Dr Ulrike Lorch, MD FRCA FFPM
Chief Medical Director and Founder

Dr Ulrike Lorch co-founded Richmond Pharmacology in 2001.  She is the Chief Medical Director and a Principal Investigator for early phase clinical trials.

Ulrike is the Group Scientific Lead for Clinical Trial Design and Methodology at Richmond Pharmacology's not-for-profit arm, the Richmond Research Institute.

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Early Phase Clinical Trials

Ulrike is an expert for design, conduct, analysis and reporting of early phase clinical trials. This includes first-in-human trials for small molecules, biologicals, and advanced therapies. Many of the trials include patient participants, some with rare diseases.  

One of Ulrike’s special interests is in innovative, adaptive clinical trial design and its practical implementation. The aim of these trials is to reach patients fast with newly developed effective treatments.

As Medical Director she is responsible for the clinical safety of all trials at Richmond Pharmacology.  Richmond Pharmacology has continuously held the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Phase 1 accreditation, which was implemented in 2008.

Ulrike represents early phase stakeholders at relevant groups and events e.g., the MHRA’s Clinical Trials Stakeholder Reference Group and the GCP Forum, and the Health Research Authority’s Phase 1 Advisory Group.

She is a founder of the European Federation for Exploratory Medicines Development (EUFEMED), a committee member of the UK’s Association of Human Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Industry (AHPPI) and a member of the European CRO Federations’ (EUCROF) Clinical Trials Legislation working group.  She is a member of the AGILE Clinical Trial Platform Steering Committee.

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Training and Education Activities

Ulrike is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FPM). She obtained her Certificate of Completion of Training in Pharmaceutical Medicine in 2007.

Richmond Pharmacology is a Designated Body for the revalidation of doctors by the General Medical Council and Ulrike is Richmond Pharmacology’s Appraisal Lead.  She works with a team of managers and doctors to deliver structured workplace training, mentoring and appraisals for general and specialist trainees.

Ulrike is an Educational Supervisor and Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) panel member in Pharmaceutical Medicine Specialist Training (PMST).

She contributed to the development of the new 2021 PMST curriculum as a member of the working group and gave her input specifically to design the exploratory medicines development module.  She is a member of the Clinical Pharmacology Skills Alliance’s trailblazer group that developed the new MSc Apprenticeship for Clinical Pharmacology Scientists.  This helped to align medical and scientific curricula, enabling doctors and scientists to participate in common parts using joint educational resources, and to individualise their own modular training according to what they need for their work.

Ulrike has been appointed as the FPM’s Director of Human Pharmacology in September 2021. In this role she supports the Faculty in providing training and assessment pathways in early phase clinical research, and in certifying capabilities that fit the background and scope of work of trainees.