Clinical Pharmacology in Edinburgh
Background
The University of Edinburgh’s Clinical Pharmacology Unit (CPU) is part of the Centre for Cardiovascular Science (http://www.cvs.med.ed.ac.uk/). The CPU is situated in the newly opened Queen’s Medical Research Institute at Little France (accommodating ~600 researchers), and sits alongside the University Medical School in The Chancellor’s Building (~120 researchers), and the new Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE; ~1000 beds). The purpose-built laboratories of the CPU provide excellent facilities for the full range of pharmacological techniques, as well as for molecular biology, tissue culture, and biochemical/analytical techniques. A major investment in Imaging is being made on the campus and a small animal 7T MRI facility was opened in 2006 (funded by £2.5M from the British Heart Foundation).
There is also excellent support for clinical research, through a dedicated Clinical Research Facility at RIE, and within the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (http://www.wtcrf.ed.ac.uk/) and the University’s Clinical Research Centre at the Western General Hospital. A human 3T research MRI has recently been funded (£5.5M from Clinical Research Initiative).
Senior staff include:
Professor David J Webb (Christison Professor of Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology)
Professor D Nicholas Bateman (Professor of Clinical Toxicology)
Dr Simon RJ Maxwell (Clinical Senior Lecturer)
Dr Gillian Gray (non-clinical Reader)
Dr Yuri Kotelevtsev (non-clinical Lecturer)
Dr Michael Eddleston (Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow)
and currently 3 clinical lecturers.
Research
The major research interests of the Clinical Pharmacology are: (i) the structure and function of the cardiovascular system in cardiovascular disease, with a focus on arterial stiffness, endothelial function and atherosclerosis; and (ii) clinical toxicology, with a major focus on the role of acetylcysteine as a protective agent against paracetamol toxicity and in acute renal failure. The cardiovascular research includes work in hypertension, renal disease, and sepsis, and has a major translational element, spanning from cell culture and experimental models to human mechanistic studies and clinical trials.
The Clinical Pharmacology Unit is one of 7 component groups in the University Centre for Cardiovascular Science. We have established links with Molecular Physiology (Prof John Mullins), Cardiology (Profs Keith Fox and David Newby), Endocrinology (Profs Jonathan Seckl and Brian Walker), and Pharmacology (Prof Tony Harmar) in our Centre. In addition, we have links with the other Centres in the Queens Medical Research Institute: Centre for Inflammation Research (http://www.cir.med.ed.ac.uk/) and Centre for Reproductive Biology (http://www.crb.ed.ac.uk/). Clinical Pharmacology has also established close links with the discipline of Pharmacology in Edinburgh, through a research and teaching network, Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Edinburgh (http://www.pte.ed.ac.uk/ ).
There are extremely close links with the National Poisons Information Service (http://www.spib.scot.nhs.uk/) and Clinical Toxicology Unit (CAA6 at RIE). Its head, Prof Nick Bateman, and other consultant staff (Dr Ruben Thanacoody and Stephen Waring) are members of the Clinical Pharmacology Unit. We also have major links for clinical research with Cardiology (Prof David Newby), Hepatology (Prof Peter Hayes), Medical Oncology (Prof Duncan Jodrell) and Nephrology (Dr Jane Goddard). In particular, we have shared research fellows with nephrology and have established a novel training scheme in ‘Cancer Therapeutics’ with Medical Oncology.
We have a number of external collaborations, with Prof Anthony Davenport (University of Cambridge), Prof Donald Kohan (University of Utah), Prof David Pollock (Medical College of Georgia) and Prof Ton Rabelink (University of Leiden).
Teaching
The CPU collaborate with Pharmacology in Edinburgh to deliver the vertical theme of Pharmacology and Therapeutics within the undergraduate medical curriculum at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, led by Sr Simon Maxwell and Professor Danny McQueen, with support from a dynamic interactive electronic drug formulary.
The CPU offers postgraduate opportunities for research for PhD students and psot-doctoral students, and Professor Webb directs the Research Education Core Programme (http://www.wtcrf.ed.ac.uk/education/) in the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Faculty.
Clinical Activities
Members of CPU staff provide major contributions to acute internal medicine and clinical toxicology, and outpatient internal medicine, hypertension and lipid services.
Regulatory Activities
Professor David Webb is Chair of the Scottish Medicines Consortium (www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/), Dr Simon Maxwell a member of NICE Appraisals Committee (www.nice.org.uk), and Professor Bateman, a member of the MHRA’s Sub-Committee on Pharmacovigilance and Director of the National Poisons Information Service.