Electrochemical and Scanning Probe Studies of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Release from Polymer-Coated Multiparticulate Oral Dosage Forms

PhD Student at the Warwick Electrochemistry and Interfaces Group of the Chemistry Department, under the supervision of Prof. Patrick R. Unwin, in collaboration with industrial partners Pfizer and AstraZeneca. This research involves investigating the release profile of the electrochemically active drug acetaminophen to determine the breakdown of a reverse enteric polymer coating - the Kollicoat® Smartseal 30 D. The properties of this polymer makes it an effective taste masker of drugs and acts as a moisture barrier. This is particularly useful for pharmaceutical products which have a high drug loading content as well as for paediatric and geriatric patients.

Skills and techniques employed:

• Experimental
  • Electrochemistry
  • Optical Microscopy
  • Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
  • Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
  • Electrochemical Imaging - Scanning Ion-Conductance Microscopy (SICM)

  • Dynamic Mechanical Analysis on polymers (DMA)

  • Chromatography techniques (GC & HPLC)
  • Pharmaceutical & polymer formulations
• Computational/Theoretical
  • Mathematical modelling in Matlab and statistical analysis in R and Minitab™
  • Imaging software ImageJ, SPIP™, ChemDraw, and Adobe Illustrator
  • Data analysis, image analysis and statistical analysis

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Academic Qualifications

MSc Molecular Analytical Science, Distinction
MAS CDT, University of Warwick, 2015-2016

BSc (Hons) in Medicinal Chemistry, 2:1
University of Surrey, 2010-2014

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Previous Research Projects

1) Experimental Industrial project with Pfizer - Determination of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Release Mechanism of Tablet and Multi-Particulate Formulations during In-Vitro/In-Vivo Dissolution of Oral Medication.

2) Computational / Theoretical Industrial Project with AstraZeneca - Statistical Data Analysis for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing from a Continuous Twin Screw Granulator.

University of Surrey, BSc Dissertation Research:
The analysis of trace elements in foodstuffs, with a particular focus on arsenic in Argentinian rice and fluoride content in various types of tea across the globe and their effects on human health.

University of Surrey and Grace GmbH & Co.KG, Worms, Germany, Industrial Placement Project:
The project was to determine a safer way to digest catalysts in order to be analysed by the use of ICP-OES and thereby eliminating the use of hydrofluoric acid in the digestion process. Statistics was used to analyse and compare the two methods of digestion, using the Minitab^TM Statistical Software.

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Interests

• Student-Staff Liaison Committee Representative (SSLC Rep) for the PhD students of the MAS CDT in the Chemistry Faculty as of November 2016.
• Active member of Warwick Sport and Warwick Indian Classical Dance Society.