Dr Richard Amison is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology within the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Science and is a member of The Pulmonary Pharmacology Unit. After completing his undergraduate studies at Bristol University in 2010, Dr Amison obtained his PhD at King's College London (KCL) in 2014 which included working at the University of Perugia, Italy for 1 year. Dr Amison then continued at KCL in The Pulmonary Pharmacology Unit to undertake post-doctoral studies before taking up an academic position in the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Science. The research focus of Dr Amison's group is in the understanding of the roles of platelets in the host immune response to bacterial infections. Dr Amison's research contributions have revealed that platelets are critical in the host response to infection not only through the mobilisation of other inflammatory cells but also through direct actions on the bacteria themselves as his research has shown a direct antimicrobial function of platelets. This might therefore offer opportunities for drugs intervention that may be used to 'boost' host defence.