Dr Oliver B. Sutcliffe

BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, EurChem., CSci., CChem. FRSC, FHEA

Dr Oliver Sutcliffe graduated from the University of Liverpool with a BSc (Hons) in Chemical Sciences (1996) and subsequently obtained a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (1999) under Drs Richard Storr and Thomas Gilchrist from the same institution. In 1999, he joined Professor Martin Bryce’s group at the University of Durham, before moving to industry (in 2001) and working as a medicinal chemist on the design, development and optimisation of drug molecules for a broad-range of biological targets, including cancer.

He moved to the University of Strathclyde in 2006, obtained an MSc in Pharmaceutical Analysis and after a period at the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM) in Strasbourg was appointed as a Lecturer in the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS).  During this period his research focused on the synthesis, characterisation and development of methods for the detection of illicit drugs and new psychoactive substances (NPS).

In 2012, Dr Sutcliffe joined Manchester Metropolitan University as a Senior Lecturer, where his NPS research has continued to expand and led to the development of field-deployable screening technologies to aid in the prevention of trafficking/supply of psychoactive drugs. 

In recognition of his international contribution to the field of psychoactive substance research, Oliver was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) (August 2016) and subsequently promoted to Reader in August 2023.