Pharmaceutical Science (Institute of)

The Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (IPS) is concerned with gaining a detailed understanding of human disease and employing this knowledge to discover, design, develop and ultimately deliver drugs to the patient with a view to improving the management of disease. There is also a strong interest in the appropriate use of medicines. IPS is one of the largest Research Divisions in the health schools and is organised in five groups: Chemical Biology, Drug Delivery, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Pharmaceutical Biophysics, and Clinical Practice and Medication Use. There is a vibrant PhD programme with more than 100 students.

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, based on the research volume metric, the Institute ranked 5th out of 25 Pharmacy Departments in the U.K. Particular areas of research strength include expertise in Systems Biology, Molecular Biophysics, Medicinal Chemistry and Metal Biology.

IPS has strong links with many of the other research divisions at King’s College London and consequently has developed a critically-important central role in the total research effort of the College. Staff have a substantial number of collaborations at a local, national and international level. Following the accreditation of King’s Health Partners, Academic Health Sciences Centre, the Institute joined three NHS trust pharmacy departments (Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts) and the Guy’s Drug Research Unit (Quintiles) to form the Pharmaceutical Sciences Clinical Academic Grouping. The aim is to cement the collaboration between staff in the Institute and the NHS Trusts and achieve excellence in service provision, in research, and in education and training.