Gordon Dent

Biography

Gordon Dent is a pharmacologist with interests in medical student selection, pharmacology, therapeutics & prescribing education, and pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases.
He studied at the University of London, gaining a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology at King’s College in 1985 and a PhD in Immunopharmacology at the National Heart & Lung Institute in 1991. He subsequently worked at the Großhansdorf Institute for Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery, Germany, and the University of Southampton before joining the new School of Medicine at Keele in 2003.
Dr Dent is a board member of the Medical Schools Council Selection Alliance, a question author and peer-reviewer for the Prescribing Safety Assessment and an associate editor of the American Journal of Immunology. He is a member of the British Pharmacological Society and the Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Research and scholarship

Research theme: Therapeutics

Dr Dent’s research has focused on the roles of leukocytes and epithelium in inflammatory diseases of the lungs (asthma and COPD) and intestine (ulcerative colitis). He has a particular interest in intracellular signalling pathways in leukocytes and the mechanisms of cell-cell interactions between epithelial cells and leukocytes.
He is also active in the field of undergraduate medicine admissions, engaging in regional and national groups exploring policies and procedures.

Teaching

MBChB: Unit lead – Mechanisms of Disease (year 2); pharmacology, physiology and pathophysiology teaching across years 1, 2 & 3
V100/V300 supplementary prescribing: general pharmacology
Physiology & Pharmacology of Pain: pharmacology of inflammation and pain

Further information

Dr Dent has contributed to the development and implementation of curriculums for medicine, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. He is currently a member of the joint academic board and curriculum, programme and admissions groups for Harper Keele Veterinary School.
Along with the Access to HE team at the QAA, he has led the development of a national subject descriptor for Access to Medicine diplomas.

He engages in extensive outreach and widening participation work across the north and west midlands, as well as national events co-ordinated by the Medical Schools Council and UCAS.