At the 2022 Pharma Industry Awards on 10 November held at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, the ArrayPatch - University College Cork won "Innovation of the Year". ArrayPatch is a microneedle project led by Dr Waleed Faisal and his team.

Cell Explorers is a scientific outreach project involving lecturers and students from multiple third level institutions that aims to encourage and inspire primary school students to pursue their interests in the Life Sciences and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

UCC Futures – Future Medicines is developing next generation medicines and medical technologies for improved health outcomes & quality of life for those with chronic disease.

There are great opportunities to join our team at the School of Pharmacy, UCC where there are new academic jobs in Clinical Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Science. This new recruitment approach in UCC Futures is a unique opportunity to join our talented multi-disciplinary team of researchers, build collaborations with our clinical, healthcare and industry partners and advance the translation of next-generation medicine for chronic diseases. 

Jack Murray, a first-year student in the School of Pharmacy, has received the ‘Jane Grimson Medal’ at this year’s Irish Research Council (IRC) Research Awards for his STEM doctoral proposal.

This medal is awarded to the top-ranking researcher in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths from the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship funding call.

Jack is working under the supervision of Professor Brendan Griffin and Dr Patrick O'Dwyer.

Read more about the ceremony on the Irish Research Council's website.

UCC’s first year pharmacy students were delighted to each receive the 84^th edition of the British National Formulary (BNF), sponsored by Boots Ireland.  The BNF is one of the most extensively used books that students will depend upon throughout their pharmacy studies and post-graduation.  We sincerely thank Boots for their generosity with this worthy initiative.   

On 16 November last, the annual Perrigo Scholarship awardees, in conjunction with Pharmsoc, were announced.

Antimicrobial Awareness Week takes place every year from 18 to 24 November. 

To mark the occasion, the School of Pharmacy, in conjunction with Pharmsoc, held an awareness morning at UCC’s Brookfield Health Sciences Complex.

On Tuesday, 15^th November, we marked the beginning of a career-long journey between our First Year (BPharm1) students and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI), with a presentation and Q&A session. Dan Burns (Professional Standards Manager) and Pádraig Corbett (Professional Standards Officer) gave an engaging account of the role of the PSI, in the context of academic and professional development. 

Congratulations to fourth-year undergraduate student Sarah Barber on receiving the best poster prize at the Irish Pharmacy Haematology Oncology Society (IPHOS) 2022 annual education meeting held on 12 November 2022.

Sarah audited the testing of DPYD variant genes in UHW between June and September 2022. Testing for DPYD deficiency in patients starting fluoropyrimidine therapies was recommended by the EMA in April 2020, and is an essential medication safety step to prescribing these cytotoxic agents, used primarily to treat gastrointestinal and breast cancers. Sarah found excellent compliance with testing for genetic mutations of this gene, and that the incidence of DPYD genetic mutations in UHW was consistent with the reported rates of genetic variation in the literature. Sarah’s abstract was selected for an oral presentation at the Irish Pharmacy Haematology and Oncology Society (IPHOS) annual education meeting, where she won a prize for the best poster at the meeting, as voted for by the delegates.

#PharmacyStudentExperience

For the second year in a row, young UCC researchers have received both prizes awarded at the annual meeting of the Irish Association of Pharmacologists held at Trinity College on November 11th.

UCC’s Pharmacy Society (PharmSoc) hosted their annual Career’s Talk on Wednesday evening, 2 November.  The event is a highlight in PharmSoc’s annual calendar and is organised for undergraduate students of the Pharmacy School to showcase the diversity and versatility of positions and career paths that a pharmacy qualification can provide.

The School of Pharmacy received their renewed Athena Swan Bronze award. This application was led by Dr Kevin Murphy, chair of the School of Pharmacy’s Athena SWAN team.  Other members of this team included Prof Abina Crean, Prof Brendan Griffin, Prof Stephen Byrne, Dr Waleed Faisal, Dr Rachel Moloney, Dr Sonja Vucen, Ms Aine Healy, Ms Noreen Moynihan, Ms Laura Gleeson (postgraduate representative) and Ms Maria Mulrooney (undergraduate representative). Prof Brendan Griffin stated that the award “will encourage us to seek further opportunities to achieve even more success and, in this sense, enable us to excel further as a place where staff and students can fulfill personal career goals.” Dr Murphy said that  “the success of the application is due to the staff and students of the School. Their daily embodiment of the Athena SWAN principles is what drives improvement and delivers impact. Seeing this, I am confident that the best days are ahead of us.”  Ms Noreen Moynihan attended the 2022 Athena Awards Ceremony on behalf of the School of Pharmacy at the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Castlebar on 8 November 2022.

Ms Barry represented the Irish Heart Foundation Heart Failure Support Group in Cork and spoke about her experience of being diagnosed with a heart condition and her ongoing care.  The session highlighted the importance of keeping the patient at the centre of healthcare decisions and the important role of the pharmacist in supporting people with chronic conditions, including heart failure.

Sincere thanks to Esther and the Irish Heart Foundation.

Congratulations to all our BPharm, MPharm and PhD students who were conferred with their degrees Friday, 28 October 2022.

We wish you every success in your future careers!

School of Pharmacy led symposium aimed at ‘Addressing the quality and regulatory challenges of emerging drug products’ to take place on December 7^th 2022 at 14:00.

School of Pharmacy held its annual assembly on 5 October 2022.  This packed agenda included a presentation from Kate O’Flaherty BSc Pharm, Principal Officer at the Department of Health, Ireland in Population Health Screening in the Department of Health. 

The Department of Health recently hosted a Sláintecare webinar on Right Care, Right Place, Right Time - Supporting our workforce to deliver Enhanced Community Care. The webinar highlighted the important role of healthcare professionals in preventing and managing chronic disease and recent advances in chronic disease care nationally.

The course is structured to provide specialist training to enable healthcare professionals, working in hospitals and primary care settings, extend their professional role within the evolving clinical healthcare system.

Ms Harrison delivered an insightful seminar on Leadership, Professionalism and the Future of Pharmacy Services.  The seminar stressed the importance of leadership in the pharmacy profession; described the many professional advances in recent years for pharmacists in Northern Ireland; and the importance to the health service of pharmacy workforce planning. Ms Harrison outlined the crucial role of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer in supporting and empowering pharmacists while improving the quality and experience of care delivered across the health service.

Pictured today in the foyer of the School of Pharmacy are the new entrants to the First Year of the BPharm/ MPharm degree course.

We are thrilled to have these bright and budding pharmacists with us in UCC

We are also delighted to capture them taking part in our Lab Coat ceremony, a proud tradition that signals the beginning of their time as part of our Pharma Family

#PharmacyStudentExperience

It was fantastic to showcase in person the wonderful research and vibrant talent in our School. Well done to all.

Congratulations to Dr Waleed Faisal and his team, winners of the Enterprise Ireland Commercialization Fund in Pharmacy.

The students enjoyed and learned so much from Orla. The session highlighted the importance of the pharmacist's role in diabetes, and patient representation and PPI in our pharmacy programme. Sincere thanks to Orla and Diabetes Ireland.

The session also included a practical training session on the use of blood glucometers for diabetes with Dr Devine and group work on the management of diabetes patient cases with Dr Fleming.

#PharmacyStudentExperience

Victoria Lidin will characterize the role of choline transporters in ethanolamine-induced cardioprotection, under the joint supervision of Dr Roisin Kelly-Laubscher and Prof Christian Waeber. Linus Ahlström will develop microneedle-based formulation of anti-inflammatory drugs for ocular delivery, under the supervision of Dr Katie Ryan.

Congratulations to Dr Waleed Faisal and his team on winning the SSPC Commercial Activity of the Year Award, which was kindly sponsored by Varda Space Industries.

Congratulations to Dr Laura J Sahm and Dr Aoife Fleming, School of Pharmacy for their recent funding success under the Shared Island North-South Research Programme.

The School of Pharmacy invites you to a seminar by

Cathy Harrison

Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Department of Health, Northern Ireland

Title: A Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’s perspective on leadership, professionalism and the future of pharmacy practice.

Date: Tuesday, 27th September 2022, 09:00-10:00

Venue: Pharmacy Building LG01

EU-funded research project led by UCC will use breakthrough RNA technology for patient friendly oral medicines

The first Annual Meeting of the InPharma EU network was held at the School of Pharmacy at UCC in Cork, Ireland between 20-24th June 2022. Approximately 70 participants attended this 5-day event, with a full-breakdown of the programme available here.

One particular highlight of the InPharma Annual Meeting 2022 was the Open Symposium, which had the theme of ‘Advancing an integrated, animal-free, end-to-end modelling approach to oral drug product development’. There was an exciting list of speakers at the event, including speakers from HPRA and Industry. The other days concentrated more specifically on topics in the InPharma Training network and were closed to InPharma members.

InPharma is a European Industrial Doctorate (EID) funded (€ 3.47 Million) from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions and is coordinated by Prof Brendan Griffin from the School of Pharmacy, UCC. The InPharma project is working towards making drug development more predictable and reducing animal testing in drug development by using a fully integrated, animal-free, end-to-end modelling approach to the formulation of drugs for oral administration.

Applications close on the 31st of July for the 2022/23 intake for the PG Dip in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Sciences (https://lnkd.in/ed6HnhC8). Subsided fees are available as part of the Human Capital Initiative (full details on subsidies available please see 'What will it cost?' https://lnkd.in/e9JT8J-N)

Graduates from this course are working a wide variety of roles in multinational pharmaceutical companies in areas such as Quality Assurance, Regulatory, Sales and Technical Services. 81% of graduates from the 2020/21 cohort secured a new role after completing the programme

94% rated the course as 4 or 5 stars. A few graduates have kindly shared their experiences on this course:
Tara's story: https://lnkd.in/e9a8a2NV
Jerry's story: https://lnkd.in/eZ-jqKBN

If you have any questions about the course, contact Dr Patrick O'Dwyer (patrick.odwyer@ucc.ie).

The School of Pharmacy would like to congratulate our two newest PhD graduates: Dr Frank O'Riordan, and Dr Harriet Bennett-Lenane

The College of Medicine and Health Learning and Teaching Showcase 2022 was held in Brookfield Health Sciences Complex on Friday 17th June. It was the first time the event had been held since 2019. Staff from the School of Pharmacy presented Learning and Teaching research at the event.

The colours reflect the School‘s ongoing commitment to welcoming and supporting diversity in our student body, staff, and partners. The unveiling of this feature during Pride month was attended by some of our professional pharmacy colleagues who support the delivery of our pharmacy programme.

Professor Delesha Carpenter, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina delivered a guest seminar entitled "Preparing pharmacy staff to recognize and respond to individuals with suicide warning signs".

Aoife's research is a collaboration between the Pharmacy Department Cork University Hospital and the School of Pharmacy, UCC. She will investigate medication safety communication strategies, and the development of a quality improvement intervention in an Irish hospital setting.

Congratulations to fifth year pharmacy student Peter O’Sullivan after winning the annual Pharmacy Law and Ethics Association essay competition!

The MSc in Clinical Pharmacy is currently accepting applications for the 2022 September intake.

Graduates of the PG Dip in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Sciences conferred at Spring ceremony

Maria's project, which examined patient knowledge of direct oral anticoagulant medications, was funded by the Health Research Board Summer Student Scholarship.   

Graduates of the MSc in Pharmaceutical Technology and Quality Systems conferred at Spring ceremony

Congratulations to the MSc Clinical Pharmacy Graduates from the School of Pharmacy, who have celebrated their achievement at the Spring Conferring Ceremony, University College Cork, on Wednesday 13th April 2022.

Well done to Mercy University Hospital Pharmacist Margaret Horgan for her oral presentation: 

A feasibility study of a pharmacist led proton pump inhibitor deprescribing intervention in older patients in an Irish hospital. ​

at the Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice April 2022 annual conference. 

As the 2021/2022 academic year nears its end, PharmSoc (UCC’s Pharmacy Society) looks back at its events and successes.

We are delighted to announce that UCC is now back in the top 100 in Pharmacy & Pharmacology. A ranking of 66th in the world subject rankings is a major achievement and huge credit to all our incredible staff, students and graduates for excelling in research and teaching in Pharmacy and Pharmacology related disciplines.

SSPC Industry Impact of the Year has been awarded to a collaboration between Alkermes, Athlone, SSPC, the SFI Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals team at the School of Pharmacy, University College Cork, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC) at the University of Limerick.

In November 2020 the School of Pharmacy congratulated Professor Stephen Byrne who took up the role of Interim Registrar.  Once again the School of Pharmacy would like to congratulate him on his recent appointment as Registrar and Deputy President and wish him so much success in his role. 

The School of Pharmacy is delighted to announce that its Athena SWAN Bronze Award has been renewed in the most recent application round. The Bronze Award is in recognition of its continued commitment to gender equality.

BPharm4 student Kenneth Nwaezeigwe competed at the recent Irish Open National Powerlifting Championships (the Nationals, see www.irishpowerliftingfederation.com) on 12 – 13 March last and returned from Dublin as National Champion. 

AIPEC is an interprofessional, intervarsity competition which provides an opportunity for students from all health and social care disciplines to work collaboratively to present a patient management plan for a patient with complex health and social care needs.

Students showed off their culinary skills on Pancake Tuesday 2022

School of Pharmacy and Future University of Egypt cooperation for inaugural year of FUE MSc Clinical Pharmacy programme.

BPharm3 Erasmus student Timothy Levin gives us an insight into life as a pharmacy student in France 

The theme of this year’s Perrigo Scholarship will focus on “Pharmacy Heros of the Pandemic” 

Congratulations 2021 School of Pharmacy Entrance Scholars! 

Congratulations to MPharm student Elaine Cullinane who won second place in the Dr H H Stewart Medical Scholarship in Pharmacy.

Dr. Piotr Kowalski, School of Pharmacy UCC, has won a highly prestigious European Research Council (ERC) starter grant. 

This programme run by ACE is developed and delivered by the academic programme team Dr Sonja Vucen, Prof Abina Crean, Dr Eoin Fleming and Dr Katie Ryan as an upskilling initiative intended to meet the training needs of Pfizer employees.