Professor Paul Rolan

Biography/ Background

• MBBS Adelaide (1997)
• MD Adelaide (1978)
• Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (General Medicine/Clinical Pharmacology) (1985)
• Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, United Kingdom (1997)
• Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Adelaide (2005)
• Senior Consultant, Pain Management Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital (2005)

Paul trained in medicine and subseqeuently in clinical pharmacology in Adelaide.  After obtaining specialist qualifications in general medicine and clinical pharmacology he spent two years as Director of Medicine at Cairns Base Hospital.  Subsequently Paul joined the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, initially working for Wellcome Research Laboratories where he was Head of Clinical Pharmacokinetics.  In 1994 he became Medical Director of Medeval, a clinical pharmacology contract research organisation spun out of the University of Manchester.  Under Paul's leadership, Medeval became the largest clinical pharmacology contract research organisation in the United Kingdom.  He was part of a management buy outteam of the Company from the University and a subsequent trade sale three years later to ICON Clinical Research.  he has been Principal Investigator in over 650 clinical research studies and has been an active Consultant, both to the pharmaceutical industry as well as an invited speaker to the FDA.

Paul returned to the University of Adelaide in 2005.  His major clinical and academic interest is in chronic pain, focusing on the development of biomarkers, evaluation of novel therapies and mechanisms of disease.  Other research interests include predicting drug interactions with oral anticoagulants and decision support software regarding drug interactions for GPs.

Together with Guy Ludbrook, Professor of Anaesthesia at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, he has established the Pain and Anaesthesia Research Clinic (PARC) (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/painresearch/) within the fabric of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.  PARC undertakes commercial studies generally in the areas of pain and anaesthesia on behalf of the international pharmaceutical industry.  Retained profits from PARC support our academic research program.

Paul is a member of the National Medicines Policy Committee

(http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/nmp-committee).  He retains an active interest in drug development. 

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories      Medicine and medical research

Expertise        pain; opioids; drug development; oral anticoagulants; drug interactions 

Entry last updated: Wednesday, 16 Mar 2011