Pharmacy practice PhD research supervision areas

Grow your potential in pharmacy practice research and applied health research, by joining one of the PhD projects we have available at the University of Reading. If you're looking for a career in pharmacy practice or an applied health setting, this is the perfect place to start.

This is a taster of some of the PhD projects you can be involved in at the University of Reading. To discuss the different projects available, please contact Dr Graeme Cottrell by emailing g.s.cottrell@reading.ac.uk.

This interdisciplinary project will explore perceptions and ethical considerations of experiments with animals and animal tissues in the development of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used. Data will be collected globally to ensure the findings have international significance and impact.

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. The experience, treatment and management of pain is multifactorial, including biological, psychological and social factors. Various projects can be devised from this theme and will focus on the patient perspective. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies are likely to be employed, with potential methodologies including questionnaires, interviews and developing behaviour change interventions. The aim of this project is to improve care for those experiencing pain.

This project is a multidisciplinary approach to sports health focussing on the care of the competitive or recreational athlete. Various projects can be devised from this theme, including medicine use in athletes, pain management in sport and the impact of chronic conditions on performance. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies are likely to be employed, with potential methodologies including questionnaires, interviews and developing behaviour change interventions. An interest in working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and strong communication skills are essential.

UK hosts a large multicultural population and changes in the immigration, business and work regulations have also resulted in increased migration and settlement from different parts of the world. This influx has enriched the culturally diverse society. This is also reflected in figures for pharmacists registered in the UK. Healthcare service delivery may be affected by the level of cultural competence among pharmacists in communication with other healthcare professionals when working in diverse team-based settings. Besides, having patients from different cultures and backgrounds would also require cross-cultural competency to deliver effective healthcare. This theme will explore cultural competence in academic as well as practice areas, develop strategies to improve cultural competence, and assess their effectiveness. The aim is to create reliable resources that can assist in assessing and improving cultural competence.

Chronic pain affects roughly a third to one-half of UK's population. The UK has a large burden of chronic pain with a prevalence of 43%. Opioid prescription have increased in last few years leading to an opioid epidemic. Pharmacists are one of the most trusted healthcare professionals in the UK's healthcare system and are viewed as reliable source of information for addressing healthcare needs such as opioid therapy optimization for chronic non-cancer pain. This theme will explore pharmacists' role in managing chronic non-cancer pain and opioid medication therapy, from the perspective of pharmacists, patients, and other stakeholders. The studies can be designed both as qualitative and quantitative. In addition, a mix methods approach can be selected. The aim is to provide recommendations to the concerned departments, societies, and the NHS, with a focus on improving service delivery for the patients.

Non-adherence to medication and treatment among patients with chronic conditions remains a challenge for clinicians in practice. Patients may exhibit non-adherence to medications as well treatment such as physical therapy, etc. Adherence could be intentional or un-intentional. It may also be affected due to multi-morbidity, logistics and financial issues that the patients face. The aim of this project is to develop new and/or improve existing measures, create new resources to facilitate adherence to medications and treatments in this population. Such resources could help in identifying and signposting patients for further evaluation as well as improve adherence to treatment.