Professor Donnelly is the 2024 recipient of the Transdermal Delivery Kydonieus Foundation Award which recognises Controlled Release Society members who have made outstanding contributions to the field of transdermal delivery science and technology. 

He was also recently awarded the APV Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Pharmaceutical Sciences by the International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology. This award is a prestigious research prize given every two years in appreciation of outstanding research achievements in the pharmaceutical sciences. 

In addition, Professor Donnelly has now been selected as the winner of the prestigious Royal Pharmaceutical Society Harrison Memorial Medal for 2024 for his outstanding contribution to advancing pharmaceutical science. This medal is awarded every two years, in memory of the distinguished pharmaceutical chemist Col EF Harrison, inventor of the first serviceable gas mask during the First World War. 

Professor Ryan Donnelly is Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology and Director of Research at Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Pharmacy. He is a registered pharmacist, and his expertise lies in developing advanced drug delivery systems for transdermal and intradermal drug delivery, aimed at improving patient outcomes. 

Commenting on this recognition, Professor Donnelly said: “To win three major awards in one year has been very pleasing and speaks to the impact of the work of my Group members, past and present. I’ve been fortunate to have worked with over 100 outstanding individuals from more than 20 different countries during my time at Queen’s, and their diversity of experience and approach has facilitated a high level of innovation and productivity.  

“I’ve had great support from collaborators in academia and industry and, of course, from the School of Pharmacy and the University. I hope that this recognition highlights the important contribution of the Pharmacy profession to advancing scientific development for the benefit of patients."

Collaborating with major pharmaceutical companies, he is currently developing a range of novel microneedle technologies which aims to replace the need for a range of drugs and vaccines to be given by needle-and-syringe injection with a minimally invasive and painless patch. 

His work has attracted over £30 million in funding, and he has authored more than 1000 peer-reviewed publications, including patent applications, textbooks, book chapters and full papers. 

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Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk