Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon

The Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon (FFULisboa) is a Portuguese public institution of higher education dedicated to education, research, knowledge transfer and continuing education in the fields of pharmacy, medicine, and pharmaceutical sciences.^[1]

The FFULisboa is a recognized institution at the national and international level. The courses that grant an academic degree are accredited by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES)^[2] and the Integrated Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences is also accredited by the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (Ordem dos Farmacêuticos) for professional practice.^[3]

With the motto, "By knowledge, by innovation," the FFULisboa takes an active role in the dissemination within the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences^[1] and further activities addressed to the community regarding public health. Promoting a culture of internationalization, it is associated to many of its academic counterparts and other relevant national and international institutions, in educational and scientific projects, exchange programs and other partnerships.^[4][5]

History

The Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon was born in 1836 as a School of Pharmacy integrated in the Medical-Surgical School of Lisbon,in which the teaching in the field of pharmacy was assumed by the apothecary of St Joseph's Hospital. With the establishment of the University of Lisbon in March 1911, the School of Pharmacy remained attached to the same institution, now known as Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon.^[6]

By Decree No. 4653 of July 14, 1918, it gained autonomy and was named as the Pharmacy School of the University of Lisbon.^[7] It continued, however, to share the facilities of the Faculty of Medicine, in a precarious and inadequate situation. Quinta da Torrinha was bought in 1920 to resolve this situation and to build its own facilities. It would be from this former farm that later the Campus (Cidade Universitária) would be created.^[6]

In 1921, by Decree No. 7238 of January 18, the School gets the status of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon and assigns bachelor and doctoral degrees in pharmacy.^[8] In 1932, it was extinguished along with its counterpart of Coimbra, giving way again to a Superior School of Pharmacy, which only granted a bachelor's degree; only in the University of Porto the Faculty of Pharmacy has remained, where were also given the degrees of graduate ("licenciado") and doctor. This would only be reversed in 1968, when it was restored the Pharmacy Faculties of Coimbra and Lisbon, placing them on an equal footing with the Porto academy.^[6]

Today, the FFULisboa teaches various curricular units, some of them in hospital environment. Through these, and project curricular units, students are offered a direct relationship interaction with the pharmaceutical profession as well as with the scientific research that is carried out at the faculty's Research Units.^[9]

Education

FFULisboa provides courses covering all higher education cycles by integrating different areas associated with the professional performance of pharmacists and scientific development in the field of pharmaceutical sciences.^[1]

Integrated Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences

This course enables the Master in pharmaceutical sciences for qualified professional practice, recognized by the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society, including the following activities:^[10]

• Design, discovery, development, manufacturing and usage of human or veterinary medicines and medical devices.
• Research and development in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
• Education programs addressed to the community in the context of health promotion, disease prevention and healthy aging.
• Pharmaceutical practice and pharmaceutical care.
• Biological sample collection, execution and technical and biopathological validation of clinical analisys.
• Toxicology, water and food science.

Masters

• Laboratory Medicine^[11]
• Biopharmaceutical Sciences^[12]
• Pharmaceutical Engineering (in association with the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon)^[13]
• Pharmaceutical Intervention and Therapeutic Management^[14]
• Food Quality and Health^[15]
• Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry^[16]
• Regulation and Evaluation of Medicines and Health Products^[17]

Doctorate in Pharmacy

Supported by several doctoral programmes, such as:

• PhD Programme in Medicines and Pharmaceutical Innovation (i3DU) (in association with the University of Porto)^[18]
• Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics Doctoral Programme (M2B-PhD) (in association with the University of Coimbra and the University of Porto)^[19]
• PhD Program in Integrative Neuroscience of the University of Lisbon (NeurULisboa)^[20]
• Medicinal Chemistry PhD Programme (MedChemTrain) (in association with the Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Psychology and Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon)^[21]
• Doctoral Programme Advanced Integrated Microsystems (AIM) (in association with the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon and Universidade Nova de Lisboa)^[22]

Departments

Since 2016, the FFULisboa has included the following departments in its organizational structure:

• Biochemistry and Human Biology^[23]
• Pharmacological Sciences ^[24]
• Toxicological and Bromatological Sciences ^[25]
• Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology ^[26]
• Microbiology and Immunology ^[27]
• Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry ^[28]
• Social Pharmacy ^[29]

Research

Scientific research in FFULisboa is ensured by the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa) which integrates more than 200 researchers, focusing its activity in four main areas, the so-called 3DU:^[30]

• Discovery of therapeutic targets
• Design of new molecules
• Pharmaceutical development
• Rational use of Medicines

The iMed.ULisboa has 15 research groups working on basic and translational research in the area of therapeutic innovation. This research institute encourages research across the spectrum of drug development, from laboratory to pre-clinical studies, promoting a response to scientific challenges in emerging areas, such as aging and related diseases, diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration, osteoarticular degeneration, inflammatory, infectious and metabolic diseases.

The research involves collaborations with various universities, research centers, hospitals, pharmaceutical industry, national and international regulatory agencies in the Medicines area.^[31] It has been fostering the realization of scientific projects, financially supported at national and international level. The results and the teams have been internationally recognized and awarded.^[32]

In the context of research and teaching, FFULisboa invests in interdisciplinary partnerships with other Schools of ULisboa in order to develop new cross-cutting areas of knowledge, participating in important networks,^[33] such as:

• College “Food, Farming & Forestry (F3)”
• College Mind-Brain
• AGRO network
• SEA network
• MOV network
• Health network
• tEP network
• VALUE network

International cooperation

To strengthen the internationalization of teaching and scientific research, FFULisboa cooperates with similar institutions and various agencies and entities in the mobility and training of students, teachers and researchers.^[34]

In the context of an international scientific policy, FFULisboa maintains partnerships with foreign consortiums to attract graduate students and get competitive funding.^[34]

Strategic cooperation encourages the development, innovation, internationalization and the attractiveness of the institution with students, teachers and international researchers. The FFULisboa participates in international programs and integrates international research networks.^[34]

• IMI SafeSciMET
• EUDIPharm
• European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
• European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS)
• European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy (EAFP)
• European Science Foundation (ESF)
• Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)
• European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT Health)
• Conferencia Iberoamericana de Facultades de Farmacia (COIFFA)

Doctors Honoris Causa

• James Nicholas Iley (2014) – Senior Lecturer of the Open University, UK.^[35]
• Zachary Leslie Benet (2016) – Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, EUA.^[36]
• Marinus Durand (2005) – Professor at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Michael Drummond (2015) – Professor at the University of York, UK.^[37]
• Sir Richard John Roberts (2012) – Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1993.^[38]

References