Dr Fitzgerald is a consultant in pharmaceutical research to Materia Medica focussing primarily on research strategies for discovering new medicines. He has consulted with more than 25 pharmaceutical companies over the last 15 years, including Glaxo Wellcome, Lilly (Indianapolis), J & J (USA) and Roche as well as several biotechnology companies. His special fields of interest are drug research, portfolio evaluation and reshaping and competitive intelligence with special emphasis on cardio-respiratory research. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Previously he held posts in the Pharmaceuticals Division of ICI (now Astra-Zenica), first in basic research as Division Head of Cardiovascular Research, then as Manager of the Biology Department and subsequently as General Manager of Research Department II. Subsequently Dr. Fitzgerald joined the Divisional Board as International Medical Director. From 1972 to 1976 he was Professor of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and from 1989 to 1992 Visiting Professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University in Montreal where he coordinated the creation of post-graduate, diploma and degree courses in Pharmacoepidemiology. He has also been a Senior Research Fellow at the Manchester Business School.