Pharmacology

Biography

Dr. Stuart Ratcliffe is a Director of MAC Clinical Research Ltd., where he also serves as Chief Scientific Officer and Director of Pain Research across five highly-specialized, privately-owned research facilities in the UK. MAC is the UK’s largest neuroscience SMO, focusing on a small number of key neuroscience clinical development areas. Serving a local population of over 25m, MAC’s 80+ research physicians, neuro-psychologists, psychologist- and nurse-raters, and support staff are engaged primarily in early phase clinical studies in models of nociceptive/inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain, utilizing standard as well as sophisticated eligibility and outcome tools; to this end, MAC collaborates with several European and US academic pain groups. MAC sites also conduct studies in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, FM and major depressive disorder. Prior to joining MAC, Dr Ratcliffe co-founded and directed the Barts Pain Research Group, an integral part of Barts and The London NHS Trust’s Research and Development Department, and the Academic Anaesthesia, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Centre of the William Harvey Research Institute, within the Queen Mary University of London. Capitalizing on a blend of skills and knowledge, probably unique within an NHS setting, considerable experience was gained in almost every aspect of clinical trial design and execution, and the Group became increasingly well-known in areas such as the COX-2 arena, palliative care analgesia studies, cannabinoid development, neuropathic pain and clinical opioid development in non-cancer pain. Qualifying in medicine in 1985, Dr. Ratcliffe trained in pharmaceutical medicine and gained considerable experience in the field of analgesic research and development. His 12 years based in Germany saw a rise to International Medical Director, commissioning analgesic trials worldwide. As protocol author and/or Principal Investigator, Dr. Ratcliffe has been involved with over 150 pain trials, in the UK and elsewhere. Dr. Ratcliffe is an active member of the International Association of the Study of Pain, the British and the American Pain Societies, the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (Analgesic Section) and the British Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians. He presents widely at meetings and sits on several development advisory boards. More recently Dr Ratcliffe has served the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine as Educational Supervisor.

Research Interest

Clinical Research, Drug Discovery, Drug Development