º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ the lecture
All of us will need access to some form of healthcare at some point during our lifetime.
To meet our needs, the healthcare industry is ever expanding – creating new types of drugs, drug delivery systems, medical devices and treatments.
In her lecture, Professor Coopman will describe her experience of working in pharmacology to tackle fundamental questions about how human cells respond to certain drug molecules and the impact that this can have long-term. She will also reflect on how joining a chemical engineering department has influenced her approach to the research her group now undertakes in cell therapy and tissue model development.
By posing the question of whether a person can be both a pharmacologist and an engineer, she encourages us to think about the benefits of working at the interface between biology and engineering – whilst being honest about the challenges of interdisciplinary work and how changes to education can surmount them.
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ the lecturer
Professor Karen Coopman has a long-standing interest in healthcare. After achieving her BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology at the University of Bristol, she completed her PhD exploring the expression and role of cannabinoid receptors in T lymphocytes at the University of Bath.
This was followed by a two-year Research Associate position at the University of Leicester, sponsored by AstraZeneca. She worked on a project which focused on the molecular pharmacology and cellular signalling of the GLP-1 receptor.
She has been an academic at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ since 2008, helping to establish and run the Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine of which she has been the Director since 2015. Her Research Group works at the interface between biology and engineering, focusing on the manufacture of cell-based therapies and tissue engineered constructs.
Alongside her teaching and research, she is the School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering’s Associate Dean for Research and Innovation. She is the Chair of ESACT-UK, an Executive Editor for Biotechnology Letters, and is on the iUK Transforming Medicines Manufacturing Community of Practice Advisory Board.
For further information on this lecture, please contact the Events team.
