UCL School of Pharmacy
School News Latest from the Square P2 One Million ‘needlessly in pain’ Pain related disorders cost country in excess of £10 billion a year P6 Live Long and Prosper Ageing population could boost economy P8 Alumni News Keeping calm and carrying on P10
A magazine for our alumni and friends
12 Summer 2012
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Editorial
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News
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One Million ‘needlessly in pain’
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Live Long and Prosper
10 Alumni News 15 Alumni Voices
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Contents
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Editor & Layout Morgan Williams
Contributors Maureen Boylan Zoë Davenport Philip Harrison
All correspondence concerning this publication should be sent to:
The Development Office The School of Pharmacy University of London 29–39 Brunswick Square London WC1N 1AX
T +44 (0)20 7753 5988 E z.davenport@ucl.ac.uk W ucl.ac.uk/pharmacy
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor, contributors or The School of Pharmacy.
© 2012, UCL School of Pharmacy. All rights reserved. Design CDT Design Ltd Print and distribution Lonsdale Print Solutions Ltd
Images COVER/P8 -Old man portrait © Circotasu | Dreamstime.com P6 Agony 3 © Luc Sesselle | Dreamstime.com P14 Hong Kong - bigfoto.com P15 Missing egg © Igor Dutina | Dreamstime.com
Editorial
The theme of this edition is everything changes and everything remains the same... First we have the news of a change in leadership at the School. We bid farewell to Anthony Smith who has taken up a new role within UCL and welcome Professor Duncan Craig as our new Director. As an alumnus and former member of staff, Duncan’s something of an old hand when it comes to the School and it’s a pleasure to welcome him back at this most exciting time. You’ll also find news of some other changes at the School such as a much needed re-furb of the Wolfson Lab and the excellent work being done by the Greenlight Pharmacy. Within the mutable higher education environment, the excellence of our research is an enduring constant and in this edition we highlight two fascinating reports from our health economics experts. And finally, a change in editor. After five years, I’m stepping aside and moving to a new role at UCL. Square Roots will continue and flourish under a new editor. Salutifer Orbi and good night! Morgan Williams
UCL School of Pharmacy appoints new Director The School is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Duncan Craig as its new Director. Duncan is well-known to the School and the wider world of pharmacy. From 1988 to 1999 he held a range of posts from Teaching and Research Assistant to Reader at the School. In 1999 he moved to a Chair in Biophysical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast. In 2003 he became the Head of Pharmacy and Chair in Pharmaceutics, School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of East Anglia and in 2009 he became the first Head of School for their newly founded School of Pharmacy. In 2011 he began to work for the Vice Chancellors Office as Director of Internationalisation, with responsibility for exploring and developing international partnerships for the university. In addition he was immediate Council of University Heads of Pharmacy Schools (CuHOPs) rep on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Assembly
and is a Fellow of the Society as well as being actively involved in their work. Commenting on his appointment, Professor Craig said: “It is a tremendous honour to be appointed as Director of one of the most internationally respected and iconic pharmacy schools at a time when it has become integrated into one of the world’s most prestigious universities. “I am very much looking forward to working closely with the staff and students to promote excellence in teaching, research, enterprise and professional leadership. As a former student and staff member myself, it is a particular pleasure to come home to this much loved and admired institution.” Dr Brian Pearce commented: “We are delighted to welcome Professor Craig back to the School as Director. He is the ideal person to lead the School within UCL and to maximise the new opportunities for pharmacy. Professor Craig will take up his appointment in the New Year.”
“It is a tremendous honour to be appointed as Director of one of the most internationally respected and iconic pharmacy schools”
UCL appoints former Dean as ViceProvost (Education) Professor Anthony Smith, who has been Dean of the School of Pharmacy for five years, has been appointed UCL Vice-Provost (Education). This is a new senior post. The UCL Council’s White Paper laid great emphasis on the transformation of its education agenda, and on appointing a new Vice Provost to lead that process. UCL President and Provost Professor Malcolm Grant said: “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Anthony Smith to
the important role of Vice Provost (Education), with effect from January 2012, and following a global search.” Professor Anthony Smith said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to the role of Vice Provost (Education). This is an exciting new role to lead on UCL’s ambitious plans to transform education outlined in the Council’s White Paper 2011 – 2021 and of course it comes at a time of enormous change for the whole higher education sector.”
School awards new Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships
Annual Lecture 2012
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Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE presents Sir Graeme Davies with his Honorary Fellowship
The School held its Fellows’ dinner in March and incorporated seven new Fellows and Honorary Fellows - four more will be presented later in the year. In October 1951 a petition praying for the grant to the School for a Royal Charter of Incorporation was submitted to King George VI by the University’s Chancellor, the Earl of Athlone and others including Sir Harry Jephcott. With the Charter came the powers to bestow awards of Fellowship or Honorary Fellowship upon individuals who have made a significant contribution to the School or the profession of pharmacy. Fellows are alumni whereas Honorary Fellows are not former students of the School. Professor Sir John Tooke, UCL Vice-Provost (Health)
Fellows
Honorary Fellows
Mr Martin Astbury Professor Stanley (Bob) Davis Dr Catherine Duggan Dr Keith Ridge
Lord Tim Clement-Jones Sir Graeme Davies Professor Laurence Hurley Mr Derek Marley Mrs Jane Ross Mr Ash Soni Professor Anthony Smith
The fifth annual School Lecture took place on the 10th January at the Royal Society. This was the first time that the lecture has been hosted under the UCL School of Pharmacy banner and we were delighted to welcome Professor Sir John Tooke, Vice-Provost (Health) at UCL to deliver this year's address. Professor Tooke spoke about ‘Pharmacy, Medicine and the Future NHS’. It was a thoughtful and stimulating address that highlighted some of the central challenges facing healthcare – notably, the increasing gap between total health spending and GDP growth. Professor Tooke suggested a holistic approach to developing biomedical solutions and outlined some particular areas where the joint interests of pharmacy and medicine could benefit patients. ABPI CEO Stephen Whitehead gave the response focussing on the pharmaceutical industry, professionalism and the NHS.
Provost’s Teaching Awards 2012
UCL Provost, Malcolm Grant with the winners of the Provost’s Teaching Awards 2012
The outstanding contribution made by UCL School of Pharmacy staff to the student learning experience was recognised in the recent Provost’s Teaching Awards 2012. Each year Deans, in consultation with Heads of Departments, are invited to nominate staff for these awards. The awards ceremony was held on July 10th where Provost Malcolm Grant presented 11 awards including the Team Collaboration and Achievement in Teaching award to Dr David West and the UCL School of Pharmacy. The School won the award for its Integrated Therapeutics Project. This project is a novel approach to developing student awareness of the interconnectedness of the diverse subjects underpinning pharmacy. It is a distance learning project employing a unique combination of wiki technology to develop topic pages and their interconnections by the cohort, followed by individual concept mapping to generate a localised summary that is presented for rapid visual assessment by a committee with combined expertise in the range of underpinning subjects. The concept is scalable and the principles are readily applicable to other disciplines that have a broad base of supporting subjects where students tend to separate their learning into compartments. Whilst this project was conceived and led by Dr West, e-learning coordinator and Dr Wilderspin, MPharm course coordinator for Options and Projects, its success stems from the commitment of the entire team both during development and continued implementation. Team members (l-r) Dr Majella Lane, Professor Alex Thomson, Dr Michael Munday, Dr Carl Martin, Dr Brian Pearce, Dr John Malkinson, Dr Stephen Hilton, Professor Malcolm Grant (UCL Provost), Dr Andy Wilderspin, Professor Kevin Taylor, Dr David West. Not pictured: Professor Jane Portlock, Professor Felicity Smith, Dr Geoff Wells
Greenlight Pharmacy Education Centre
MPharm students need exposure to as many practice settings as possible, in order to gain experience and confidence in professional and clinical roles. Already, as part of the four year degree, they spend time in community pharmacy and undertake hospital placements, and the School now has a unique opportunity to expand their community experience beyond traditional observations. The School is developing its partnership with the Greenlight Pharmacy (based just behind Euston Road) to create a ‘real life’ dispensary and a teaching location for group activities with patients. In its new premises, Greenlight has a large basement area which is being fitted out as a fully functioning Pharmacy,
mirroring the shop floor above, but with interactive teaching facilities for seminar groups, small teams and individual students. The Education Centre will permit students to gain hands on experience with real prescriptions and an opportunity to undertake individual and group activities on patient consultation and educational sessions with groups of patients. The Centre will provide a unique ‘live’ setting which is not available at any other School of Pharmacy in the UK. Within a couple of years, the Education centre will also house UCL medical students, working alongside Pharmacy students in understanding whole-patient care issues.
The Professor Frank Fish Memorial Award 2012-2022
To commemorate Professor Frank Fish’s term of office as Dean at the Square, His family has given a very generous award to the School of Pharmacy. Following discussions with Professor Simon Gibbons, Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry and Professor of Phytochemistry, the School will use the award to fund an annual lecture by
a distinguished phytochemist to foster further interaction and collaboration in the subject. The School’s first recipient of the Professor Frank Fish Memorial Award is Professor Monique Simmonds from Kew Gardens. Monique has a significant public profile and is head of the Sustainable Uses of Plants Group at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She also co-ordinates Kew’s research into the medicinal uses of plants, and has extensive experience of work with different government organisations in developing countries. She regularly talks to the public about Kew’s scientific research programmes and is often heard on the BBC. The lecture will take place at the Square on October 10 starting at 5.45 for 6pm, followed by a drinks reception. To book a place or for more details please contact z.davenport@ucl.ac.uk.
Major Redevelopment for Wolfson Lab Many of you will remember contributing to the School’s appeal for funds towards the cost of a large-scale upgrade of its undergraduate teaching laboratory and the creation of a clinical skills learning centre. With your help and funding from the Wolfson Foundation and UCL we now have sufficient funds to begin the four month project in June 2013. The Wolfson Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory was a leading facility in the UK when it was established in 1998, providing ample space for around 70 students. The yearly intake was around 120 and classes were repeated twice. However, in 2000 the three year BPharm was re-structured as a four year MPharm to bring the UK in line with the EU – increasing the School’s undergraduate cohort from 360 to 480. Today the cohort is almost 800 with a first year intake of around 200. The space constraints force the curriculum into rigid teaching blocks, requiring practical classes to be repeated at least four times. The laboratory needed to be significantly increased in size and completely modernised. To achieve this, architects rationalised the layout. The computer write up area will be removed as students now have brand new adjacent facilities and the technicians’ prep area will be centrally relocated once the laboratory boundary is altered to include two adjacent rooms. The plans also allow us to fulfil a long held ambition to bring together scientific teaching in the laboratory with a new purpose built clinical pharmacy learning centre, on the floor below. A modern dispensary area with a “dispensing robot” will develop students’ ability to consult and prescribe, monitor and dispense medicines. Students will also learn about adverse drug reactions and the physiological effects of prescribed medicines through computerised simulations of patient symptoms such as blood pressure and heart and lung operation. This project completes the School’s development programme which focused on improving our learning and teaching facilities. In recent years we have transformed the Library, IT unit, PhD study spaces, the Square Lounge and the Junior Common Room and Bar.
Above: Wolfson laboratory for pharmaceutical science (view through the entrance showing the central circulation route) Below: Plan showing existing (410m2) and proposed (950m2) Wolfson Teaching Laboratory
KEY EXISTING STUDENT SPACE
The Wolfson laboratory for pharmaceutical science
MOLECULAR PHARMACY WING
TECHNICIAN PREPARATION AREA
ADDITIONAL STUDENT SPACE
The Wolfson laboratory for pharmaceutical science The Wolfson clinical pharmacy learning centre Student break out area
One Million ‘needlessly in pain’
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increasing the use of structured pain assessments in the community; providing self care support, including better protection against the harmful or ineffective use of ‘minor’
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UCL School of Pharmacy
The biopsychosocial model of pain (Source: PainXchange)
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Report Authors Professor David Taylor Dr Jennifer Gill
Across the UK 5 to 10 million more members of the public have conditions which cause them varying degrees of intermittent or persistent pain, and who require good quality health and social support. Chronic pain can result in severe impairments in an individuals’ sense of wellbeing, level of function, ability to sleep and general quality of life. Feelings such as depression, anger, hopelessness and despair are reportedly common, and people with persistent pain can become inactive and socially isolated or withdrawn. The biopsychosocial model of pain (right) indicates that the effective prevention and treatment of persistent pain conditions demands that all relevant forms of intervention are employed. Co-author of the report Relieving Persistent Pain, Improving Health Outcomes Professor David Taylor (UCL School of Pharmacy) said: “Financially, pain related disorders cost this country in excess of £10 billion a year, over and above the unrecorded personal costs involved. Increased investment in specialist services is needed. But the problem this often neglected field presents is far too big for specialist care alone to resolve. New pain management related payments for GPs might promote better outcomes. However, four out of five people already think they should go to pharmacies with pain related problems. Enhanced community pharmacy based services could help more of us respond to pain in timely and effective ways, and reduce the prevalence of persistent pain.” Pharmacists have responsibilities for the safe and effective use of both prescribed and self purchased medicines, which in areas like pain management also requires understanding of the value of non-drug treatments and care. Examples of the ways in which improved community pharmacy services (which will in future be complemented by innovations such as giving NHS users power over who can see and amend their computerised health records) include:
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At any one time a million people in England are living with long term pain which could have been prevented or be significantly better treated, according to a joint UCL School of Pharmacy and UK Clinical Pharmacy Association report.
analgesics and informing public awareness of what pains are best accepted and ‘worked through’, and those which need prompt relief; and facilitating access to psychological and other nonpharmaceutical pain care providers, and the use of computer based services.
The incidence of persistent pain rises as populations age. It is commonly associated with conditions such as back disorders, rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis, diabetes (which can damage nerves), cancers and traumatic injuries, including the after effects of surgery. Yet persistent pain is also a condition in its own right. Dr Jennifer Gill (UCL School of Pharmacy) said: “Normal adaptive pain is useful – it protects us from injury and aids the recovery of damaged tissue by making it unusually sensitive. But maladaptive ‘neuropathic’ and ‘functional’ pains have become dis-linked from these beneficial ends. They result from nerve damage or from
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“Financially, pain related disorders cost this country in excess of £10 billion a year, over and above the unrecorded personal costs involved. Increased investment in specialist services is needed. But the problem this often neglected field presents is far too big for specialist care alone to resolve.”
Categories of most common types of persistent pain in the UK Source: Breivik (2006) 50 45
* Unlisted causes of pain include multiple sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, migraine, cancer and functional pain of no known origin.
40 35 30 25 20
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Other/unknown*
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form of torture. But they also have significant unwanted side effects. In poorly supported and vulnerable communities in particular, opioids are subject to hazardous and counterproductive usage. The report argues that when innovative treatments and applications are developed they should be made available to patients promptly. Delaying and restricting the uptake of patented interventions reduces pharmaceutical spending in the short term. But it can also harm patients and wider public interests, and undermine the funding needed for achieving pharmaceutical technology driven efficiency gains and long term economic success.
Herniated/deteriorating discs or spine fractures
social strategies for its prevention and treatment have an important role to play in further improving prevention and care. So too should new medicines that complement or improve upon existing drugs. Relieving Persistent Pain, Improving Health Outcomes describes how research in areas such as the role of nerve growth factor (NGF) in persistent pain, the function of neuronal sodium channels in transmitting pain, and the possibility that gene therapies will in future contribute to better outcomes. Future innovations may also reduce current reliance on opioid drugs such a morphine. Morphine based and similar medicines have valuable properties. Failing to make them appropriately available to people in pain can at worst be seen as a
Traumatic Injury/surgery
changes in the working of the nervous system in the spine and elsewhere which amplify pain signals in the brain for no good purpose. “Modern neuro-imaging and other techniques are now revealing the biological mechanisms involved. We are also beginning to understand more fully how social factors and psychological states like relative deprivation and depression can link with physiological and genetic variables to make people more (or less) vulnerable to developing persistent pain disorders such as fibromyalgia and chronic post-operative pain.” Public health approaches to developing better communitywide insight (in part through media communications) into the nature of persistent pain and the need for combined biological, psychological and
Live Long and Prosper
Not so, according to research from the School, which argues that the elderly are already an economic plus – and will become more so with the passing years. Report Authors Professor David Taylor Dr Jennifer Gill UCL School of Pharmacy
‘We realise that for all practical purposes the lives of the aged are useless, that they are often a burden to themselves, their family and the community at large. Their appearance is generally unaesthetic, their actions objectionable, their very existence often an incubus to those who in their humanity or duty take upon themselves the care of the aged’ (Nascher, 1914). This quotation is from the preface of one of the first gerontology textbooks (O’Neill 2011). It shows that prejudicial views about older people are nothing new. The social changes of the last century mean that today such opinions are far less likely to be tolerated. But even so, negative attitudes towards population ageing persist. However, reducing the number of premature deaths and opening the way to active ageing (defined as continuing to live independently as an engaged member of society) is better seen as a success to be celebrated, not a problem to be contained. Older people are a benefit, rather than a burden, to the economy and society according to a report from the UCL School of Pharmacy. The report, Active Ageing: Live Longer and Prosper (produced with financial support from Alliance Boots) refutes the view that older people are a major source of economic problems such as reduced international competitiveness. It provides evidence that the benefits of living longer will outweigh the additional health and social care costs of population ageing. “All too often old age is seen
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Like other western countries, Britain is ageing. The predictions are dire. The NHS will be unable to cope and younger generations will be left paying the bill.
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Life expectancy from birth in England and Wales (years)
as a time of increasing dependency, vulnerability and frailty. But older people already contribute significantly to their families’ and wider communities’ wellbeing,” commented Dr Jennifer Gill, co-author of the report. A review of the changing demographics are instructive, even if a quarter of Britain’s population in 2050 will be over 60, compared with a third on average elsewhere in Europe. In 1948, the year of the National Health Service’s creation, just 15 per cent of Britain’s population were over 60. Indeed there were just 200,000 over80s, compared with 1.4 million today and an expected three million in 2050. Life expectancy at 65 has increased by six years since the 1950s. As people live longer they are staying healthier, at any given age. Such advances have partly been generated by the pharmaceutical revolution of 1950-2000. Medicines for conditions
such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, are now well understood and have already contributed significantly to falling death and disability rates, despite other problems such as obesity. “In future decades, greater participation by people in their 60s and 70s in formal and informal work, alongside additional decreases in the number of life years spent with major disabilities, could increase national productivity by up to 10 per cent of GDP,” said Dr Gill. The signs are already evident that older people are making significant contributions to the economy. Recent figures from the office of national statistics show that 358,000 more over65s are at work than a decade ago. The number of late-stage entrepreneurs is also rising dramatically. Last year, there were 332,000 self-employed over-65s, a rise of more than 100,000. In the 1980s and 1990s
Expected number of UK citizens over-80 years old in 2050
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“In future decades, greater participation by people in their 60s and 70s in formal and informal work, alongside additional decreases in the number of life years spent with major disabilities, could increase national productivity by up to 10 per cent of GDP”
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Numbers (millions) of the population in each age group projected to 2050 in the UK Source: ONS data
£80 billion Estimated contribution to the economy by retired ‘baby boomers’ in 2030
Summer 2012
Read the full report www.ucl.ac.uk/ pharmacy/documents/news_docs/ageing
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estimates indicate that just 0.2% of the annual increase in NHS spending was caused by population ageing. Even though the current figure is in the order of one per cent per annum such cost increases have been outweighed by the positive contribution of £40 billion that adults aged 65 and over made to the British economy in 2010. It is estimated that by 2030 retired ‘baby boomers’ will contribute £80 billion to the economy. An increasing policy emphasis on extending healthy life expectancy as an explicitly planned, high priority objective, will lead to even higher ‘pay-backs’. Extended community pharmacy and other community based services that support the adoption of protective lifestyles as well as increased levels of safe and effective medicine and vaccines use would help increase healthy life expectancy faster than overall life expectancy. “Population ageing and increasing longevity are now world‐wide phenomena. In the future, integrated life‐long preventive care and support will enable resources like community pharmacies and community nursing to be used to optimum effect, permitting progressively longer healthy life expectancies,” said co-author Professor David Taylor. Challenges such as rising Alzheimer’s disease prevalence rates and the need to provide good quality social care on an affordable and equitable basis are substantial. But improved diagnostic products and further generations of new pharmaceuticals will in time reduce the extent of the disability experienced as ageing continues. “Even when older people do need long term supportive care, it will be affordable,” said Professor Taylor. “For instance, the extra public cost of the recent Dilnot proposals for making residential and community care more fairly available in England would, if implemented, probably be under 0.2 per cent of current UK Gross National Product.”
Alumni News Doodlebugs, evacuation, flaming cars and burning dustbins - some of our older alumni certainly know how to tell a tale or two.
As reported in our last issue we were pleased to host a reunion of some of our older alumni in September last year. We were joined by pre-1947 graduates Albert Biggs, Gerald Mee, MBE, Bunty Parkinson, Josephine Carlisle. Sons and daughters also joined us such as Evangeline Rogers whose father Donald Roger’s graduated in 1932, Susan Bews whose father Dr Eric Hersant graduated in 1931and Richard Chatterjee, whose father Santosh-Hari Chatterjee graduated in 1948. Gerald noted that when he had mentioned the reunion to a friend he was greeted with the exclamation “Good lord are they still alive!”. We are happy to report that the participants were not only alive but also extremely lively. They spent an enjoyable few hours helping the Development Office to identify the people and places captured in the School’s archive of photographs and telling some tales that add much needed colour to the dry facts that we know about the School’s history.
Keeping Calm and Carrying On World War II looms large in their recollections. However, these stories are told with a good dose of humour and in such a matter of fact manner that one is reminded of the character that the Ministry of Information appealed to with its “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster. Richard Chatterjee recalled that his father SantoshHari Chatterjee was almost ten years older than his fellow students when he finally attended the School in 1945; having intended to come over from India to study in 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the University of London decided that the School should be evacuated to Cardiff. The School was accomodated partly in the University College Building in Cathays Park and partly in the Botanical Department in Newport Road. Our guests who were affected by this upheaval looked back with affection on their ‘digs’, the new friends they made and even the 15 minute walk required to get from one building to the next. Alumni of the School also experienced the sustained strategic bombing of British cities. Josephine told us of fire watching from the roof of the building and observing the Doodlebugs flying overhead with the Dean, Harry Berry. Incendiary bombs, which ignited on impact, were dropped,
Produced in 1939 this poster was intended to be distributed in order to strengthen morale. Over 2,500,000 copies were printed, although the poster was distributed only in limited numbers. The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and has been re-issued on a range of products. Original 1939 poster www.wartimeposters.co.uk
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hundreds at a time and the duties of fire watchers were to look out for them and extinguish them before a fire could take hold. They were issued with a bucket of sand, a bucket of water and a stirrup pump to do the job.
...and then the car caught fire... It is humbling to hear how our alumni coped in such extreme situations and to realise how much they resemble the mythic image of UK citizens during the war - unshowily brave and brewing tea as the bombs fell. However, their stories also reveal another side to their lives. They were slightly (and there’s no other word to describe it) naughty. Gerald related a tale of japes with chemicals that resulted in flares going off in the School’s dustbins. Josephine and Bunty recalled their fearsome librarian, Aggie Lothian and that they “hardly dare go in the library”. Bertie told of the infamous and much loved School pantomimes including the merciless teasing of the School’s faculty. There were also confessions as one of our alumni admitted that a set of pharmacy jars sitting on her kitchen shelf had been retrieved from a coal bunker on the School’s return from its Welsh exile. The story of Bertie and Gerald’s 1947 trip to Stratford on Avon sounds like a script for a particularly fraught “Road to ...” movie. Having procured three broken cars and, through some connections, slightly more than the basic petrol ration for civilians, Bertie and the gang set off for Stratford. They managed to arrive in one piece despite the fact that the door fell off one car, the starter motor packed in on another which led to filling up with the motor running, and one of the cars catching fire! Speaking with our alumni is always illuminating and fleshes out the bare bones of the School’s history. We are currently planning a new book about our history and it is through the stories of our alumni that we hope to bring this to life (see page 13 for details).
Bunty Parkinson
Bert Biggs
Gerald Mee and Bert Biggs
Josephine Carlisle
There were several alumni who couldn’t make it on the day - Dr Mike Michaels (1938), Professor Dinah M James OBE (1942), Jeanne Train (nee Edmunds, 1942), Barbara M Peskett (nee Roper, 1943), William Walton (1944), May Morgan (nee Hughes) 1946, Lewis Priest (1946) asked to be remembered to everyone and sent his best wishes, Aileen Kennedy (nee Williams, 1947), Aileen was terribly fed up to miss the reunion, June M Walker (nee Gibson, 1947) wanted to remind Gerald Mee of the time he “bumped her off the back of his motor bike when he hit the pavement!”, Mary E Jones (nee Hember, 1948), and Louise Briggs (nee Ellis, 1950). Josephine Carlisle
The Thomas Marns Scholarship We are delighted to announce the formation of the Thomas Marns Scholarship. This substantial fund has been set up by Mr Marns’ daughter Joyce Leffingwell Randolph and his grandaughter Patricia Hotham (nee Marns), an alumna of the School who graduated in 1967. It will pay the fees of selected MPharm and PhD students studying at the School of Pharmacy. Thomas Marns was born in Sunderland. He served his apprenticeship to Mr Charles Rankin and went as an assistant, first to a pharmacy in Northallerton and next to Collis and Williams, of Valetta, Malta. Returning to England, he qualified as a chemist and druggist from the Westminster College of Pharmacy in 1910. The following five years were spent in the services of Messrs. Boots, four of them as branch manager at Southampton, a period during which he was prominently identified with the Southampton Pharmacists’ Association. In 1915 he acquired a business in Ealing and later he founded the firm of Thomas Marns Ltd, which owned a number of chemists in the West of London. He also became European manager of Carter’s liver pills, a position that gave him considerable importance in the pharmaceutical world and caused him to travel extensively in Europe and North America. In 1922 Thomas Marns was elected member of Council of the Pharmaceutical Society, and retired in 1940. He was President of the Pharmaceutical Society from 1936 to 1938. In this capacity he was among those invited to Westminster Abbey for the Coronation in 1937 when the picture on the left was taken. His son (Patricia’s father), Thomas Marns was a graduate of The Square and changed the course of Thomas Marns Ltd into pharmaceutical manufacturing. This is an extremely generous gift that, in the future will help some of the brightest students to realise their ambitions and take advantage of the School’s outstanding resources.
“If the art of making friends could be accounted one of the successes of life Thomas Marns had that success, for I know of no man who had a greater circle of friends” F.G.Wells, Pharmaceutical Council of Great Britain, 1950
Student spotlight
Amy Chow, a 3rd year MPharm student from Toronto, Canada tells us why she chose to study at the School and how scholarships and more alumni contact could benefit students
I decided to go to the UCL School of Pharmacy because it afforded me an opportunity to learn from an excellent faculty, gain hands-on experience and to get my Masters degree in four years. I wanted to broaden my horizons and to experience different cultures before I graduated. The diversity that I can experience within the UK is unparalleled – I have made friends from all corners of the world. My experiences since arriving in London have been beyond anything I could ever imagine. I really enjoy such a vibrant city. It is constantly bustling with the latest shows and events, yet it never forgoes its rich history and culture.
London is one of the world’s most expensive cities, so without a doubt, students would jump at the opportunity of a scholarship. A scholarship would mean relief from stressing over the cost for food and allow students to focus on school instead of trying to juggle a job alongside our education. I think a scholarship also becomes a tangible motivational tool to excel in school, and gives students that extra incentive to try to achieve goals they otherwise would not have considered. More contact with the alumni would be readily welcomed. It would be a great privilege for students to
learn from alumni and be given a chance to speak with them. It would be very interesting to hear about the challenges they faced, decisions they made to overcome them and maybe even short stories of the adventures they had. I believe students would find it valuable to be mentored. The ability to reach out and speak with someone who has gone through similar trials and tribulations would help alleviate a lot of stress. From a professional point of view, alumni also have a lot to share and teach younger students who are unsure of which field in pharmacy they want to go into. Amy Chow
New book to celebrate the history of the School
Hong Kong Alumni Association Representatives from the School will be visiting Hong Kong later in the year and are organising an event which we hope will include all of our 170 HK alumni.
Within a bustling Victorian London, a vibrant British Empire and a complicated medical landscape, a group of chemists and druggists established the Pharmaceutical Society in 1841. Key to their ambitions was the development of educational standards for pharmacy that would enable its practitioners to hold their heads high amongst physicians and apothecaries, policy makers and the general public. This founding group acted fast to acquire 17 Bloomsbury Square as their headquarters. They also quickly established the first School of Pharmacy supported by a library and museum, to enable them to achieve their educational and professional aims. One hundred and seventy years later that small School of Pharmacy, by then the highest-rated research provider in the UK merged as an equal partner with University College London, bringing its research and teaching into a globallyleading institution. The story of the people and events that made that happen is to be celebrated in a new History of the School, to be published early next year. The 170 years of the School’s independent existence saw the development of an increasingly important and influential university institution, but it also witnessed transformational development in medicines, in the management of public health, in social behaviour and, crucially, the emergence of the modern profession of Pharmacist. This book sets out to tell the story of the School in the context of that changing world. It is also, of course, your story – and we hope very much that alumni will contribute to the telling of the story. We would welcome your images and stories for possible inclusion. The History (title to be confirmed) is to be published in both hard copy and electronic form by the prestigious international science publishers, Elsevier, in summer 2013 and will be available to order from Spring 2013. It will be written by Briony Hudson former Keeper of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Museum collections, Vice President of the British Society for the History of Pharmacy, and author of a wide range of publications on British pharmacy history. Maureen Boylan
Above: Dr T.E. Wallis in the Chemistry laboratory at 17 Bloomsbury Square, 1898. Dr Wallis was a Jacob Bell Scholar at the time this photograph was taken, and went on to teach pharmacognosy at the Square, and to write the previous history of the School.
Above: The lecture theatre of the School of Pharmacy with Professor Greenish lecturing (1931) Images kindly provided by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum
The event will take place on Saturday October 27 If you live in Hong Kong or are close by and haven’t been contacted yet please get in touch. z.davenport@ucl.ac.uk
Alumni Stories
The history of the School cannot be told without the narrative of its students and alumni. If you wish to submit your stories for possible inclusion in this new book then we’d be delighted to here from you. We will eventually
be interested in any photographic material that can help to tell our story but please do not send these in yet. Please email your recollections and suggestions to Maureen Boylan m.boylan@ucl.ac.uk
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ALUMNI The Square’s role in the VOICES profession of pharmacy OPINION PIECE
Alumni Voices is a new feature that we hope will encourage our alumni to share their views on the world of pharmacy. Our first contribution comes from Philip Harrison. Please send any comments or submissions for future editions to Square Roots
A pharmacist should be an equal and complementary part of the health care team. Graduates emerge from academia with excellent knowledge but with little understanding of how to function and engage in professional dialogue with physicians as equals. Too often, pharmacists are reluctant to challenge physicians which does nothing for their selfesteem nor does it benefit the patient. While this may be a result of commercial considerations, pharmacy education should recognize its role by integrating some aspects of medical and pharmacy education so that both physicians and pharmacists have the academic and mental fortitude to work together and thus improve health care delivery.
Philip Harrison Chairman of a small, privately held pharmaceutical company, Triton Pharma in Montreal where he has been for most of his professional career. He visits the UK several times a year and maintains an interest in both the Square and role of the pharmacist in health care delivery.
Square Roots may seem an unlikely vehicle to express a personal view on the profession of pharmacy since the publication’s role is to provide a means of communication and discuss issues directly related to the Square. However, the Square has always had a significant influence in pharmacy education. During my undergraduate days, there was an implicit suggestion that mention of the Square in the professional community would cause people to lower their heads in reverence and in company, part as the Red Sea did with Moses. While academic excellence has always been an objective, the difference in academic standards, if ever there was one, exists no longer as colleges have morphed into universities and BPharm became MPharm. There will no doubt be an even greater levelling with the recent absorption into UCL. Despite the academic excellence, even in the mid-60s, although many excellent academics were produced, the majority of graduates chose to work in community pharmacy. So what should the role of pharmaceutical education be – academic or professional? On June 1, 2012, I experienced two apparently unrelated events. While listening to the Montreal equivalent of the Today program, the opening strains of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band were played-to celebrate the 45th anniversary of its release (it was released on June 6th in the UK). This brought back memories of the year I graduated – in the stressful weeks before finals, hearing the music through the open windows of
International Hall and later that Summer, driving though the USA during the Summer of Love. The second event was reading The Economist on the way to work. The title of the article was the Future of Medicine. This article discussed the changing role of health care professionals but was distinguished by the fact that the word “Pharmacist” was not mentioned once. Orientation Of Pharmacy Education Pharmacy education is a joint responsibility of the academic and professional institution. Academically, in the 60s, education was molecules, assays and doses. Contact with other doctors and nurses was limited to lining up in the refectory with Royal Free students (the former) or extra mural activities (the latter). Pharmacy education has changed since then but has it gone far enough. Professionally, there has been progress with governance. A belated continuing professional development (CPD) program is now mandatory. However, the Society while commendable in some areas has been (in my opinion) negligent in others. The self-congratulation and deck chair arranging (Save our Society and what constitutes a pharmacist come to mind) has led to a situation where I am no longer considered a pharmacist despite managing a pharmaceutical company, providing medical information and education to physicians and patients, and dealing with formulation and manufacturing. A contemporary who graduated with
me has only just been admitted to the Society. In my preregistration year, I gained a lot of experience in stocking shelves in various non-pharmaceutical departments, preparing small packets of herbs for sale as well as the occasional entry into the dispensary. Neither I, nor my supervisor, had any evaluation. My supervisor never set foot in the dispensary (he was a manager of Boots), appeared at approximately the frequency of Venus across the sun and whose pearl of wisdom was that “empty shelves don’t sell”. The Society does implement PR campaigns, some of which deal with the role of the pharmacist. These may be helpful but if the pharmacists cannot or will not deliver, the result is disappointment. The introduction of the clinical pharmacy, dispensing pharmacists and Medicine Use Review (MUR) has ostensibly gone some way to restore the role of the pharmacist to their clinical role but my experience of the latter has not been positive. In a recent attempt to obtain an MUR for a family member, the first pharmacist regarded the case as too complicated and suggested that I went back to the doctor, the second said that he wasn’t regulated to do it (although on checking with the local health authority, I found that he was). When finally, after several requests, I was told that there was one done, the result was that “everything was fine”. I have no proof that it was done, who did it or the substance of the review. I cannot, or prefer not to believe that pharmacists have a psychological deficit which prevents
them from interacting with physicians on an equal basis. Recent reports show the mistakes that occur on hospital discharge and the overmedication of the elderly; the latter, I suggest, as a direct result of the lack of physicianpharmacist communication.
and emphasize professional equivalence while practicing together would minimize what pharmacists see as a conflict. If they discuss (read challenge) the physician’s treatment, will this create an antagonistic relationship? There is a conundrum, of course which is that although the majority of The Bottom Line graduates have careers in community My experience will not be universal and pharmacy, the Square prides itself this was confirmed by conversation with in academic position and shows alumni at a recent reunion. However, less interest in the professional side. these are my personal and professional This could change and in doing observations over many years and so, would not in any way dilute its have been confirmed by recent academic status. interactions with the NHS. Further, Perhaps the view has been that the problem is systemic. A recent the academic education is the Square’s president of the Society espoused the responsibility and the professional role view that a pharmacist could take over is the Society’s role. The solutions to some duties currently performed by this situation are not short term but they doctors “to save the doctors’ time”, are not esoteric. I suggest two practical presumably so that they could do changes. First, ensure that some of the something more important. pharmacology and medicinal chemistry courses are joint with medical students Quo Vadis (could this be a positive outcome of So why would an essay such as this the UCL absorption) and second, appear in Square Roots. It could also make the preregistration year focus on be argued that the issues raised are working as part of a health care team. the purview of the Society and not For the academic part, simply attending academic institutions. In my view it the same lectures would not be is partly because the Society has sufficient but having case discussions become distracted by its internal would, which would then lead to an issues and more recently its changed assessment in a clinical setting. This status but more importantly because adds the challenge of a qualitative the Square has the wherewithal (and assessment as well as a quantitative I would argue the responsibility) to (written exam). change educational direction and to This approach would be influence professional bodies. Just as combined with an MUR evaluation; the in medicine, one observes symptoms, difference being that the first would be investigates, diagnoses and treats. My with a naive patient and the second diagnosis is that the professions do would be a review of a treated patient. not train together. It is meant to be a The second is that the team and currently we have a situation preregistration year should have a more akin to the goal keeper, the defence formal curriculum in a hospital with a and the forwards training separately rotation through different departments to each with different coaches and (just as medical students do). This match strategy and meeting for the should apply to all graduates even first time on the pitch with the ensuing if they intend to work in community confusion (and resentment) about roles. pharmacy. With a formal curriculum, While a common human condition, we there can then be an exam which would have tribal conditions “if you’re in my ensure greater rigour. profession it’s OK but if not,..well! The solution (treatment) is first to Conclusion train and then practice together. Training This is obviously a personal view. together would contribute to a better Pharmacy has been an immensely understanding of the respective roles satisfying profession to me. However
positive the relations are between the Society and the Square, my impression from the outside is that they are two solitudes. While espousing co-operation, the Square focuses on the academic and the Society sees its role as purely professional. The result is that we may have excellent academics and excellent professionals but not functioning optimally as part of a team. It may be that the Square’s position is that this is
how it should be or that the Square is one of many schools and that this is a shared responsibility. I disagree. The Square has the duty (and obligation) to produce excellent pharmacists and not just academic excellence. It could take a leadership role. Philip Harrison
The Square Foundation The School of Pharmacy Foundation Acting Chair, Dr Philip Brown said previously in Square Roots “The future of the School still lies in the hands of its management, academics, students and alumni for whom the School is something special. If we are committed to and support our future then future generations of pharmacists will applaud the decision to merge with UCL”. New Board Dr Brown also mentioned that our first objective would be to appoint a board. The Foundation Board will help to address the crucial issue of raising funds for the School. Some of you have already expressed an interest. If you would like to join the Square Foundation and play a role in the future of the Square, please get in touch with Dr Brown or Zoë Davenport. The Foundation will help strengthen, unify and promote the School’s work to the widest possible audience and provide a networking platform for our alumni and stakeholders. With your support the Foundation will continue. Donations The increase in fees now £9,000 a year for a home student and £15,000 for international students means that education is outside the reach of some of the most able students. Scholarships are a wonderful way to ensure students can progress in their chosen field. A scholarship can literally change someone’s life. The first School of Pharmacy Alumni Scholarship recipient graduated with first class honours – the second Scholarship in this scheme has just been announced and will start in 2012. The Wolfson Foundation awarded £200,000 to the School to help pay for the refurbishment of the School’s undergraduate teaching laboratory and set up a Clinical Skills Centre. School funds and those given by alumni and friends mean work begins in the summer of 2013. We also have the first Professor Frank Fish Memorial Lecture (a series of 10), funded through a generous gift (P.4) The Square Foundation e-newsletter will be published shortly.
In memoriam With deep regret, we record the deaths of the following former students, employees and friends of the School : Dr John N. T. Gilbert and a worthy occasion, in which several members of his family took part. The School was well represented. John was a dedicated member of the staff at the Square throughout his career. Many of us feel it was a privilege to have known him, been taught by him, and worked alongside him. He was, in his quiet way, a truly great man. Dr John Powell
John came to the School of Pharmacy as a student in the early 50s. After successfully completing his BPharm, and qualifying as a pharmacist, he was appointed as a lecturer in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1955. He then worked for his PhD; the title of his thesis, prepared under the guidance of David Mathieson was Structural Studies on a-Elaterin When I arrived at the Square in 1966 with a background as an organic chemist, John was enormously supportive, and guided me very generously in the preparation of lectures and practicals that were appropriate to the School of Pharmacy. He was a close colleague and friend for nearly 20 years; always generous and helpful; the perfect team mate. John taught various aspects of medicinal chemistry. His lectures were always well prepared, well delivered and greatly appreciated by the students, and always thoroughly relevant to the training of future pharmacists. John was very much a family man, with a wife and three sons that he cared for greatly. He was also very active in his local church, in Essex. After retirement, John and Daphne moved to Norwich, to be nearer to their children and grandchildren. John died at his home on the 16th February 2012, after two years of failing health. A thanksgiving service was held at the Princes Street United Reformed Church, Norwich; it was well attended,
Audrey Huxley Gwyther Audrey Huxley, passed peacefully away aged 86 in hospital on 11th March 2011. Audrey graduated from the School with a BPharm in 1945 and a PhC in 1946. Professor Paul Spencer, OBE
Professor Paul Spencer photographed at the School’s celebration of 50 years at Brunswick Square in 2010.
Professor Paul Spencer, OBE passed away peacefully after a long illness on June 16th. Professor Spencer was Assistant Lecturer at the School from 1959-62. He went on to work as principal pharmacologist at Allen & Hanburys (now Glaxo Research), Ware 1962-65 and senior lecturer then reader in pharmacology at Aston University 1965-70. He was Emeritus Professor and Head of the Welsh School of Pharmacy, University of Cardiff 1978 to 1997.
Missing?
We are currently trying to track down the following alumni who have dropped off our radar and are missing from our records. 1963 Naomi Ishizaki Anita B Hill Philip Onagwele Emafo Angela Burden 1973 Lee Voulters Ping (Timothy) Ying Chung Chan Renukabehen Shah Dorothy A W Dickens Margaret A C Kinchin Brenda Rickett Salim Razakali Mussani Margaret Norwood Diana M Paskins Janet Lodge Lalit K Mathur Hazel Gatling Reginald R Conway Harries Glenda G Jones Professor David R Briggs Dr Anna T Patterson 1983 Lisa Jane Allen Pamela Anne Young Robert Petrie Hay Wilson Jane Bernadette Welsby
Pit Chen Chang Bhavnaben H Chikhlia Chiew (Tricia) L Tan Sally Ann Lovewell Summers Anne Margaret Sprackling Adam L F Spencer Kim Shurety Derek Leslie Noble Ann O’Dwyer Malti Naran Patel Kalpanaben Patel Ruksana Patel Rosalyn Diana Morgan Ladha Shahirabanu Alison Langdown Anita K Babbra Karen Elizabeth Lloyd Nicolette Hillbrand Pamela Janssen Jennifer Sook Keng Au Balbinder Singh Jagpal Annette Louise Jordan Louise F Hadcock Mary Diana Giddins Dr Babiker Mohammed Ahmed Dr Joanna Ruth Cunningham Yusof Bin Hussien Dr Norhayati (Noriati) Bte Ismail Dr Richard Gordon Lister Alison Margaret Price Dr Norma Gouvea Rumjanek
If you have any information about these alumni then please contact the Development Office. Zoë Davenport T +44 (0)20 7753 5988 z.davenport@ucl.ac.uk
“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.”
Maurice Chevalier, New York Times, 9 October 1960