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Although classes in Pharmaceutical Chemistry were being conducted in
the Medical School at Manchester by John Dalton as early as 1824, and
courses in pharmaceutical subjects were available at Owens College
around 1869, the present Pharmacy School of the University was
not established until 1883. The prospectus for 1884 offered full-time
courses extending over two years and part-time evening courses in
preparation for the examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society. In
1904, Pharmacy was added to the list of subjects which could be
presented for both honours and ordinary degrees in Science, and in so
doing, Manchester became the first British University to offer degrees
in Pharmacy.
During the period from 1904 up to the Second World War, the number
of students taking the degree was small, the majority registering for the
shorter courses for the qualifying examinations of the Pharmaceutical
Society.
However, after the Second World War, major changes were made in
the degree course and by 1959 all undergraduates were reading for a
Pharmacy degree. In 1962, the Pharmacy Department transferred from
the Faculty of Medicine to the Faculty of Science. In 1970 there were
217 undergraduate and 7 postgraduate students. In the same year, a
thorough review of the undergraduate syllabus was undertaken, and a
three-year honours BSc course introduced with the cessation of the four-
year course. The first group of students to take the new BSc course
graduated in 1974. MSc courses by Method I in Hospital Pharmacy
and in Pharmaceutical Analysis were instituted in 1971 and 1973,
respectively.
In the period 1970-74, the Department expanded rapidly. New
laboratories for Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacognosy, and some
areas of Pharmaceutics were provided, together with a Department
library, seminar rooms, and a common room. In this process, research
space and money for equipment were set aside for a new chair, created
in 1974, and filled by Professor Rowland. Professor Rowland's
appointment stimulated developments in clinical aspects of Pharmacy at
both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as establishing
Manchester's international reputation in the field of pharmacokinetics.
In initiating developments in Clinical Pharmacy, a first requirement was
to train staff capable of teaching in that area. This was achieved by
making jointly financed appointments between the University and the
NHS and by setting up training groups for hospital pharmacists. So
began a long academic association with the pharmacy department of
Hope hospital, which through its clinical pharmacy practice unit
provided an early model of academic practice units.
In 1979, Professor Tallentire was appointed to a promotional chair and
assumed responsibility for Pharmaceutical Microbiology. He re-
organised courses in this area throughout the Department, developed a
joint first-year course with the Department of Bacteriology and
Virology, and initiated research developments in the cell and tissue
culture area.
In the period 1983-88, the Department was successful in securing two
New Blood Lecturer posts, one in NMR imaging and the other in
Clinical Pharmacokinetics, and in creating a new Chair in Medicinal
Chemistry.
This Chair, filled in 1987 by Professor Douglas, was seen by the
University as a major initiative to stimulate research into the molecular
and biochemical basis for rational drug design. A Wolfson grant for
laboratory refurbishment permitted the construction of a specialist
molecular biology laboratory. Medicinal chemistry was successfully
developed and is now equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for NMR
spectroscopy, molecular graphics, organic synthesis, biochemistry and
molecular biology.
Pharmacy Practice received a major thrust with the establishment of the
new Boots Chair in Pharmacy Practice, and the appointment of
Professor Peter Noyce in January 1991. Following his appointment, a
new academic structure for clinical teaching and research was
introduced, requiring clinical academic appointments to have a minimal
25% commitment to practice, and honorary clinical appointments to
have a minimum 25% commitment to academic duties. A range of
honorary clinical appointments are now being made with pharmacists in
a variety of settings in the North West to bring a wider perspective on
pharmaceutical care and medicines management to undergraduate
teaching and postgraduate teaching and research.
Two new chairs were recently appointed in the Department, Professor David Clarke and Professor Ian Stratford.
The Department was renamed the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1996.
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