Meet Dr David Owen

What course do you teach on and what is your role?

On our MRES in Clinical Research, I teach across the whole course and in particular to the Translational Medicine group. Separate from our MRES, I also do a lot of teaching at the medical school in pharmacology and to other masters courses (neuroscience, immunology) on why microglia are the most important cell in the body!

How has your career led you to teach?

I have always loved teaching. As a medical student I volunteered for a course which involved teaching the more junior medical students, and I enjoyed it so much that I knew I would want to have teaching be part of my career. Teaching other people is also the best way to cement your understanding of a topic. You may think you understand a topic, but it it only when you teach it that your understanding is truly tested.

What aspect of the course do you enjoy teaching the most?

I love teaching pharmacokinetics because many students approach the lecture with dread, expecting not to understand it. But actually it can be broken down into very easily digestable chunks, and its very satisfying at the end of the session when its clear that the group have now understood it. I also particularly enjoy the interactive sessions, for example about why drugs fail, because they generate great discussions!

What do you hope your students will go on to achieve on completion of this course?

Mainly I hope that they enjoy it, they learn from it, and that they leave enthused with science and a prospect of a career in science

What is your favorite part about teaching at Imperial College London?

It is a great joy to teach intelligent, energetic, motivated students, and thankfully Imperial College is full of them!