Medicines optimisation PhD | Pharmacy PhD

I am currently part of the supervisory team for the following PhD projects

- Studying in vivo protein-protein interaction involved in colicin’s entry and activity in Escherichia coli cells using in-cell NMR

- Eco-friendly functionalisation of cellulose-based textiles with antimicrobial nanoparticles

I have supervised the following PhD projects to completion as lead or secondary/tertiary supervisor

- Elucidation of mechanisms required for the pathogenesis of Proteus mirabilis in the catheterized urinary tract through large scale random transposon mutagenesis

- Bacteriophages as a potential treatment for Pseudomonas aeruginosa mediated chest infections in cystic fibrosis patients

- Antimicrobial bioadhesive polymer complexes for the oral cavity

I am interested in further projects in the areas of biofilms, antimicrobial nanomaterials, bacteriophage therapy, alternative antimicrobial strategies.

Laura is co-supervising a PhD student, Sarah Becker, studying the effects of psychological stress and glucocorticoid signalling on endometrial cancer.

I am happy to collaborate in projects and supervise post-graduate students in the broad field of medical and pharmaceutical microbiology, with a particular emphasis for projects involving clinically-relevant fungi and involving other healthcare-associated and non-academic industrial partners.

I am interested the in the absorption of drugs and particulates (including air pollution) in the nose and lung and their effect on permeability (cell junctions).  A particular interest is the role of mucus and mucociliary clearance in drug/particulate delivery to the airways. Further, I am interested in the local toxicity of inhaled compounds and I have extended this to studying the health implications of treated water using cell-based assays. I have supervised 11 successful PhD students and five postdoctoral scientists.

Current projects available for supervision include: 

1. The delivery of drugs and particles to the nose and lungs, particularly the use of in vivo-reflective in vitro cell culture models of the airway epithelium (PhD/MRes) https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0939-6411(21)00202-2

2. The role mucus and mucociliary clearance plays in drug and particulate delivery to the nose and lungs. (PhD)

3. Use of powders to deliver drugs to the nasal cavity (PhD/MRes)

4. The role of mucus in biopharmaceutical models of the nose (absorption and biocompatibility) (PhD)

5. The use of high-speed imaging to study the role of mucus on the deposition behaviour of droplets and particles in the nasal cavity (PhD)

6. Determining the impact of ultra-fine particulate air pollution (UFPs) on mucus secretion, ciliary activity and epithelial permeability in the young and ageing lung. Do UFPs accelerate lung ageing? (PhD/MRes)

My supervisory interests are:

• Development of composite electrodes for bioanalytical monitoring;
• Exploring the signalling mechanisms of the bowel and bladder epithelium
• Development of innovative e-learning tools

My  research and supervisory interests cover materials science and nanotechnology (colloids) related subjects. These traverse synthetic inorganic chemistry (PhD - Gennaro Dichello; Dr Penko Nikolov; Dr Krassimir Genov), carbon nanotubes (PhD - Evgeniya Seliverstova), nanoparticle and gel-based drug delivery systems (PhD - Shaimaa Shagarki; PhD- Kais Shaban; PhD - Othman Al-Hanbali; PhD - Atia Naseem), nanoparticle sensor systems (Dr Yunlong Xu; Dr Samaa Salem) nanoparticle food systems (PhD - Carla DiMattia), nanoparticle biophysics systems (PhD - Georgi Georgiev) and specialist analytical techniques (Dr Karl Pavey; Dr David Howbrook). The materials science aspects (physics and engineering) of medical materials and waste have formed the basis of recent work (Dr Charis Nathan). I routinely supervise Post-doctoral study, PhD's, Masters degree students, Erasmus students and industrially-linked researcher project work in the following areas:

• Materials science - materials chemistry, polymer sciences (plastics and bioplastics), materials physics (photonics, plasmonics), mechanics and texture, design and device engineering
• Nanotechnology - novel materials, fullerenes and graphene, micro- and nanoanalytics, sensing and diagnostic systems and applications
• Condensed matter physics - complex fluids, wetting and detergency, dispersions (emulsions, foams, bubbles, droplets, gels), colloids (vesicles, micelles, nanobeads, SLNs), liquid crystals, rheology
• Drug delivery system design - nanoparticle and coarse dispersion based systems
• Sustainability and 3R's approaches (reduce, replace, recycle)
• Materials specifically for food products and medical applications
• Analytical chemistry and the theoretical basis for measurement science - physical sciences
• Recycling and re-assignment of 'waste' materials
• Packaging materials use and design
• Composite materials and civil engineering construction materials
• Environmental pollution and contamination with plastics (microplastics, nanoplastics) and plastic additives in addition to suspended and dissolved organic and inorganic pollutants
• Mathematical modelling and simulation of real-world events 
• Industrial process improvement, quality control and quality assurance

 Status: Approved post-graduate supervisor/examiner from the Brighton Doctoral College: renewed 29/03/2023 Past and present PhD students from 2001PresentSertan Kiziloz (2023- )Optimising host response biology to advance wound dressing efficacy

James Parmar

(2023-)

Encapsulation of Cannabinoids in Nanoparticles for use as Anti-infective Therapeutics

Tianyi Liu (2023-)

Stimuli-responsive 'smart' materials for textiles and other applications [School of Art and Media]

Kinza Tahir (2021-2024)

Commonwealth Scholarship (part undertaken with DKS at Brighton, part undertaken with partner institution Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan): Metal nanoparticles for direct use in improving crop production

Completed PhD's (UK)

Shima Khezri Azizi Far (2020-2025)

Responsive vesicular systems based on incorporated metallic nanoparticles

 Gennaro Dichello (2012-2018)

Targeting of brain tumours with photo-dynamic therapy using liposomes and encapsulated metal nanoparticles

Kais Shaban (2014-2018)Levothyroxine drug stability and formulation in fast-dissolving oral filmsShaimaa Shakargi (2014-2018)Synthesis and therapeutic use of environmentally-sensitive polymeric micelles for drug deliveryCristina Boscariol (2015-2019)The physics of impacting droplets on model solid surfaces Othman Al-Hanbali (2004-2008)A novel assay for block co-polymer non-ionic surfactants used in nanoparticle surface engineering Atia Naseem (2000-2003)Approaches to enhancing the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs 

Completed PhD students at Overseas Institutions

Evgeniya Seliverstova (2011-2014) [Kazakhstan]

Energy transfer mechanisms and the photo-optical effects of fluorophore-conjugated graphene

Carla Di Mattia (2005-2009) [Italy]

Photo-oxidative changes in protein-stabilised olive oil emulsions 

Georgi As. Georgiev (2005-2008) [Bulgaria]

Phase transitions in striated foam films as models of cells membranes

  Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) research project supervisions 2002-2005 - Dr David HowbrookModification of diagnostic plastics: ABgene Technologies (3 years funded project)2002-2005: Anne Van der ValkModification of diagnostic plastics: ABgene Technologies (3 years funded project)

2017-2018: Joshua Fennell

[early termination of project]

Phase change materials: ValetPro (3 years funded project)

2018-2020: Dr Chibi Takaya

[project paused to be ressumed]

Waste re-assignment - absorbent clinical waste: Medisort (3 years funded project)

2019-2020: Emma Hookham

[early termination of project]

Plasma vapour depostion of metallic materials (2 years funded project)

2021-2022: Felicity Boyce

[resumed Medisort project]

Waste re-assignment - absorbent clinical waste: Medisort (3 years funded project) 

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I currently supervise PhD, MSc and undergraduate MPharm students.  The projects that my research students are studying include: investigating the mechanisms through which a common drug used to treat schizophrenia can lead to diabetes, the extent to which a new drug used to treat prostate cancer (enzalutamide) interacts with a drug used to prevent the blood from clotting, using genetics to predict patients that are at a high risk of developing an adverse drug reaction.  I supervise projects where data collection occurs in both the laboratory and the patient facing enviroment.  I am very interested in supervising students studing a range of research topics in both the laboratory, the clinic and using computer simulations, particulalry in the area of ageing, pharmacokietics (the study of how the body deals with drug molecules over time) and pharmacodynamics (how drugs interact with the body), and pharmacogenetics (how our genes influence drug response and disposition). 

My research and supervisory interests primarily lie in the intersection between psychology and medicines use. I am particularly interested in projects that look at factors associated with non-adherence to medication and treatment regimes. I have a particular interest in supervising practitioners who wish to pursue a research path and have been succesfully involved in the supervisory teams of 4 such PhD projects (including 1 as lead supervisor). Other supervisory and research interests include investigtaing the role of positive emotions in health outcomes and assessment of medical and pharmaceutical skills. 

My research is interested in how age-related changes in serotonergic signalling pathways contributes to dementia, age-related motor dysfunction and faecal incontinence. My groups work uses a systems biology approach to study the effects of increased age on the release of serotonin from both central neurons and peripheral enterochromaffin cells and through the use of a range of functional assays explores how these changes link with impairments in learning and memory, motor and bowel function.