Professor Terrar graduated in Zoology with an interest in biophysics and neurophysiology at University College London in 1969; he obtained his PhD in the Pharmacology Department at UCL in 1972. Professor Terrar worked initially on acetylcholine receptors and chemical transmission before developing an interest in heart muscle studied by applying electrophysiological methods to isolated myocytes. He has worked at The University of Miami Medical School and The London School of Pharmacy on neuromuscular transmission. His work on cardiac myocytes was initiated at The Middlesex Hospital. Professor Terrar came to Oxford in 1984 and the research in his group is primarily directed towards the study of drugs influencing cardiac muscle function in the key areas listed below. Professor Terrar was an editor of the British Journal of Pharmacology from 1984 to 1991 and of Experimental Physiology from 1998-2004.