Physiology & Pharmacology
Study
The Physiology & Pharmacology Section provides modules in physiology, pharmacology and pathophysiology for a wide range of teaching programmes. As well as the BSc/BSc (Hons) Pharmacology, these include:
- BSc(Hons) Biomedical Science
- BSc(Hons) Food Bioscience
- BSc(Hons) Human Nutrition And Dietetics
- BSc(Hons) Cell & Molecular Biology
- BSc(Hons) Human Biosciences
With the help of external specialist lecturers, the Section also teaches various components of the MSc in Biomedical Science, particularly the Cellular Pathology specialism.
Physiology staff also make substantial contributions to many programmes across the University, such as the Diploma of Higher Education in Nursing/Midwifery, BA/BA (Hons) Nursing Studies, BSc Professional Development (Nursing), BSc Midwifery, BSc/BSc (Hons) Forensic Investigation, BSc/BSc Psychology, BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, BSc Podiatry, BSc Radiography and BSc Occupational Therapy.
The Physiology Section also makes a major contribution to revenue-earning courses provided by the Department.
Research
The Physiology Division is committed to knowledge transfer and commercial activities that benefit local, national and international partners and communities. As well as collaborative research activities with major industry partners including Unilever and Novartis, two members of the Division have also recently founded Biopta, a biotechnology spin-out company that offers contract research services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and develops novel instrumentation for drug discovery.
Biopta has won numerous awards for commercialisation including a John Logie Baird Award for Innovation, a Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Award, and a Scottish Executive SMART Award.
The Physiology Division also includes a number of successful collaborative research units. The Vascular Biology and Smooth Muscle groups work on hormonal regulation of gut motility, changes in the control of peripheral vascular disease, control of airway smooth muscle in asthma, and mechanisms controlling regional blood flow in the lung.
The Epithelial Transport group is investigating normal and abnormal epithelial function in the gastrointestinal tract and skin appendages. The Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology Unit is currently conducting a project on equine laminitis.
Other members of the Division are investigating neuromuscular physiology in health and disease, and the comparative biology of connective tissue.
Consult the Research pages for more details.