Photo: Prof. Roger Ellul-Micallef receiving his award from Prof. Clive Page, President British Pharmacology Society.
Prof. Roger Ellul Micallef, Rector Emeritus and founder and former Head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery was appointed as Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society during a recent ceremony held in London, UK, on 5 December 2023.
Honorary Fellows of the British Pharmacological Society are elected for life in recognition of sustained excellence and leadership in science, healthcare, and public service. In his speech, President BPS, Prof. Clive Page stated that Fellows and Honorary Fellows play an incredibly important role in the Society. Through their work, they further all disciplines of pharmacology in the discovery, development and use of medicines. Through their leadership, and contribution to Society life, they inspire and support members at earlier stages of their career or study.
In presenting the award to Prof. Ellul Micallef, Prof. Page described how Prof. Roger Ellul-Micallef was the first Maltese member of the British Pharmacological Society in 1980. He then founded the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Malta in 1991. He was a pioneer in translational pharmacology with his research in 1970鈥檚 creating a unique bridge, for the time, between preclinical and clinical research. He received high acclaim following his research on the use of glucocorticoids in bronchial asthma, especially in the areas of prednisolone and budesonide. His seminal paper (Ellul-Micallef R, Borthwick RC and McHardy GJR [1974]. 'The time course of response to prednisolone in chronic bronchial asthma.' Clin Sci and Mol Med, 47, 105-117.) led to the first evidence of respiratory physiological changes brought about by the therapeutic administration of glucocorticoids in bronchial asthma and helped establish them as the mainstay in the treatment of this condition.
His contributions to the evaluation of new drugs in the treatment of this condition has revolutionised the management of asthma to this very day. He has continued to research and publish in this field and despite his heavy workload in his two terms as Rector (President) for the University, he has remained a lynch point in the Department. He is still a full time employee of the University and undertakes research, publishes and also lectures to and supervises various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in pharmacology. In recent years he has focussed on medical history, in particular that related to the development of healthcare in Malta, a small island which has often been referred to as the Nurse of the Mediterranean, including the study of original archival material dating from the fifteenth century to the present. His expertise has been recognised both nationally and internationally, having worked as a clinical pharmacologist in several countries. His continual encouragement has led to several of his former students focussing their research fields in this area and some are even top researchers in international Universities.
