Photo: (left to right) Ms Marlene Muscat, Mr Nathan Vella; Dr Godwin Grech
The research and academic activities of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Malta, contributed to the recent annual British Pharmacological Society meeting held during 13 - 14 September 2022 at the ACC Conference Centre, Liverpool. This meeting is the British Pharmacological Society's flagship annual event and each year attracts hundreds of pharmacologists from across the world.
Dr Godwin Grech, a recent PhD graduate, delivered an oral presentation describing his work on CRISPR gene editing, and how he used it to identify the mechanism through which a specific DNA locus contributes to airway function. Mr Nathan Vella, a current PhD student, and Ms Marlene Muscat who is reading for a Masters by research, delivered poster presentations on their research studying new ways of targeting non-small cell lung cancer using conventional drugs and gene expression modification techniques. All work was carried out in the laboratories of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, under the supervision of various academics, Dr Vanessa Petroni Magri, Prof. Anthony Fenech, Prof. Godfrey Grech and Prof. Roger Ellul-Micallef. The projects also involved the international collaboration of Prof. Ian Hall and Dr Michael Portelli from the University of Nottingham, as well as Prof. Palma Rocchi from the Marseille Cancer Research Institute (CRCM).
Prof. Anthony Fenech also chaired an oral presentation meeting on Drug Discovery, Development and Evaluation, together with Ms Emily Hobson from the University of East Anglia.
Prof. Janet Mifsud attended several meetings as member of the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. She was also invited to contribute as expert on a committee set up by the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR) working on Core Concepts in Pharmacology Education.
Prof. Mifsud and Prof. Fenech are both Fellows of the British Pharmacological Society.