The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7246 p595
26 April 2003

Society summary

BPC to have its first woman Science Chairman in 2004

The British Pharmaceutical Conference is to have its first woman Science Chairman next year. She is Professor Ruth Duncan, who is head of the centre for polymer therapeutics and professor of cell biology and drug delivery at the Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff.

The conference has met annually since 1864. For more than 100 years it was an independent body, electing its own chairman each year. When the Pharmaceutical Society took over its organisation in 1971, the role of Science Chairman was created, with the Society's President acting as overall chairman of the conference.

Professor Duncan is a founder member of the UK Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, a member of the board of governors of the Controlled Release Society and chairman of the UK and Ireland Controlled Release Society. She has been editor of the Journal of Drug Targeting, and a co-chairman of the Gordon conference on drug carriers in biology and medicine. She has received a number of awards in recognition of her work on "polymer therapeutics", including the transfer of the first polymer-anticancer conjugates from laboratory to clinical trial. The awards include the Royal Society of Chemistry's interdisciplinary award and the Berlin-Brandenberg Academy of Sciences Monika Knutzner award for innovative cancer research.

Professor Duncan said: "It is an honour to be appointed as the first female Conference Science Chairman in the long history of the BPC. I thank my colleagues for electing me to the position and I look forward to working with them to develop a first class programme for the 2004 British Pharmaceutical Conference that will showcase the excellence of UK pharmaceutical science and innovation."

The conference will take place at Manchester International Convention Centre from 27 to 29 September 2004. This year's conference takes place in Harrogate from 15 to 17 September.