Dr Ryan Walker MPharm

Dr Ryan Walker

School of Pharmacy
Assistant Professor in Clinical Pharmacy

Contact details

Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Ryan is an Assistant Professor in Clinical Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy. His research interests focus on strengthening pharmacy practice and research in low-resource settings, to tackle global inequities in medicines access and usage. He is a registered pharmacist and Global Student Mobility Lead for the School of Pharmacy.

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Qualifications

  • DPhil in Clinical Medicine, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 2023
  • MPharm (Pharmacy), University of Nottingham, 2017

Biography

After completing his Masters in Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham, UK, Ryan qualified as a pharmacist following his pre-registration (foundation) year at the University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust. Having cultivated an interest in public health, and with an aspiration to contribute to the research community’s efforts to address the most significant health inequities around the globe, he undertook his PhD in the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford, between 2018-2022.

Working with The Global Health Network, Ryan explored how enabling knowledge transfer could strengthen medicines safety research and practice in low-resource settings. Building on this background, his scientific research interests grew to span multiple disciplines, including knowledge exchange / mobilisation, capacity building, priority-setting and methodology research, tackling health inequity, pharmacovigilance (medicines safety) and antimicrobial resistance. Having joined the University of Birmingham in 2024, his current research aims to encompass each of these themes and focus on strengthening pharmacy practice and research in settings where it is needed most.

Ryan has significant experience of collaboration with diverse health research teams from around the globe and has coordinated priority-setting research projects in collaboration with both the WHO and global health funding organisations. He currently coordinates Global Pharmacovigilance, an open-access online knowledge hub and community of practice, dedicated to enabling pharmacovigilance research and practice in any setting where it doesn’t currently happen. In addition, he is actively involved in the University of Birmingham Global Health Impact Hub.

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Walker is interested in supervising projects in the following areas:

  • Knowledge exchange and capacity building for pharmacy practice and research.
  • Health and medicines inequity.
  • Pharmacovigilance
  • Antimicrobial resistance

Research

Research interests

  • Global health
  • Knowledge exchange and capacity building for pharmacy practice and research
  • Research priority setting and methodology research
  • Health and medicines inequity
  • Pharmacovigilance
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Pharmaceuticals in the environment
  • Clinical trials
  • Infectious diseases
  • Vaccine development and distribution
  • Medicinal plant and traditional medicines usage

Other activities

Memberships
  • International Society of Pharmacovigilance

Leadership Roles

  • International Society of Pharmacovigilance UK and Ireland Chapter Executive Committee
  • International Society of Pharmacovigilance Student Group Coordinating Committee

Editorial roles

  • Frontiers in Pharmacology: Topic Editor, Environmental Impact of Medicines

Advisory Boards

  • CEPI-Funded SPEAC Activity on Landscape Assessment of Active Safety Surveillance of Vaccines in LMICs