Welcome to the Winter 2022 edition of APS Insights the newsletter from APS, your membership organisation. We hope you enjoy reading this and find it informative. We would love to hear your feedback on this newsletter or indeed any aspect of APS at [email protected]

I was able to meet like-minded individuals at a range of events to discuss the latest developments in pharmaceutical science. Not only were these conversations thrilling in the scientific content they have also lead to collaborative projects to set up training programmes, write scientific papers and invite speakers to present. Furthermore, some of those people who I met as like-minded peers have now become close friends.

My vision for the APS is that we grow the pharmaceutical sciences community in the UK, we provide a space for people to share ideas, challenges and opportunities that relate to pharmaceutical science. I want the APS to facilitate networking in an open and inclusive environment and I urge you to consider joining a focus group and attending the PharmSci meeting scheduled for September to become a part of this community.
The APS is a membership community, as a member I want to hear what the APS can do for you! Feel free to suggest ideas directly to us and we will do our best to make them happen. Please email [email protected]

I was therefore delighted to become a board director and your APS Chairperson for the period 2020-2021. It has been a very interesting couple of years and, like everyone else, the APS has had to adapt to working in a Covid-19 environment. It has been both exciting and humbling to see the impact of pharmaceutical science during this time, but also wonderful to see how our Board and membership have adapted to living, working, and networking in a digital environment.

Together we have achieved a big increase in our membership, some fresh faces on the Board, extensive new on-line content on our website, more Universities with APS-accredited programmes and a whole range of webinars and on-line programmes organised by our Focus Groups. Hats off also to the Pharm Sci organising committee for planning and delivering a fabulous on-line 3-day conference in 2021. My huge thanks go to the APS Board, Advisory Board and Focus Group leaders for your dedication and support during this time and to you as members for coming on the journey with APS.

I am pleased to report that our succession planning is working well and am delighted to have been working with Hannah, your new Chairperson, over the last few weeks. Hannah brings her own passion for pharmaceutical science and education and is perfectly suited to lead APS into exciting times for the future, including our face-to-face conference in Belfast in September 2022. Please give Hannah all your support!

APS Delivers

The Biopharmaceutics Focus Group built on the success of the Biopharm Basics training course that has been held twice as a face to face event by writing a textbook on this topic. The book, “Biopharmaceutics: From Fundamentals to Industrial Practice” was published in January 2022 and features authors from both academia and industry as well as authors at all career stages. This demonstrates the extent of the output from APS focus groups and showcases the best of UK talent in the field of biopharmaceutics.

Exiting board members

Two board members ended their term of office in 2021: Mark McAllister and Geoff Davison. I wanted to take this opportunity to pay tribute to them and thank them for the work that they conducted on behalf of the APS.

He also managed the transition from the previous secretariat support (from Associaction Enterprises) to the existing model. Mark has also been instrumental in setting up the PharmSci meeting that will be held in Belfast 7-9^th September 2022. Mark was awarded the APS medal, for services to the APS in 2020 although this is yet to be awarded in person! I very much hope that we can all celebrate with Mark in Belfast where he will be present to formally receive his medal.

APS Board members are volunteers who serve the APS due to their own passion for Pharmaceutical Sciences, and both Jo and I want to pass on our deepest thanks to Mark and Geoff for the time and dedication that they have both given to the APS.

Welcome to our new APS Board Members

Following a call for applications to join the APS board we are thrilled to welcome Trevor Archbold, Kofi Asare-Addo and Philipp Seib. I will be asking them some more about their interactions with APS in the next edition!

We also want to recognise the high-quality applications that we received for board member positions from a diverse range of individuals. We really hope that we can engage with all of the applicants going forwards either via focus groups of aligned APS activities as we rely on our volunteers to bring the excellent science to our community.

University of East London Accreditation

APS is delighted that the pharmaceutical science course at the University of East London (UEL) was submitted for accreditation and was approved on 5 November 2021. The university has submitted a short description of the motivation for their application, the process followed and what it means to their students:

As the careers-led university, UEL equips students with the practical skills needed for their futures. Professor Jane Perry, Dean of the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, recommended the course apply for accreditation with the APS so the course students and tutors could have a close association with the professional body; and have a source of up- to-date information and help in relation to industrial requirements.

When the programme was revalidated in 2019, all modules were mapped to the APS core curriculum to ensure that our programme content reflected the needs of future employers.

As part of the university’s focus on diversity as part of its strategy, Vision 2028, this was also important for the accreditation process.

Dr Barbara Pendry, principal lecturer at UEL said, “It is fantastic that the course has been accredited. The APS assures our students that they will be getting the best education and as a careers-led university, we make sure our students are prepared for whichever career path they choose to take.”

APS Award Lectures

Each year the APS invites applications for award lectures that are presented at the PharmSci conference. This year we were thrilled to receive so many applications and it was very hard to select winners as there was so much talent within the pool of candidates.

There are three categories of award:

The APS award, this showcases an individual who has demonstrated an internationally excellent contribution to pharmaceutical science. This year we are pleased to share that the award winner will be Professor Stuart Jones, Director of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Medicine Research at Kings College London. Stuart’s career has encompassed both industry and academia and the panel were particularly impressed by the breadth of pharmaceutical science showcased in his career.

The Innovative Science award recognises individuals who have demonstrated, through published work, a significant innovation which has the potential for application within the pharmaceutical industry. The winner this year was Professor Vitaliy Khutoryanskiy, Professor of Formulation Science at Reading School of Pharmacy. We are looking forward to his talk which will be titled, “Sticky and slippery formulations as two mutually exclusive opportunities for transmucosal drug delivery”.

The Emerging Scientist award recognises researchers with no more than 10 years’ experience since the award of their PhD who have an outstanding track record, indicative of excellent potential. We are delighted to announce that Dr Bahijja Raimi-Abraham, Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at Kings College London will be presenting her lecture, ““A Three-Way Approach to Tackle Infectious Diseases–What worked, what didn’t, and lessons learnt…”” at PharmSci 2022 in Belfast.

The APS is now accepting applications for 2022 Fellow of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Closing Date will be 30^th April 2022.

All applications will be reviewed by a panel composed of members from the APS board and Advisory board. Applicants will be notified of the result within 4 weeks.

Please email your application to [email protected]

A Fellowship is the highest and most prestigious honour awarded by the APS to members each year in recognition of their contribution to the Academy and their accomplishment and impact in any sector of the pharmaceutical sciences. Recipients of the 2022 APS fellowship(s) will be recognised at the conference dinner (8th September) at the APS PharmSci conference in Belfast.

Definition of Fellow

A Fellow is an active member of the APS who has provided service to the scientific community, made a significant and distinct contribution to the APS and has had clear impact in pharmaceutical science.

Upon award of a Fellowship, a Fellow will

• receive recognition from their peers for their excellent achievements in the profession and the field of pharmaceutical science.
• be able to use the post-nominal letters, FAPS.
• have opportunities to network with other Fellows, enabling the formation of new collaborations and partnerships.

Expectation of APS Fellows

Following award of a fellowship, the honoured individual is expected to continue to be part of the diverse community of Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS) fellows who actively contribute to and support the APS, the wider pharmaceutical science community and emerging pharmaceutical scientists.

In addition, a Fellow is expected to:

• advocate on behalf of the APS and the pharmaceutical science community and by doing so strengthen the voice of the academy and support the future of pharmaceutical science.
• be inspirational by acting as a role model, and where appropriate a mentor, for the pharmaceutical science community, and in particular the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists, enabling them to develop the experience and expertise they need to become future leaders.

Criteria

A Fellowship may be awarded following either self-nomination or nomination by a member of the APS. To be eligible for consideration as a Fellow you or your nominator must provide:

• a one-page statement demonstrating your membership of and contribution to the Academy of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the wider pharmaceutical sciences community, as well as your achievements in pharmaceutical science and their impact over a sustained period (see exemplars).
• your CV (see specific guidance for CV format below) making sure to include evidence that underpins the information in your one-page document detailing your service to the profession and the achievements you wish to be considered. In line with our commitment to fairness and equality, please make every attempt to remove as much personal, identifiable data as possible from your CV as possible so as to anonymise your application.
• details of two referees who can assess your contributions/achievements and their impact – ideally at least one of whom is an existing APS Fellow.

There is not a minimum length of APS membership required before a Fellowship can be awarded.  However, it is anticipated that a Fellowship would normally only be awarded to a current member who has made a distinct contribution to APS. If successful in being awarded a Fellowship, you will only retain the award whilst you remain a member of the APS.

Exemplars

A range of exemplars is provided to account for the diversity of the pharmaceutical sciences community. This list is far from inclusive. Although an applicant is likely to be able to demonstrate achievement in more than one of the following areas, no applicant is expected to demonstrate accomplishment in all areas.

Service to the Academy and the Wider Pharmaceutical Science Community

Examples include the effective and sustained:

• contribution to the training, development or mentoring of pharmaceutical scientists
• promotion of pharmaceutical science career paths, academic leadership in pharmaceutical science programmes, conference and events leadership
• contribution to diversity and inclusion and/or widening participation in pharmaceutical science
• contribution to the public understanding of pharmaceutical science
• impact through pharmaceutical sciences-based outreach and engagement activities or high-profile promotion of the importance of pharmaceutical science
• contribution to the enhancement of pharmaceutical sciences, for example supporting the work of the APS.

Achievement in the Pharmaceutical Sciences

Examples include:

• a substantial contribution to pharmaceutical science education/training, for example by the development of innovative new courses or teaching methods
• original research, significantly contributing to the advancement of pharmaceutical science or the application of pharmaceutical sciences to significantly advance knowledge in other areas
• a significant contribution to innovation in pharmaceutical science for example by the publication of patents, with demonstration of their impact
• creation of a successful business, charity or enterprise, in a pharmaceutical area
• a significant contribution to the advancement in the quality, safety, efficacy of medicines in any sector of the pharmaceutical sciences
• significant leadership in the development of an innovative medicine or a diagnostic
• the development of innovative methods, processes and paths in any of the sectors of pharmaceutical science

Guidance on the format of CVs

The CV is intended to provide evidence in support of the information on the one page document.

The CV should be no longer than 5 pages (font size 11 is the minimum font that is acceptable and page margins should be at least 2 cm in all directions). Applications exceeding this page limit will not be considered. In line with our commitment to fairness and equality, please make every attempt to remove as much personal, identifiable data as possible from your CV as possible so as to anonymise your application.

A narrative CV has been selected as the best format and a suggested outline can be found below, for further information on narrative CVs please see this link.

1. Personal details: Use this section to provide personal details such as your education, key qualifications, relevant positions, funding obtained, and awards received.
2. How have you contributed to the generation and communication of new ideas, hypotheses, tools or knowledge, to innovation in drug development, medicine assessment or manufacturing approaches? This section should capture your contributions to and skills acquired from previous research, innovation or technical projects. It can include a small selection of key outputs such as data sets, software, conference presentations and innovation, medicinal products, research and policy publications.
3. How have you contributed to research teams and the development of others? Examples might include: project management, supervision, mentoring or line management contributions to the success of a team or advancement of colleagues, involvement in collaborations/networks within your organisation and/or beyond or where you exerted strategic leadership in shaping the direction of a team, organisation, company or institution.
4. How have you contributed to the wider research and innovation community? Examples might include: commitments including editing, reviewing, refereeing, boards and panels, appointments to positions of responsibility such as committee membership and corporate roles within your department, institution or organisation. Recognition by invitation within your sector, organisation of workshops, conferences or other events that have benefited your research and innovation community and contributions to improving research and innovation culture.
5. How have you exploited your research or your skills and capabilities as a pharmaceutical scientist? Examples might include: knowledge exchange, engagement with industry, private/public sectors, clients, policy makers, researchers in different fields/disciplines or the broader public and other impacts across research and innovation.
6. Additional information: This optional section provides an opportunity to include any other relevant additional information relating to your proposal such as career breaks, secondments, volunteering, part-time work and other significant experience (including time spent in different sectors).

APS PharmSci 2022 Update

We are getting really excited about the APS PharmSci meeting planned for 7-9th September 2022

This will be our first major face to face conference since 2019 and we are really looking forward to seeing as many people as possible there!

Professor Ryan Donnelly will be our Science Chair at this event and he will be keen to showcase the best Pharmaceutical Science at the event.

There will be plenary lectures presented by:

• Claire Thomson, CEO, Agility Life Sciences
• Helen McCarthy, Professor in the School of Pharmacy at QUB and CEO of Phion Therapeutics
• Mark McAllister, Head of Global Biopharmaceutics, Pfizer
• Snow Stolnik, Professor of Pharmaceutics, Director of EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies at the University of Nottingham

The award winners who will provide lectures at the event are also detailed in this newsletter.

The programme will include sessions from most of our Focus Groups as well as from the UKICRS and JPAG. There really will be something for everyone and we look forward to welcoming you to Belfast. Make sure you save the date in your diary

The APS is proud to partner with Exciperience:

ExciPerience is a digital congress on excipients, formulation and drug delivery that will take place 9-10^th March, 2022. Top speakers will cover different aspects of 3D printing, QbD, In-silico development, pediatrics, gender influence on drug products, continuous manufacturing, etc. APS Full details of the conference can be found here: https://www.exciperience.com/

APS members benefit from a discount to this event – get your discount code from the members hub here!

13th World Meeting on Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology

The APS is a participating society in the 13th World Meeting on Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology which is taking place as a face to face event on the 28 – 31^st March 2022 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

This event builds upon a very successful series of scientific meetings, which have been held in Budapest, Paris, Berlin, Florence, Geneva, Barcelona, Malta, Istanbul, Lisbon, Glasgow, Granada and (due to the COVID crisis) in 2021 in a virtual format.

This conference series is continuously gaining in impact among the pharmaceutical scientists: With close to 1000 submitted abstracts and more than 1300 participants it has become a well-established major meeting, attracting scientists from all over the world.

Full details of the conference can be found here: https://www.worldmeeting.org/home/scientific-programme/

APS members benefit from a discount to this event.

Get to know our members

1. Tell us about yourself and your career journey to date?
With my background as a qualified UK Pharmacist and my experiences during my research career, I am constantly reminded of the need for impactful research to improve and expand available treatment options. My PhD focused on dermal drug delivery solutions in the treatment of skin cancer. After a short return to my role as an Oncology Pharmacist, I began my current role as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow within Aston Medical School. I have focused on the development of liposome formulations decorated with specific targeting moiety’s as well as transdermal delivery approaches collaborating with experts in disease areas within the maternal population and the aging population.

2. What is a typical day like for you?
Much of my time is spent contributing to experimental design as well as executing experimental work concerning the development of innovative formulation approaches for existing and novel compounds. This ranges from excipient selection, formulation characterisation, cellular toxicology and dose exploration studies as well as in vivo pharmacokinetic profiling and further dose exploration studies. This is then followed by analysis and writing for various outputs including research dissemination helping generate meaningful collaborations as well as further investment. Alongside teaching, I especially enjoy involving students within my research to help develop their skills and taste for pharmaceutical research.

3. What advice would you give to your 18 year-old self?
Advice I would give my 18 year-old self would be to have more confidence in your following a career in an area of interest. I still feel very lucky to be working in pharmaceutical research and whilst it was an interest from a younger age, I never believed I would be able to do this. I think it is important not to put too much pressure on yourself either and trust that even twists and turns you didn’t expect to take in your journey teaches you many things and grows your experiences.

4. What would you like our members to know about you?
I am an eager early career researcher aiming to conduct impactful research to improve and expand available treatment options particularly in patient groups with limited treatment options. My research to date has led me to focus on treatment solutions in pre-eclamptic patients as well as patients with neurologic disorder. Along with encouraging the next generation of scientists in this research area, I hope to grow my research and collaborations with the aim to ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Why not join one of our Focus Groups?

The APS has 12 Focus Groups that cover a range of topics. These include:

• Age-Related Medicines
• Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs)
• Biopharmaceutics
• Drugs From Natural Sources
• Skin Forum
• Emerging Technologies
• New Scientists And Students
• Nanomedicines
• Material Science
• Parenterals
• Process Engineering And Formulation
• Regulatory

As an APS member you can join any of these focus groups and I urge you to look at the website here where you will find details of the remit of each group as well as who the leadership team are for each group. There is an option within the website to join the group.

If you are interested in getting involved in a focus group there are plenty of opportunities to organise workshops, webinars or to write position papers.

Typically focus groups meet (via teleconference) on a monthly basis to plan events or to discuss hot topics. Each year there is an opportunity for the focus groups to suggest speakers for the APS PharmSci annual conference. This year we have seen an increase in the number of webinars offered by the Focus Groups, particularly from Age-Related Medicines; Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products; Biopharmaceutics and Nanomedicines. The New Scientists and Students FG also ran their Industrial Insights meeting as a virtual event for the first time.
If you want to suggest any webinar topics or events please join the focus group and share your ideas with the membership.