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How can results from lab experiments be translated into improvements in patient care?
A new Clinical Pharmacy Research Forum launched recently by the University of Brighton aims to tackle this challenge. The forum will help meet the national need for hospital-based pharmacists to undertake research and keep their knowledge up to date.
Pharmacists are already working with academics at Brighton. Using, the pond snail, together they have found age-related changes in the regulation of the wellbeing chemical, serotonin.
This observation suggests that the effectiveness of anti-depressant drugs in older people may be decreased and that there may be an increase in the incidence of unwanted side effects in this patient group. This discovery has led to a clinical trial and will potentially lead to a change in prescribing methods.
The new forum will put the university at the forefront of ensuring pharmacy research feeds into improving patient care and prescribing practices in UK hospitals. Dr Marcus Allen, Principal Lecturer, said: “It is important to bring together practitioner and academic pharmacists with a common research interest. This will also help to move research from the laboratory to the clinic and visa versa.”
