Neal Davies, BSc(Pharm), PhD., R.Ph.

Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Email
ndavies@ualberta.ca

Overview

About

Dr. Neal M. Davies received his undergraduate degree in Pharmacy from the University of Alberta in 1991. In 1996, he completed his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences, specializing in pharmacokinetics, at the University of Alberta. From 1995 to 1998, he undertook postdoctoral training in pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Calgary. He then joined the University of Sydney as a lecturer in 1998. In 2002, he returned to North America to join the Washington State University’s (WSU) College of Pharmacy as an academic staff member, where he has held the positions of Director of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program, as well as Director of Professional and Undergraduate Research and Director of Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program. He has been active on numerous university-wide committees, including service as a member of WSU’s Faculty Senate and Chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committe. From 2011-2016 he was Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Manitoba. Under his direction he has been involved in several administrative and operational initiatives including: strategic planning, faculty accreditation review processes; and development of a first professional degree in Pharmacy (PharmD) program. He played key roles in faculty and graduate student recruitment and success and development of Pharmaceutical Analysis Laboratory (PAL). Throughout his career, Dr. Davies has strived to maintain the highest standard of teaching and research, and his achievements in both areas have been recognized through numerous awards and honours including several from the United States Pharmacopeia and the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and has an ongoing and significant commitment toward graduate supervision and training. He has been at the forefront of the use of technology in the classroom, has re-engineered curricular content and maintained a high standard in student mentoring. Dr. Davies also maintains an active and highly collaborative externally-funded research program, focused on pharmacokinetics and drug delivery as well as basic and clinical pharmaceutical sciences which have attracted National Institutes of Health and Industry funds. He holds five patent applications and has disseminated his work broadly through numerous journal publications, a book and book chapters, abstracts, and invited conference presentations. He has ~8000 citations and an H-index >50. Dr. Davies has been a registered pharmacist with the Alberta College of Pharmacists since 1991. He is active in numerous professional organizations/associations, including the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and serves as a reviewer and on the editorial board of several pharmaceutical and pharmacological science journals. Over the past decade Dr. Davies has also been heavily involved in pharmacy education research including curriculum mapping, interprofessional education, online teaching, and implementing expanded scopes of practice programs. On September 1, 2016 Dr. Davies commenced his term as Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta.


Research

Pharmacokinetics and Delivery of Xenobiotics 

Dr. Davies' research program in the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences aims to investigate the factors that influence variability in drug response through an understanding of drug delivery (nanomedicine) and disposition (pharmacokinetics) as well as action to optimize the use of anti-oxidant and anti-cancer agents (pharmacology and toxicology). The Davies laboratory explores factors affecting the dissolution, stability, release and safety and efficacy of anti-oxidant nutraceutical and anti-cancer drugs, the role of liver and renal metabolism in determining effects of drugs, and new avenues for the treatment of hyperlipidemia, hepatitis, colorectal cancer and inflammation associated with arthropathies. Dr. Davies laboratory uses a variety of sample analyses, including atomic absorption spectrophotometry, high performance liquid chromatography, specializing in HPLC/MS analyses, including: Bioanalytical Sample Analysis, Quantitative Analysis, Pharmacokinetic Analysis, High-Throughput Drug Discovery, Analytical Methods Development and Validation, Structure Elucidation including Metabolite Identification and Stability Impurity Indentification.

More recent investigations have focused on block polymeric micelles for nano-drug delivery of hydrophobic xenobiotics and on plant secondary metabolites and metabolism and disposition of anti-inflammatory/anti-cancer nutraceuticals and phytochemicals including stilbenes and flavonoids, nutraceuticals in animal models and scaling their impact on human health. In addition target lymphatic delivery approaches to improve oral bioavailability are also being undertaken.

Over the past decade Dr. Davies has also been heavily involved in pharmacy education research including curriculum mapping, interprofessional education, online teaching, and implementing exanded scopes of practice programs


Scholarly Activities

Research - Book and Book Chapters

Book

Davies NM and Yanez JA 2013

Flavonoid Pharmacokinetics. Methods of Analysis, Preclinical and Clinical Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Toxicology Wiley-Blackwell John Wiley & Sons, Inc ISBN 978-0-470-57871-1

Book Chapters

 Davies NM. Chiral Inversion p351-392. In Chirality and Drug Design and Development Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York Reddy and Mehvar Eds 2004.

 Yanez JA, Brocks DR, Forrest ML, Davies NM. Pharmacokinetic Behaviors of Orally Administered Drugs In Oral Bioavailability: Basic Principles, Advanced Concepts and Applications, Wiley Series in Drug Discovery and Development 2- July 2011; ISBN-10: 0-470-26099-8 ISBN-13: 978-0-470-26099-9 - John Wiley & Sons

Mejia-Meza E, Yanez JA, Davies NM, Clary C. Dried Raspberries: Phytochemicals and Health Effects. In Dried Fruits Phytochemical and Health Effects Wiley-Blackwell Series in Functional Food Science and Technology John Wiley & Sons ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-1173-4/2013.

 Reganold JP, Andrews PK, Reeve JR, Carpenter-Boggs L , Schadt CW , Alldredge RJ , Ross CF , Davies NM, Zhou J. Organic Versus Conventional Strawberry Agroecosystem In Sustainable Soil Management Edited by Deirdre Rooney Apple Academic Press 2013 Print ISBN: 978-1-926895-21-5 eBook ISBN: 978-1-4665-5921-9 DOI: 10.1201/b14080-15.

Pharmacy Education

Davies NM. Minor Ailments and Self-Limiting Conditions: NOT

Canadian Journal of Pharmacy 2014;147(3):1372014; 3: 1.


Tsuyuki R, Davies NM. Self-Denigration in Pharmacy. Words that should be banished from the pharmacy lexicon. Can J Pharm (Ott) 2014;147(4): 197-199.


Zelenitsky S, Vercaigne LM, Davies NM, Davis C, Renaud R, Kristjanson C. Using a Novel Curriculum Mapping Process to Engage Faculty in Curriculum Analysis and Continuous Quality Improvement of a Pharmacy Program. American Journal of Pharmacy Education 2014; 78(7):139.


 Davies NM, Tsuyuki R. Self-Denigration in Pharmacy: Actions that should be curtailed. Can J Pharm (Ott) 2014;147(6): 265-266.


Leong C, Louizos C, Currie C, Glassford L, Davies NM, Brothwell D, Renaud R. Student Perspectives of an Online Module for Teaching Physical Assessment Skills of Vital Signs for a Canadian Faculty of Dentistry, School of Dental Hygiene, and Faculty of Pharmacy on a Health Sciences Campus. Journal of Interprofessional Care 2015; 29(4): 383-385. 


Sayre CL, Louizos C, Asadoorian J, Davies NM. Implementation of a Pharmacist-Taught Pharmacology Course as a Strategy to Prepare Dental Hygiene Students for Potential Limited Prescriptive Authority. Canadian Journal of Dental Hygiene. Canadian Journal of Dental Hygiene 2016; 50(1): 13-16.


Louizos C, Sayre CL, Frankel G, Davies NM. Implementing a Pharmacy Immunization and Injection Training Program through Interprofessional Collaboration. FIP Pharmacy Education. 2016; 16(1): 80-82.