10.02.05
John Smart, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Head of the School
of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Brighton,
will give his inaugural lecture 'Therapeutic slime glues: bioadhesion
and drug delivery' at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade campus,
on Wednesday, 16 February 2005 at 6.30pm.
Professor Smart will begin his lecture with a brief description of his own route to professorship, leading on to his research. His starting point is a definition of what the term 'drug' means today and an overview of current drug delivery challenges.
He will go on to explain what bioadhesion is and why it is important, and outline various types of bioadhesion, from polymeric systems to lectins. This section of the lecture will be illustrated with examples from his current research at Brighton into bioadhesion in the oral cavity, the oesophagus and the stomach.
Professor Smart will conclude his lecture with a look at ways forward for drug delivery in the future.
He said: "New solutions are needed to administer the new classes of drugs produced as a result of the proteomics and genomics revolution. I will describe one particular approach to address their delivery, and some associated applications of this technology."
Professor John Smart holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Pharmacy (1979), a PhD (University of Wales 1984) and has been a registered pharmacist and member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain since 1980.
After running his own pharmacy business for several years, he was appointed Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Portsmouth Polytechnic (now the University of Portsmouth) in 1988. In June 1997 he was appointed Reader in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and completed five years as Head of School (August 1997 to November 2002).
In February 2004 John Smart was appointed Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Head of the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Brighton.
He is co-ordinator of the recently-established Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-funded UK-wide Drug Delivery Research Network, and a member of the Science Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. He has collaborated with a range of pharmaceutical companies and published over 60 full papers in the area of pharmaceutical science.
The major focus of Professor Smart's research has been drug delivery using bioadhesive materials, including hydrophilic macromolecules and lectins. He is currently researching the multifunctional properties of these materials and also developing his interest in pharmaceutical matters in developing countries.
Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton, 01273 643022
