A passion for pharmacology – Clive Page, keynote speaker at Inflammation & Fibrosis Satellite Meeting
The King’s College Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology remains at the forefront of drug discovery
Follow your passion – and the data. That’s the advice from King’s College Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology Clive Page, OBE, who will be a special guest speaker at the 20th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology 2026 Satellite Meeting: Inflammation, Fibrosis and Metabolism on July 11.
Professor Page’s interest in pharmacology – and, in particular, respiratory pharmacology – was first sparked during his final year of undergraduate studies in Chelsea College, University of London, where he read the groundbreaking work of Dr John Morley, who specialised in the study of mediators of microvascular changes in inflammation. Morley would become his PhD supervisor.
“He was instrumental as a teacher and really encouraged me to think out of the box and understand the importance of lateral thinking,” says Professor Page, who also acknowledged the unwavering support of Professor Rod Flower, who significantly advanced understanding of aspirin and glucocorticoids.
Professor Page has published more than 250 scientific papers since then, mainly focused on the pharmacology of inflammation and respiratory disease.
Having started his career at Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz Ltd, Professor Page co-founded Verona Pharma plc, an AIM listed Company developing new drugs for the treatment of respiratory diseases. He regularly consults to both the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and has previously held non-executive board positions at Cardiome in Canada and Stirling Products Ltd in Perth, Australia. In 2017, Professor Page was awarded an OBE for Services to Pharmacology.
“My original time in Basle working for a pharmaceutical company really stimulated my interest in translational research and that I could make a significant contribution to our understanding of respiratory diseases and treatment,” he says.
Professor Page has continued to be at the forefront of pharmacological research, co-leading the study that helped confirm inhaling heparin could treat severe respiratory illnesses including COVID-19 due to it’s unique anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant abilities.
“The COVID pandemic provided a major challenge and brought together scientists globally to collaborate at a rapid pace to find treatments that could be useful for treating this respiratory condition,” he says.
“It reinforced my view that cooperation is always better than competition and allowed me to make important new collaborative partners, particularly Professor Frank van Haren at the ANU School of Medicine in Canberra.”
Clive will be joined by featured speaker, Dr Danilo Tagle (NCATS/NIH, USA) who will offer valuable insight into the future of MPS and the its current roles of innovation in advancing drug development. Having worked in the NIH - the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research - Danilo's perspective will be especially compelling for researchers, industry leaders, and clinicians interested in translating new technologies into meaningful therapeutic impact.
Other guest speakers at the July meeting will include:
- Prof Gilberto DeNucci (University of São Paulo)
- Prof Garron Dodd (University of Melbourne)
- Prof Peter Crack (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Rhiannon Werder (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute)
- Dr Tara Sutherland (University of Aberdeen)
- A/Prof Thai Tran (National University of Singapore)
The meeting will be held Saturday 11 July, 10am to 5pm at Bio21 Institute.