A senior academic at Robert Gordon University (RGU) has been handed a prestigious honour by a national pharmaceutical body.

Professor Donald Cairns, Head of the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, has recently been selected to be named an Eminent Fellow of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS).

The appointment will be formally recognised at the Academy’s formal black tie dinner held as part of the PharmSci conference at the University of Hertfordshire in September.

It is the latest honour for Professor Cairns, who is already a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, while also serving on an Expert Advisory Group of the Commission of Human Medicines.

Professor Cairns’ career in pharmacy education, following the completion of a PhD at the University of Strathclyde, has seen him teach at Sunderland Polytechnic (now the University of Sunderland), Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University) and Sunderland School of Pharmacy.

He moved to the position of Associate Head of the School of Pharmacy at RGU in 2003 and was names Head of School in January 2012.

Over the course of his time at RGU, he has successfully attracted over £500,000 in external research funding for the university.

Speaking on his latest appointment, Professor Cairns said: “I am very pleased and flattered to have been designated an Eminent Fellow by APS. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues for their help and support, without which I could not have reached the levels I have in my career.”

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