The Perinatal Pharmacology Group

The perinatal period represents a critical developmental window during which the health and wellbeing of future generations is laid down. Led by Dr Adeniyi Olagunju, research within the Perinatal Pharmacology Group is focused on broadening our understanding of drug safety and efficacy during pregnancy and lactation. Working across three domains (human-relevant in vitro modelling, in silico modelling and clinical research), our goal is to generate actionable knowledge that will facilitate early recommendations for safe use of long-acting medicines during the perinatal period.

Mark Ryan is smiling into the cameraMark Ryan

Mark is a Scientific Data Curator within the Perinatal Pharmacology Group. He is working on new open access initiatives aimed at facilitating access to the clinical development landscape of long-acting therapeutics, and the pharmacokinetic data of therapeutics in human pregnancy. Through these initiatives, we will support the curation of data generated from research within our group, and by collaborators and other scientists in globally representative, open access databases. Mark holds a BSc in Biochemistry and a Master of Research in Advanced Biological Sciences from the University of Liverpool. He previously worked in industry as a biocurator.

Prajith is looking in to the camera with a friendly smileDr Prajith Venkatasubramanian

Prajith has obtained a Doctorate of Pharmacy and a Masters of Science in Pharmacology and Drug Discover from Coventry University. He is a Research Assistant / Data Curator within CELT as a member of the Perinatal Pharmacology Group. Prajith is working on long-acting antiretroviral therapies and antipsychotics. He collects, analyses, and interprets scientific information from peer-reviewed scientific journals, reviewing submissions & conducts independent research, developing documentation for the user community. Alongside this, Prajith is involved in contributing to the development and expansion of initiatives.

Shakir is looking into the the camera with a friendly expressionShakir Atoyebi

Shakir is a Research Associate within the Perinatal Pharmacology group. He is developing mechanistic models to estimate fetal drug exposure during pregnancy towards better understanding of drug fetotoxocity. He obtained a Bachelor of Pharmacy and Master of Science degrees from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. He is currently completing his PhD studies at the University of Liverpool with the Duncan Norman Research scholarship. For his doctoral studies, he developed physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models to study the disposition of long-acting cabotegravir and rilpivirine during pregnancy. In addition, he explored dosing strategies to overcome drug-drug interactions involving some antiretrovirals in children and pregnant women.

Sulaima El Haj is smiling into the cameraSalima (Sulaima) El Haj

Salima is a PhD student within the Perinatal Pharmacology Group. She is interested in using mathematical and statistical methods to formulate and solve problems. Her research project explores developing a framework for integrated analysis of clinical pharmacology and real-world data for assessing the safety of medicines during pregnancy. She obtained a Master of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nottingham, a MSc in Applied Statistics and Operational Research from Birkbeck, University of London and a MSc in Public Health in Developing Countries from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has a diverse work experience that includes roles in clinical pharmacy and data analysis in several large health related organisations.

A silhouette of a womanRachel Daley

Rachel is a stakeholder engagement specialist with 20+ years of experience across public, private, and voluntary sectors. After her son's rare childhood cancer relapse in 2018, she founded a non-profit organisation supporting caregivers raising children with additional health and care needs.

She is a triple-graduate and fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs and built a thriving and sustainable charitable organisation applying her lived experience and professional acumen. Now, as Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator at the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Long-Acting Therapeutics, she merges personal and professional expertise with advocacy for inclusive healthcare. With strengths in leadership, relationship-building, and impact measurement, she remains dedicated to driving meaningful, community-driven change.

Ilenia is smiling into the cameraIlenia D’angelo

Ilenia joined the Perinatal Pharmacology Group within the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, as a Research Technician.

With six years of laboratory experience at The Francis Crick Institute and University College London, Ilenia has built a background in Perinatal studies and Pluripotent Stem Cells. Within the Perinatal Pharmacology Group, Ilenia will facilitate the understanding of drug safety and efficacy during pregnancy, through the generation of a human-relevant in-vitro model.

 

Back to: Centre of Excellence for Long-acting Therapeutics