped with standard facilities for cell culture and cell signalling studies, with central provision of specialised tools such as the AKTApurifier for fast, high resolution separation and characterisation of peptides and nucleic acids, a BIACore surface plasmon resonance that allows real time measurement of binding kinetics between two or more molecules and confocal microscopy. Drug delivery research is housed in newly refurbished laboratories containing all necessary equipment for dosage form design with a laboratory tailored for examining delivery to human tissues. Pharmaceutical chemistry laboratories have also been recently refurbished and provide facilities for synthetic chemistry. Analytical provision for these areas is extensive with single crystal and powder diffractometers, NMR spectrometers, thermal analysis equipment, Raman and infrared spectroscopies and mass spectrometers available in the school or in sister schools. Central support is obtained for microscopic studies through the centre for advanced microscopy (housing atomic force microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy, amongst others) and the Biocentre housing facilities for molecular biology, tissue culture, biochemistry, X-ray structural biology, electron microscopy, discovery proteomics, transcriptomics and modern mass spectroscopy.
|
