Biography
Professor Katja Strohfeldt-Venables is a Teaching and Learning Dean responsible for Quality.
She is the Teaching and Learning Dean working with the Schools of Humanities, Literature and Languages, and Arts and Communication Design.
Katja is Co-Chair of the University Sub-Committee on Development and Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (DELT). She is also Chair of the Sub-Committee on Teaching and Learning Facilities.
In the past, Katja has held a number of key posts including Admissions Tutor for Pharmacy and School Director of Teaching and Learning for the School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, as well as Warden for Stenton Hall. She studied Biology and Chemistry at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany, followed by a PhD in Chemistry. She moved to University College Dublin to work as a postdoctoral research fellow in one of her current research areas - metal-based anti-cancer drugs. She joined the University of Reading in 2006 as a Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, where she has worked for more than 10 years, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, and Professor in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Education in 2018.
Katja has a research group looking at metal-based anti-cancer agents and potential new anti-cancer drugs. Her second area of interest is the quality assurance of herbal medicines. She is a member of the British Pharmacopoeia’s Expert Advisory Group on traditional complementary medicine.Katja was appointed Teaching and Learning Dean at the University of Reading in July 2017 and is passionate about problem-based learning (PBL) - a student-centered teaching approach which uses real-life case studies to teach complex concepts.
“At University-level teaching we are experiencing an increasingly diverse student cohort. I am very passionate about providing an inclusive teaching environment and ensuring students are engaged.
“My passion in teaching over the last 10 years has very much been the development of problem-based learning for large classes, an area I started to work on when joining the new School of Pharmacy in 2006.
“The problem-based learning methodology I have developed is applicable to classes of 100 plus students and aims to engage students with their learning.”
Katja has published a core textbook - Essentials of Inorganic Chemistry: For Students of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicinal Chemistry - with chapters complemented by problem-based learning case studies to support self-directed studies.
Katja is a University Teaching Fellow and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). She is also a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
