Personal Statement
Dr Dickens is a Principal Investigator (Lecturer) in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Liverpool. His research interests lie at the interface of drug transporter pharmacology, blood-brain barrier (BBB) biology and molecular properties that determine the mechanism of transport by membrane transporters. The BBB is considered a major bottleneck in the development of new CNS treatments, further complicated by disease specific effects such as those seen in brain cancer and inter-patient variability in drug response.

Dr Dickens recently led an international team for an invited review in Lancet Neurology, titled “Crossing the blood–brain barrier: emerging therapeutic strategies for neurological disease” which was published at the start of 2025.

The Dickens Lab is currently leading several projects focused on advanced human cell-based models of the BBB derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), positioning his team at the forefront of BBB and membrane transporter research.