Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology South Kensington Campus London SW7 2AZ j.buckingham@imperial.ac.uk
Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology
Programme leadership
Professor Julia Buckingham
Programme members
Professor Maria Belvisi Imperial College London
Professor Dominic Wells Imperial College London
Professor Sue Brain King’s College London
Professor Simon Howell King’s College London
Professor Clive Page King’s College London
Professor Edith Sim Oxford University
Professor Trevor Smart University College London
Dr Iain Robinson University College London/NIMR
Dr Neil Upton GlaxoSmithKline
Dr Ray Hill Merck
Dr Ian Machin Pfizer
Dr Martin Todd AstraZeneca
It is essential to advance the understanding of the roles and interactions of genes, their products and the environment of the whole organism, in order to facilitate better innovation and development in healthcare. These aspects of biology are fundamental to drug discovery and disease understanding and there is a need to develop more sophisticated approaches to mammalian physiology and pharmacology. The programme will, therefore, focus on in-vivo research and the training of scientists in this area. It will include standardising in-vivo methodologies and models, such that data comparisons can be better made across institutions.
The principal objectives of the programme are: –
- To build upon existing strengths to achieve synergy and complementarity across research groups with expertise in whole animal physiology and pharmacology.
- To advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of genetically manipulated animals and, thus, to develop new animal models of disease.
- To improve the analysis of drug actions in genetically manipulated animals.
- To work with physical scientists, engineers, mathematicians and statisticians to develop and exploit novel technologies, refine models and propogate the vales of the 3 Rs (Reduction, Refinement, Replacement) in animal research.
- To provide an infrastructure which facilitates sharing of best practice across academic and industrial partners.
- To address skills shortages.
- To create a shared website and skills/technology database.
- To enhance public awareness of the field and its critical role in the development of safe and effective new medicines.
