Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery Research Centre

Projects and Research Areas

Our research ranges from a fundamental understanding of pharmaceutical and material properties of drugs and excipients and approaches to tailor their physicochemical characteristics such as crystal and particle engineering, to the ultimate formulation of novel drug delivery systems and their clinical interface.

Research areas can be grouped into main themes:

Formulation development and characterisation

Dosage form research including electrostatics, surface adhesion, compaction and drug release kinetics with a special focus on particulate hydrophilic matrix systems.

Improving the solubility of poorly soluble drugs using various particle engineering techniques in the view of improving bioavailability and other physicochemical and physicomechanical properties

Development and characterisation of modified release drug formulations to address global issues

Solubility enhancement including solid dispersions, salts and cocrystals

Development of new materials, instruments and technologies, including novel dissolution testing, to characterise formulations leading to better predictors of in vivo behaviour and reduced development time and costs.

Nanoscale chemical, electrical and mechanical imaging-based techniques for drug delivery and biomedical applications.

Materials characterisation including natural products

Development of techniques for fabricating and characterising materials with enhanced delivery profiles

Pharmaceutical and medical applications of biopolymers

Characterisation of natural and synthetic polymers to extend their applications in drug delivery and controlled release delivery systems.

Drug delivery including oral, transdermal, pulmonary, ocular and parenteral systems

These research strands involve the development of formulations for nasal, oral, ophthalmic and transdermal drug delivery, the design of modified release systems, including the use of mucoadhesives, fast-dissolving and chewing gum formulations and the enhancement of solubility and dissolution for poorly soluble drugs. It is essential to address both physiological and physiochemical barriers to drug absorption with a view to developing improved formulation strategies in clinical practice, for example, effective delivery of antiseptics into the lower layers of the skin to improve asepsis

Specific themes include:

• Targeted drug delivery systems and dosage systems for the delivery of poorly soluble therapeutic agents
• Design, characterisation and testing of drug delivery systems for transdermal and topical drug delivery, with emphasis on skin integrity and infection prevention
• Targeted drug delivery systems, including nasal, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and colonic sites, and development of mucoadhesive delivery systems

Research Degree opportunities

We welcome enquiries related to our research themes.

• Development and characterisation of modified release drug formulations to address global issues
• Targeted drug delivery systems and dosage systems for the delivery of poorly soluble therapeutic agents
• Design, characterisation and testing of drug delivery systems for transdermal and topical drug delivery, with emphasis on skin integrity and infection prevention
• Targeted drug delivery systems, including pulmonary, gastrointestinal and colonic sites, and development of mucoadhesive delivery systems
• Characterisation of natural and synthetic polymers to extend their applications in drug delivery and controlled release delivery systems.
• Development of new materials, instruments and technologies, including novel dissolution testing, to characterise formulations leading to better predictors of in vivo behaviour and reduced development time and costs.
• Solubility enhancement including solid dispersions, salts and cocrystals
• Nanoscale chemical, electrical and mechanical imaging-based techniques for drug delivery and biomedical applications

Further details about other opportunities can be found in CourseFinder.

Impact

Many aspects of our research are carried out in a multidisciplinary way, enabling close and fruitful interdisciplinary research collaboration between staff within the group, and other groups within the University and in collaboration with other academic institutions, with NHS institutions and industrial collaborators.

The overall vision of the Centre is to provide a translational approach to our research to ultimately improve health. We have fostered and established strong partnerships with external stakeholders across public, non-profit and for-profit sectors to ensure relevance, with our strong focus on applied research enhancing impact.

 

Facilities

Within the School, we have access to a wide range of equipment and analytical techniques including:

• NMR
• X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy,
• X-ray crystallography (the Diffractometer suite – containing 2 single crystal and 2 powder diffractometers as well as SAXS)
• analytical equipment (HPLC/MS, ICP/MS, thermal analysis, dynamic vapour sorption, Nanosight, Malvern ZS etc)
• automatic dissolution
• surface dissolution imaging
• primary and non primary cell culture facilities
• flow cytometry and cellular analysis
• real time PCR
• confocal microscopy
• infra-red imaging
• fluorimetry
• rheometers
• spectrophotometry
• scanning electron microscopy
• Mechanical Tester (tensile, compression)
• SEC-MALLS
• HPAEC
• 3D printers
• in vitro pharmacopeial testing apparatus for dosage forms.

 

Vision

The International Clinical Practice Research Unit (ICPRU) will instill an exceptional climate of collaboration between healthcare professionals and researchers, encouraging exemplary clinical research advances and fostering a culture of innovation and creativity.

Mission

The co-initiation of collaborative efforts between the Departments of Pharmacy at the University of Huddersfield (UoH) and Faculty of Pharmacy at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) have led to the development of the International Clinical Practice Research Unit (ICPRU). Faculty members from UoH and JUST have worked and carried out research in various specializations (e.g., Clinical Practice, Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health). The International Clinical Practice Research Unit (ICPRU) aims to encourage and facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations between healthcare professionals and researchers worldwide, with the goal of expanding knowledge and providing insights into specific clinical questions.

 

To enable the multidisciplinary research community to attain excellence, the ICPRU established a group of experts in clinical specialties, and will:

• Work towards generating high-quality research and work with other global research groups
• Conduct relevant clinical and research training
• Design and implement collaborative clinical practice, epidemiology, and Public Health research projects
• Provide joint webinars and conferences
• Create opportunities for conducting research in a global community

Staff

Professor Barbara Conway (University of Huddersfield) - Chair

Dr Mamoon Aldeyab (University of Huddersfield), Director

Professor Sayer Al-Azzam (Jordan University of Science and Technology), Director

Dr Reema Karasneh (Yarmouk University), Co-ordinator

Dr Stuart Bond (Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust), Member

Dr Shoroq Altawalbeh (Jordan University of Science and Technology), Member

Dr Syed Shahzad Hasan (University of Huddersfield), Member