Professor James Birchall
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Deputy Head of School
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Qualifications
- PhD: Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University (1998)
- MRPharmS: Professional registration (1994)
- Pharmacy degree (BPharm): First Class Honours, Bath University (1993)
Biography
Career profile
- August 2014 - Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
- July 2013 - Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University.
- Aug 2010 - June 2013 Reader in Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University.
- Aug 2007 - July 2010 Senior Lecturer in Drug Delivery, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University.
- Feb 2001 - July 2007 Lecturer in Drug Delivery, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University.
- Mar 2006 - Present Honorary Senior Lecturer and Research Pharmacist, Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust.
- Jul 2005 - Aug 2005 Visiting Researcher, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
- Feb 2000 - Feb 2001 Teaching Fellow, Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University.
- Mar 1998 - Feb 2000 Research Associate, Drug Delivery Research Group, Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University.
- Aug 1994 - Present Locum Pharmacist, Various locations.
- Aug 1993 - Jul 1994 Pre-Registration Pharmacist, Abbott Laboratories Ltd., Kent; St. Georges Hospital, London.
Committees and reviewing
Research and Engagement Committee
Publications
We are currently unable to retrieve the list of publications. Visit our institutional repository.Teaching
- PH1121 Molecule to patient
- PH1122 The role of the pharmacist in professional practice
- PH1123 Structure and function of cells and microbes
- PH2113 Diseases and drugs I
- PH3110 Optimisation of pharmaceutical care
- PH3113 Diseases and drugs II
- PH3114 Design, formulation and quality assurance of medicinal products
- PH4116 Pharmacy research or scholarship project
- PH4117 Pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and the population
- PH4118 Pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and the patient
Research interests
Enhanced delivery of therapeutic macromolecules to the skin via microfabricated microneedles
The skin epidermis represents an appropriate target for the delivery of low molecular weight drugs, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals and gene based therapies. The skin, however, is characterised by poor permeability. Microfabricated microneedle arrays are designed to pierce the stratum corneum skin barrier layer in a minimally invasive and pain-free manner to provide transient pathways for the delivery of macromolecules to the underlying skin epidermis.
Delivery of formations via pulmonary routes
Although non-viral gene vectors are capable of mediating gene transfer both in vitro and in vivo following nebulisation, the delivery efficiency of conventional nebuliser systems is greatly reduced due to the restrictions of the device and the physico-chemical characteristics of the particles at elevated concentrations in the nebuliser reservoir. While newer nebuliser technologies are under development, pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) and dry powder inhalers (DPIs) may provide more viable alternatives for delivering therapeutically active macromolecules, particularly genes, to the lung.
Collaborators
Local
- Dr Alexander Anstey (Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust)
- Dr Chris Gateley (Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust)
International
- Dr Mark Prausnitz (Georgia Institute of Technology), Founder member of European Barrier Research Network
Key expertise
- Ex vivo human skin organ culture
- Light and electron microscopy
- Immunohistochemistry
- Pharmaceutical formulation
- Cell transfection and gene expression analysis
Research funding
Over £10 million in external grant funding from a broad range of sources including Research Councils (BBSRC and EPSRC postgraduate and postdoctoral funding), the pharmaceutical industry, government bodies and charities.