Dr Charles Benneh is a Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ulster University, where he teaches clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice and is a member of the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute. He joined Ulster University in February 2023, having previously held a lectureship at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, Ghana. He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree, a Master’s degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in Pharmacology, and is a Fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm).

Dr Benneh leads and co-leads a growing portfolio of competitively funded research, with a particular emphasis on UK–Ghana neuroscience and pharmacy collaborations:

• Neurobiological mechanisms of antidepressant compounds from indigenous medicinal plants – building neuroscience research capacity in Ghana through UK–Ghana collaboration. Principal Investigator. Supported by an International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) collaborative award (2025–26).
• Ghana–UK Neuroscience Accelerator: Advancing Antiepileptic Drug Discovery. Principal Investigator, with Co-Investigator Dr F. Ahmed. Funded by the Department for the Economy under the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), c. £37,000 (2026), extending the scope of the IBRO programme.
• Strengthening Sustainable Community Pharmacy Practices in Ghana: Behavioural Determinants and Capacity-Building for Greener Healthcare. Co-Investigator (PI: Dr K. Rajiah). Funded by the Department for the Economy under the ISPF, c. £39,000 (2026).
• Pharmacy Research UK PhD Studentship (submitted, c. £100,000) – to support a doctoral programme antidepressant deprescribing.

Precision psychopharmacology and mental healthcare – biomarker-driven, personalised therapeutics for affective and mental health disorder.

Pain biosignatures and analgesic optimisation – development of a biosignature for pain to guide individualised analgesic tapering and prevent the acute-to-chronic pain transition after surgery. In addition, he is currently working on identifying cycle-dependent biomarkers for tailored, patient-centred pain management in endometriosis.

Psychoactive substance use and neuroenhancement – drivers, motivations and consequences of prescribed and non-prescribed psychoactive substance use, and the efficacy, ethics and societal impact of neuroenhancement agents.

Neuropharmacology of compounds derived from natural products – focusing on antidepressant, anxiolytic, and antiseizure activity including mechanism-of-action.

Preclinical and clinical PK/PD modelling – focusing on two distinct areas. Antibiotics dose optimisation in neonates and pharmacogenomic and PK/PD informed dose optimisation of psychoactive drugs.

Dr Benneh supervises doctoral, taught-postgraduate and undergraduate research. He currently supervises PhD researcher Emily Brownhill and has advertised funded PhD projects on pain management in endometriosis and on trauma-informed deprescribing of SSRIs. At MPharm and MSc Advanced Pharmacy Practice level he has supervised projects on clinical systematic reviews of antibiotic therapy in neonatal sepsis, in silico and in vitro pharmacokinetic assessment of natural-product compounds, the impact of the ENCOMPASS electronic care record on pharmacist practice, and the contribution of clinical pharmacists in oncology and pain services across Northern Ireland Trusts. He welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral students with interests in neuropharmacology, pain, mental health and clinical pharmacy practice.

Mental health and CNS therapeutics (specialist) - Clinical management of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, sleep disorders and substance misuse, taught through lectures, workshops and clinical-skills seminars.

Systems-based clinical therapeutics and responding to symptoms. Respiratory conditions, acne management and paediatric prescribing; women’s health, prescribing in special populations and gastrointestinal conditions; dermatology, including atopic eczema; and immunology, travel health and men’s health.

Patient-facing consultation and dispensing skills. Dispensing, patient counselling, medication history-taking and prescriber-interaction stations within the professional practice practicals.