Our research attracts support and funding from the government (through the Research Councils, Innovate UK and the Global Challenges Research Fund), major charities and industry.
85% of our research was recognised as being internationally excellent (Research Excellence Framework 2014), with the Reading School of Pharmacy ranked 20th out of 94 submissions by research outputs.
Our research areas
Our research brings together experts across a wide range of health science and related disciplines to improve our use of current therapies whilst developing new ones for the future. Our multidisciplinary research spans research from fundamental science underpinning health and disease through to clinical practice.
Developing molecules and tools for health
Our research drives identification, development, and delivery of therapeutics, with particular expertise in nucleic acid structure, glycobiology, structure determination, and drug delivery.
The specific disease focus for our work includes treatments for cancer and infectious disease, transmucosal and transdermal drug delivery, and novel vaccine formulation.
Our additional engineering capability enables the design of low-cost, rapid diagnostics for infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance.
Understanding disease and identifying new therapeutic targets and treatments
We use a wide range of models to explore fundamental processes in health and disease, identify drug targets, and test candidate therapies.
Focus areas are informed by cardiovascular, neuroscience, and stem cell expertise and include cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy, pain, inflammation, and snakebite venom toxicology.
We also generate therapeutically relevant antibodies, including llama ‘nanobodies’ to help fight COVID-19.
Find out how we are helping to combat deaths from snakebites
Improving medicines usage and developing practitioners
Our work aims to improve the use of existing therapies by patients and practitioners in a range of settings, and the continuing professional development of pharmacists.
Using expertise in a range of research methods, specific projects explore issues in medicines reuse and safety, medicines management, adherence and prescribing, including associated beliefs and behaviours.
Particular areas of focus include antimicrobial resistance, dementia, mental health, and obesity.
Discover how Dr Mark Dallas' research is helping to fight dementia
What I'm really excited about at the moment is that we've developed a prototype product for heart attack testing, but the same technology could be used for many different applications. We've gone from having an idea, showing the idea works in the lab, building a prototype of the final product, and the next stage is to test that prototype with human samples, that's why we're working with the local hospital, the Royal Berkshire Hospital, to see whether we can test our device and see how useful it could be in an NHS A&E Department.
Dr Al Edwards, Associate Professor in Biomedical Technology
Pharmacy PhD projects
To gain more of an insight into the research currently going on at the Reading School of Pharmacy, you can see our PhD projects by category below:
Pharmaceutics
Pharmaceutical chemistry
Physiology and pharmacology
Pharmacy practice
Research institutions at the University of Reading
The Reading School of Pharmacy conducts ground-breaking research alongside two research centres at the University. This includes the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) and the Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR).
Our staff
Meet our teaching and academic staff, and find out who might be teaching you on our various courses.
Work with us
Take advantage of our close links to industry, tech start-ups and patients and the public, giving you a wealth of opportunities to network.
Stories
Find out from our students and staff about what it's like to study and work at the Reading School of Pharmacy.