Dr Aaron Courtenay

Overview

Dr Aaron J. Courtenay is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy and Academic Lead for Research within the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ulster University. He is the founding Co-Director of the Centre for International Health Innovation & Partnerships (CIHIP), advancing collaborative health research across the UK, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

He is a registered Pharmacist with the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland, a Chartered Chemist and Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a Global Health Fellow with the Office of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England. He also serves as Vice-Chair for the Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland (ORECNI) and sits on the Pharmacy Forum Northern Ireland Board.

Dr Courtenay previously served as Course Director for the MPharm (Hons) programme, leading the rollout of the 2021 Initial Education and Training Standards for undergraduate pharmacists, including independent prescribing (IP) training and expanded experiential placements across hospital, community, and GP sectors in Northern Ireland.

Research Interests

Drawing on both clinical and industry experience, Dr Courtenay’s research spans the translational and clinical interfaces of pharmacy. His portfolio focuses on the development of minimally invasive diagnostic technologies and the implementation of clinical best practice in medicines optimisation and prescribing systems.

His research advances precision and personalised approaches to diagnostics and medicines use, integrating formulation science, biomarker detection, and clinical implementation. He leads work on the design of polymeric and epigenetic diagnostic devices for minimally invasive fluid sampling and biomarker detection in oral and systemic disease. This includes the development of Epifluidix™, a translational research initiative focused on polymeric oral-fluid diagnostic devices for cancer and pre-cancer biomarker detection, with proof-of-concept demonstrated in inflammatory biomarker capture for periodontal disease.

Complementing this, he contributes to the implementation of clinical pharmacy services internationally, strengthening diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship systems across Europe and the MENA region. He also collaborates on large-scale pharmacogenomics and personalised medicine initiatives, including the international iMPROVE programme, which seeks to integrate genomic diagnostic insights into everyday clinical decision-making.

Ethical Conduct of Research

As Vice-Chair of the Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland (ORECNI), Dr Courtenay provides strategic leadership in ethical governance and research integrity. Since joining ORECNI in 2019 as the Pharmacist (Expert) member, he has contributed to the review of CTIMPs, complex intervention studies, and served as Northern Ireland representative on the specialist UK ad hoc Research Ethics Committee convened to assess the ethical use of human challenge studies in COVID-19 vaccine research.

Funding and Collaborations

Dr Courtenay has secured competitive research funding from research-council, charity, and industry sources, including the MSD Merck Investigators Studies Programme, Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS), THET, and the Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland). His work has also been supported by the BBSRC, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the CW Young Fund.

He collaborates with multidisciplinary teams across the UK, Ireland, Ghana, Austria, Indonesia, Egypt, and Jordan, leveraging national and international funding to advance translational and implementation research. Previous industry collaborations include Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Teva, Lohmann Therapie Systeme, Randox Laboratories, and Merck Sharpe & Dohme (MSD).

As a Global Health Fellow, Dr Courtenay has led impactful international partnerships, most notably between Ulster University and KNUST University Hospital in Ghana, helping to establish KNUST as an Antimicrobial Stewardship Centre of Excellence and influence national AMS policy. Through CIHIP, he continues to drive collaborative, sustainable health initiatives focused on diagnostic innovation, pharmacy practice development, and implementation science, strengthening Ulster’s global reputation for partnership-driven healthcare impact.

Research Opportunities