University's new £3.3m pharmacy lab opens

The lab has state-of-the art facilities, the university says

A new £3.3m teaching lab to train students in pharmacy has opened at Aston University, Birmingham.

More than 80 students can be accommodated in the new state-of-the art facility, which has been designed to be accessible to those with disabilities and neurodivergence, according to the university.

The provision has dedicated space for lab-based research, visual screens that link to optical magnification equipment and an audiovisual system that works with hearing aids and is noise cancelling.

University alumnus professor Tony Hickey said it was a great honour to open the "outstanding" facility.

Postgraduate students will also be able to prepare drugs, such as chemotherapy medicines, as well as new ones for trials, in a special area kept bacteria-free.

Many people connected to the lab, including laboratory technicians who will help to run it, were involved in the design.

Dr Joe Bush, head of Aston Pharmacy School, said the investment in the laboratory, which opened earlier this week, demonstrated the university's desire to offer students the best educational experience.

“We are the only pharmacy school in the UK to hold a prestigious Regius Chair in Pharmacy, awarded by the monarch, and have strong established links with the pharmaceutical industry," he explained.

"The innovative and high-impact research that takes places within the school is fed into our programmes of study, ensuing our students have access to the latest trends and thinking in the field."