Queen’s Scientist named Innovator of the Year.

Dr Ryan Donnelly from the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s has been named Innovator of the Year 2013. 

The Reader in Pharmaceutics won the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) award for his work on microneedles. Applied using a skin patch, microneedles can deliver drugs without causing pain or bleeding. They then swell, allowing controlled administration of even large medicines like insulin, as well as vaccines. They can also be used in minimally-invasive patient monitoring applications.

Dr Donnelly, who also won the Most Promising Innovator of the Year title, will receive £15,000 to support his research with the School of Pharmacy also receiving £15,000.

Speaking about his achievements, Dr Donnelly said: “I am absolutely delighted to win both of these prestigious awards, especially considering the extremely high level of competition. My group’s microneedles research has attracted interest and substantial funding from some of the world’s biggest companies over a very wide range of applications. That we have come so far in only five years in this field is testament to the hard work and innovation of the members of my group.

“Our next step in moving towards commercialisation of this exciting research is to scale up production to industrial levels. We will do this over the next two years thanks to a £710,000 award from BBSRC that came through last month. The first patients will benefit from our microneedle technology in three to five years from now.

“The School of Pharmacy at Queen’s has a long and successful track record of innovation, taking our research from the laboratory to the patient. This history and experience has helped me to develop the impact of my research programme, making it relevant to the market and, ultimately, to patients.”

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