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Sanyu Lawanson

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Senior Lecturer

Sanyu Lawanson is Pharmacy Practice and Prescribing Lead at ARU. She is passionate about helping future healthcare professionals develop the knowledge and skills to use medicines safely and effectively. Her expertise spans therapeutics and prescribing, with a particular interest in making complex scientific concepts accessible and relevant to patient care.

Lawanson holds a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Medical and Healthcare Education and was Highly Commended in the Living Our Values Award (2024), recognising her commitment to education, collaboration, and delivering high-quality patient care.

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Faculty:
Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care
School:
School of Medicine
Location:
Chelmsford
Background

Lawanson is Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, Prescribing and Therapeutics within ARU's School of Medicine, and Prescribing lead for the MPharm. With over 10 years of hospital pharmacy experience, she combines academic leadership with contemporary clinical practice as a Divisional Pharmacist for Emergency Department and Acute Medicine services.

Throughout her career, she has supported patients across a range of specialist services, including outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT), anticoagulation, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinics, working closely within multidisciplinary teams to optimise patient outcomes and promote safe and effective prescribing.

Her teaching focuses on evidence-based medicines optimisation, with a passion for developing confident, patient-centred healthcare professionals. Her research interests include developing the pharmacy workforce, advancing education and improving the well-being and resilience of healthcare professionals. In recognition of her commitment to education and staff development, she was Highly Commended in the Living the Values Colleague of the Year Award for her contributions as Lead Pharmacist for Education and Training at ESNEFT.

Lawanson strives to foster a culture of excellence, compassion and lifelong learning that ultimately improves patient health outcomes.

Spoken Languages

Luganda

Research interests
  • Workforce education and development
  • Parents and working
  • Resilience in workforce
Teaching

Modules:

  • Pharmacology
  • Therapeutics and Prescribing
  • Prescribing Safety Assessment
  • Pharmacy Practice
Qualifications
  • Master of Pharmacy – Medway School of Pharmacy
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmacy Practice – University College London
  • Clinically Enhanced Independent Prescribing – Kings College London
  • PG Cert Medical and Healthcare Education – ARU
Memberships, editorial boards
  • Royal College of Pharmacy
  • Royal College of Emergency Medicine
  • UK Clinical Pharmacy Association
Selected recent publications

Lawanson S. (2026) 'Postpartum reintegration: an uncomfortable silence pharmacy can no longer afford', The Pharmaceutical Journal. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1211/PJ.2026.1.416294

Recent presentations and conferences

'Exploring the Use of AI-Generated Four-Frame Comic Strips to Communicate Complex Concepts in Widening Participation in Teaching', ARU School of Medicine Research Conference.