Rate My Professor Arlene McDowell

Professor Arlene McDowell serves as Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Otago, part of the Faculty of Health Professional Programmes within the Division of Health Sciences. She holds qualifications including an MSc, PhD, and BSc (Hons) from the University of Melbourne's Department of Botany in 1994. Her academic career includes roles such as supervisor for multiple Doctor of Philosophy theses on topics including preparation and evaluation of oral nanoformulations containing antioxidant rutin, designing oligoarginine-associated PECA nanoparticles for enhanced cellular uptake, and development of nanofibres for local delivery of neuroactive compounds. She is recognized for her contributions to pharmaceutical sciences, particularly in the development of nanomedicines and drug delivery systems.

Arlene McDowell's research specializations encompass veterinary pharmaceutics and delivery of bioactives, drug delivery for veterinary species including applications of pharmaceutical formulations for wildlife, and assessment and formulation of antioxidant phytochemicals. Her current projects involve polymeric nanoparticles for delivery of peptides and proteins, oral delivery of biocontrol agents to the brushtail possum, in vivo evaluation of formulations, delivery of anesthetics to laboratory animals, and pre-formulation of antioxidant phytochemicals. She leads Nanomedicine and Diagnostics in the Centre for Bioengineering & Nanomedicine at the University of Otago. Key publications include 'Arginine-tagging of polymeric nanoparticles via histidine to improve cellular uptake' (Chiu, J. Z. S., Tucker, I. G., McLeod, B. J., & McDowell, A., 2015, European Journal of Pharmaceutics & Biopharmaceutics); 'Application of an online post-column derivatization HPLC-DPPH assay to detect compounds responsible for antioxidant activity in Sonchus oleraceus L. leaf extracts' (Ou, Z.-Q., Schmierer, D. M., Rades, T., Larsen, L., & McDowell, A., 2013, Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacology); 'Release and bioactivity of PACA nanoparticles containing D-Lys6-GnRH for brushtail possum fertility control' (Kafka, A. P., McLeod, B. J., Rades, T., & McDowell, A., 2011, Journal of Controlled Release); and 'Evaluation of vibrational spectroscopic methods to identify and quantify multiple adulterants in herbal medicines' (Rooney, J. S., McDowell, A., Strachan, C. J., & Gordon, K. C., 2015, Talanta). Her work appears in high-impact journals such as Carbohydrate Polymers, Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, and International Journal of Pharmaceutics, reflecting her influence in nanomedicine and pharmaceutics. She is affiliated with the D4 Network and the Research Infrastructure Centre.