Student profiles - 2020 cohort

Emily Atkinson

University College London (UCL)

Research:

My PhD project focuses on developing hydrogel delivery systems for the combined delivery of novel growth factor mimetics and small molecule ligands for treatment of CNS damage. under the supervision of Professor James Phillips, Dr Rachael Dickman and Professor Alethea Tabor.

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Experience:

My first academic research project at UCL focused on using immunomodulatory encapsulation systems for neural delivery of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease, under the supervision of Professor James Phillips, Dr Victoria Roberton and Despoina Eleftheriadou.

2020: Graduated with a first-class degree in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (MChem) from Newcastle University. My masters research project involved working towards point-to-helical chirality transfer for the synthesis of chiral BODIPY dyes, under the supervision of Dr Michael Hall.

2019: Worked for the summer at NewChem Technologies Ltd, under the supervision of Professor Bernard Golding. I worked on the scale-up and development of synthetic routes towards cannabidiol metabolites, including 7-hydroxycannabidiol and 7-carboxycannabidiol.

2018: Worked within the formulation department at CPI. Gained experience in a breadth of areas including medicine, food, and agricultural formulations. Mainly focussed on the development of an efficacious oral solid dosage formulation for a drug that is currently administered intravenously (IV) and investigated methods to modify the aeration properties (de-dusting) of an agrochemical bulk powder, to reduce dust generation during large scale powder transfer.

Aswathy Balakrishnan

University College Dublin (UCD)

Hello! I am Aswathy, a PhD student with EPSRC-SFI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies at University College Dublin (School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering) and National Institute for Bioprocess Research and Training (NIBRT).

Research:

My current research revolves around the rational design of biopharmaceutical drug formulations. While the first element of my project deals with mechanistic modelling of ssHDX-MS (solid-state hydrogen-deuterium exchange with mass spectrometric analysis) of proteins, I have now started to work with RNA formulations. Studies on mRNA have exponentially increased in recent years and my project aims to contribute to this research by addressing the issues relating to its stability and degradation.

Experience:

After completing my BTech in Chemical Engineering (2019) at Vellore Institute of Technology, India, I came to UCD to complete MEngSc in Biopharmaceutical Engineering (2020), following which I stayed on to start my PhD.

John Downey

University College Cork (UCC)

Research:

My project investigates the effect of different material properties and excipients on protein adsorption behaviour and the consequent impact on functional behaviour and stability. I am also examining formulation design to mitigate the risk of protein adsorption to manufacturing equipment and packaging materials. I recently gave an oral presentation on my research progress at the 2021 UKICRS Symposium found at: https://www.ukicrs.org/ideos-2021.html.

I am very passionate about Education & Public Engagement and one of my recent activities entitled ‘ A Day in the Life of a Scientist’ can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQlMNQBYOs. I’m also an Ambassador for the Royal Society of Biology.

Experience:

After graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry I completed my MSc in Chemistry (Crystallography) from University College Cork where I investigated the crystal energy landscape of 22 sulfonamides, expanding known crystal structures of the substance class by 8. I contributed 1 new polymorph and classified all known sulfonamide crystal structures with respect to intermolecular interactions into 7 graph set groups. I also generated 1 novel cocrystal in this investigation. I was then accepted for a research internship at the INFANT Research Centre, Ireland, working on a proteomics project where I analysed the protein profile in cord blood of children with known ASD outcomes.

Patricija Januskaite

University College London (UCL)

Research:

My current PhD project focuses on the 3D printing of tablets containing antioxidants for the management of patients with rare metabolic diseases.

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Experience:

In 2018, I graduated from the University of Leicester with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, where my final research thesis was focused on the intramolecular fluorocyclisation of unsaturated carboxylic acids using an electrophilic fluorinating agent called Selectfluor. Following from this, I completed my master’s degree in Pharmaceutics at UCL in 2019, where I obtained a distinction whilst working on selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing for my final year project.

Prior to my PhD studies, I held the position of Senior Formulation Scientist at FabRx Ltd., a biotechnology spin-out company from UCL focused on the 3D printing of pharmaceuticals. My role involved formulation development, grant proposal writing and engagement with prospective clients and major regulatory bodies.

For my first-year lab based mini project, I worked on the formulation and characterisation of antibiotic loaded foams for the treatment of chronic wounds, and for my first-year industry based mini project I worked with Pfizer on addressing the solubility prediction challenges via a computational approach.

Isobel Jobson

University of Nottingham (UoN)

Research:

My project is titled ‘In situ generated biopolymers towards reverse prodrug therapy for cancer’ and I am under the supervision of Dr Frankie Rawson, Prof. Snow Stolnik and Dr Veeren Chauhan. My research is at the interface of chemistry and biology and I’m looking at using cells to carry out polymerisation reactions.

Experience:

For my academic training project I used deep learning as a tool to predict the solubility of small drug-like molecules and excipients, and for my industrial project - led by Nemaura - I characterised solid dose formulations.

I completed my integrated Master's in Chemistry (MChem) at the University of Liverpool in 2019. As part of my degree, I carried out a research placement at a specialty chemicals company investigating the effects of the materials used in a process called complex coacervation. For my Master's project, I worked within an organic chemistry laboratory synthesising a range of secondary alpha-amide sulfoxonium ylides as milder alternative precursors to diazo compounds for the synthesis of cyclic compounds.

After graduating, I spent nine months working for AkzoNobel within the Local Technical Support – Manufacturing Unit, testing new and reformulated products and reviewing production data for poor quality batches.

In my spare time you’ll find me running, cycling, baking, or canoeing on the Trent.

Diba Keyhanfar

University College London (UCL)

Research:

I am currently working under the supervision of Dr Kreso Bucar at the UCL Department of Chemistry and Professor Catherine Tuleu at the UCL School of Pharmacy on a project which aims to improve the palatability of oral dosage forms (taste, texture and smell) through crystal engineering.

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Experience:

For my first academic training project, I worked under the supervision of Professor Gareth Williams and Dr Kreso Bucar on the development of paracetamol-caffeine co-crystal hydrates for the formulation of advanced painkillers with better compaction properties. During the course of this project I faced the unexpected disappearance of (pca)·(caf)·(H₂O) cocrystal form and explored possible methods for reproducibility of such elusive polymorphs.

I undertook my industrial training project in collaboration with AstraZeneca and under the supervision of Dr Ian Gabbott. The project was entitled “Predictive tubing selection for tablet film coating processes through flow rate, fluid pressure and viscosity characterization”. A range of process parameters involved in the fluid delivery step of the dosage form coating processes with aqueous coating solutions such as: tubing internal diameter, tubing length, pump speed and fluid pressure were evaluated to aid “first time selection” of correct combination of parameters to enable batch reproducibility of good quality coatings.

I developed a huge interest in crystal engineering during my first training project and therefore decided to peruse a PhD project within that field.

Maria Ferreira Monteiro

Trinity College Dublin (TCD)

Research

Currently I am working on the conversion of poorly soluble drugs into multicomponent systems with low melting points as an approach to improve oral formulations.

Experience:

I have a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Faculty of Pharmacy of my hometown University of Porto, in Portugal.Throughout my college years, I also did some research on powder flowability at the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology of my faculty, as well as an Erasmus research internship on microspheres in Poland, at the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology of the Medical University of Gdansk. After I graduated, I did a research internship at Trinity’s department of Pharmaceutics, where I am now doing my PhD. I really enjoy doing research and I find pharmaceutical technology fascinating! Outside of work, I like reading, baking, playing board games and RPGs, traveling and I have recently started knitting and crocheting.

Colm O’Reilly

University College London (UCL)

Research:

For my PhD project, I am investigating ultrasound-mediated oral delivery of biopharmaceuticals under the supervision of Dr Dario Carugo and Dr Mine Orlu.

Experience:

Before coming to the UK, I completed my BSc and MPharm in Pharmacy in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland as a Pharmacist in 2015. I worked as a locum pharmacist in 127 community pharmacies for two years to raise money for a MSc in Pharmaceutics in UCL School of Pharmacy.

I started the MSc in Pharmaceutics in UCL SOP in September 2017. My research project focused on developing novel enteric coating systems for reliable duodenal drug delivery. I graduated with Distinction in 2018.

I joined Intract Pharma (a spin out founded by Prof Abdul Basit of UCL SOP) in September 2018 as a research scientist focusing on formulation of oral biologics for inflammatory bowel disease. I designed and developed next generation prototypes of Intract’s flagship technologies while providing technical support for IUK Grant work.

In September 2020, I joined the CDT in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technology at UCL SOP. In my first year, I completed two three-month research projects: one in academia and one in industry. For my academic project, I investigated rapid and automatic drug and dose verification of 3D printed orodispersible films using NIR spectroscopy and machine learning under the supervision of Dr Moe Elbadawi and Dr Mine Orlu. For my industry project, I developed a species-specific Developability Classification System (DCS) for use in Early Discovery (ED) under the supervision of Dr Darren Matthews at Charles River Laboratories.

When I am not researching, I locum as a community pharmacist (now at more than 150 pharmacies), practicing karate, reading books, and playing video/board games with friends.

Lewis O’Shaughnessy

University of Nottingham (UoN)

Research:

My PhD project is under the supervision of Cameron Alexander and is titled “Tracking Intracellular Transport of Self-Reporting Nanomaterials”. I am aiming to use multicomponent Passerini polymerisation reactions to synthesise easily modified polymers for the enhanced delivery of RNA into cells. In the final stages of my project I hope to be apply this to treating acute kidney injury.

Experience:

Before my PhD I studied a Masters degree in Chemistry at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2018. Throughout my degree, I completed research into the development of small molecules for activation of adult epicardial cells, along with a final year project on the development of novel bicyclic tetramate derivatives for tackling bacterial infections.

When I started the CDT my first training project was on the development of techniques for imaging drug delivery to brain tumours. The project involved coupling an MRI contrast agent to a chemotherapeutic drug and then developing in vitro procedures to study drug uptake by glioblastoma cell lines.

I then completed an industrial training project supported by Astra Zeneca on the use of computational models to predict the stability of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). For this project I developed a high throughput method for the production of ASDs and used DSC and optical microscopy data to measure their solid stability. I then compared this to predictions made using COSMOTherm software in an attempt to validate an in silico model for ASD stability.

Alexandra Peremezhko

University College London (UCL)

Reseach

My PhD focuses on the ways to synthesise a bacteriocin with specific anti-C.difficile activity and to stabilise it for oral delivery using nanoparticles for subsequent inclusion into 3-D printed tablets. My PhD supervisors are Professor Gaisford and Dr Dickman.

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Experience:

In 2018 I graduated from Queen Mary University, London with a degree in Biomedical Sciences. My dissertation focused on the role of epigenetics in development and treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia. I then joined MSc in Pharmaceutics at UCL SoP and over the summer I have been working on the assessment of commercially available kefir formulations to determine the relationship of the formulation components and the viability of bacteria in simulated gastrointestinal conditions.

Prior to beginning my PhD, I performed research for Cernotas Ltd. to elucidate potential bactericidal effects of a probiotic formulation on a range of relevant pathogenic microorganisms.

In my first mini project on CDT, I was working with Dr Alessandro Poma at Eastman Dental Institute to investigate synthetic targeting of polymersomes for development of a potential novel drug delivery system in oncology. My industrial placement was with Croda and focused on characterization of a new line of ecologically friendly surfactants and their performance in comparison to the original non-environmentally friendly versions.

Corinna Schlosser

University College London (UCL)

Research:

My PhD project focuses on developing solid state polypeptide formulations for transdermal and subcutaneous delivery. I’ll be developing different formulations and explore strategies to modulate the release profile of the polypeptide while stabilising it as solid particle. My project is supervised by Prof. Steve Brocchini and Prof. Gareth Williams.

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Experience:

I hold a BSc in pharmaceutical sciences and graduated with a master’s in pharmacy from the University of Geneva in 2019. As part of my master’s degree I completed a 6-month research project which I conducted at UCL School of Pharmacy. The project focused on the development of antifungal nano formulations for ophthalmic application.

After completing my degree, I worked as a Development Scientist and Project Manager for Nanomerics Ltd. During my time at Nanomerics I developed and characterized nanomedicine formulations and was responsible for a long-term stability study of a potential drug-product.

In 2020, I joined the CDT in Tranformative Pharmaceutical Technologies at UCL. My academic training project explored cell-free stem cell therapies. This involves the development of exosome-loaded nanoparticles and investigation of their potential for tissue regeneration. For my industrial placement I was supervised by Croda working on the development of a rapid methodology to assess drug solubility on a 96 well plate using a microplate reader.

Nidhi Seegobin

University College London (UCL)

Research:

My current PhD project is focussed around developing an exosome-based drug delivery technology to target inflammatory bowel disease tissue.

My academic mini project was based on predicting the effect of excipients on the gut microbiota alongside machine learning. My industrial mini project was undertaken at Pfizer, where I worked on developing a computational approach to establish the intrinsic dissolution rate of compounds.

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Experience:

I graduated from UCL with a first-class Master of Pharmacy degree in 2019. I undertook my master’s research project at the University of Helsinki, where I researched the use of Surface Plasmon Resonance for the characterisation of a protein corona formation on virus nanoparticles. During my undergraduate studies, I completed various research programmes in the UK and in Hong Kong, where I worked on the development of pharmaceutical drug formulations. Following graduation, I worked as a pre-registration pharmacist in the local community.

Graziamarina Sinatra

University of Nottingham (UoN)

Research:

My PhD project aims to achieve the delivery a small molecule HIV treatment to the lymphatic system by using a lipophilic prodrug approach combined with lipid-based formulation. The project involves design, synthesis, and formulation of highly lipophilic prodrugs as well as multiple in vitro assessments (chylomicron association, solubility in trygliceride media, half-life in different matrixes) and in vivo investigation of pharmacokinetics and biodistribution.

Experience:

Before joining the CDT, I completed my integrated Master’s in Chemistry (MChem) at the University of Manchester, where I graduated in 2020. My final year project involved the synthesis of conformationally responsive BODIPY fluorophores for use in determination of foldamers location in cells.

After I graduated, I joined the CDT in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies at the University of Nottingham. My first rotation project focused on multimodal imaging of drug delivery to brain tumours. Thereafter, I undertook an industrial project at AstraZeneca where I worked on formulation of a poorly soluble drug using polymer surfactants.

Alfredo Smart

University of Nottingham (UoN)

Research:

My PhD project goal is to investigate the application of molecular biology techniques to further understanding of subcellular localisation of delivered RNA therapeutics. This may be useful in more accurately assessing mRNA drug delivery at the cellular level and thus guide the development of mRNA drug delivery formulations.

Experience:

Prior to joining the CDT, I completed a MPharm degree at the University of Nottingham. During my undergraduate degree, I completed a 3-month Erasmus research placement at the Karl-Franzens-Universitaet in Graz, Austria where I investigated computational docking of small ligands in several riboflavin-dependent enzymes.

Branislav Vukovic

University of Nottingham (UoN)

Research

For my first training project at the University of Nottingham I am investigating the effect lipoprotein deficiency on the metabolic profile of paediatric and adult glioblastoma cells.

I am interested in Nano therapies particularly in recent advancements of therapeutics delivered across the blood brain barrier.

Experience:

In 2019 I completed my MPharm degree at Kings College London. I completed a 3-month master’s dissertation project at Pfizer in Kent where the project was titled ‘Rapid determination of intrinsic dissolution rate using controlled suspensions. After my academic training at Kings I worked in a mid-sized Boots pharmacy for my pre-registration year in order to become a qualified pharmacist.

In my personal time I enjoy cycling, Brazilian Jiu jitsu, travelling and spending quality time with friends and family.

Student profiles - 2020 cohort

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