School Academic Awarded prestigious Royal Society Research Fellowship
Dr Garry Laverty from the School of Pharmacy has been awarded a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship for 2025.
This Fellowship, awarded by the Royal Society, and supported by the Leverhulme Trust, is one of only seven awarded each year to academics across the natural sciences.
The scheme enables leading researchers to focus on a major programme of research, releasing them from teaching and administrative duties for up to one year.
Dr Laverty’s research will focus on further developing his innovative long-acting peptide hydrogel platforms for the prevention of tuberculosis (TB), one of the world’s most challenging infectious diseases.
During the twelve-month fellowship, Dr Laverty will aim to create long-acting injectable depot formulations, composed of peptide hydrogels, that can deliver preventative medicines for TB over an extended period, improving adherence, reducing dosing frequency and enhancing global TB control efforts.
Commenting on receiving this Fellowship, Dr Laverty said:
“I am delighted and honoured to receive this Fellowship, which offers a unique opportunity to focus on tackling one of the world’s most persistent infectious diseases, while also expanding the range of conditions our peptide hydrogel technology can address.
I hope the outcomes of our work will contribute to meaningful progress in TB prevention, particularly in low-resource settings where long-acting interventions can have the greatest impact. I am especially grateful to the talented researchers – past and present – who have contributed to this work and have laid the foundations for what I hope will be a highly impactful fellowship.”
Congratulating Dr Laverty on his achievement, Professor Gavin Andrews, Head of the School of Pharmacy at Queen's commented:
"Garry's achievement in receiving this prestigious fellowship is truly exceptional and well-deserved. This recognition highlights the world-class calibre of research being conducted within our School, and demonstrates Garry's outstanding leadership in addressing one of the world's most pressing health challenges. His innovative work has the potential to make a transformative impact on global health, particularly in communities where such interventions are most urgently needed. This Fellowship reflects the dedication and excellence of our research community, and we look forward to supporting Garry as he advances this vital work."
More information about Garry's research work can be found via his research group website.
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Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk