Developing novel formulations and materials for transmucosal drug delivery

About the Project

Mucosal routes of drug administration offer numerous advantages including ease of application, non-invasive nature and sometimes possibility of targeting particular organs. We are interested in the development of novel dosage forms and materials for transmucosal routes of drug delivery. Areas of interest include drug delivery to the eye, nose, oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract, urinary bladder, vagina and rectum. In a typical project we look at the use of chemical modification of existing pharmaceutical polymers to enhance their properties and we design new polymeric materials in the form of soluble polymers, nano- and microparticles, hydrogels, in situ gelling systems or simple tablets. The project may involve the use of different instrumental techniques including different spectroscopies, thermal analysis, chromatographic techniques, mechanical and texture analysis, electron and fluorescent microscopy and work with freshly excised animal mucosal tissues.

You will join successful multidisciplinary group of researchers led by Prof Vitaliy Khutoryanskiy, who received 2020 PhD supervisor of the Year Award (FindAPhD, 2020). This group will provide lots of training and career opportunities. See our web site https://www.reading.ac.uk/pharmacy/about/staff/v-khutoryanskiy.aspx,

YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Khutoryanskiyresearchgroup/videos and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vk_group_rsop

Funding Notes

We welcome applications from self-funded students worldwide for this project.

Eligibility:

Applicants should hold (or expect to gain) a minimum of a 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical sciences, pharmacology, or related disciplines.

References

Our recent publications in this area:

1. Ta L.P., Bujna E., Kun S., Charalampopoulos D., Khutoryanskiy V.V.* Electrosprayed mucoadhesive alginate-chitosan microcapsules for gastrointestinal delivery of probiotics, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 597, 120342 (2021)
2. Abilova G.K., Kaldybekov D.B., Irmukhametova G.S., Kazybayeva D.S., Iskakbayeva Zh.A., Kudaibergenov S.E., Khutoryanskiy V.V.* Сhitosan/poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) films with ciprofloxacin for application in vaginal drug delivery, Materials, 13, 1709 (2020)
3. Agibayeva L.E., Kaldybekov D.B., Porfiryeva N.N., Garipova V.R., Mangazbayeva R.A., Moustafine R.I., Semina I.I., Mun G.A., Kudaibergenov S.E., Khutoryanskiy V.V.* Gellan gum and its methacrylated derivatives as in situ gelling mucoadhesive formulations of pilocarpine: in vitro and in vivo studies, Int. J. Pharm., 577, 119093 (2020)
4. Kaldybekov D.B., Filippov S.K., Radulescu A., Khutoryanskiy V.V.* Maleimide-functionalised PLGA-PEG nanoparticles as mucoadhesive carriers for intravesical drug delivery, Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm., 143, 24-34 (2019)
5. Abilova G.K., Kaldybekov D.B., Ozhmukhametova E.K., Saimova A.Zh., Kazybayeva D.S., Irmukhametova G.S., Khutoryanskiy V.V.* Chitosan/poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) films for ocular drug delivery: formulation, miscibility, in vitro and in vivo studies, Eur. Polym. J., 116, 311-320 (2019)
6. Porfiryeva N.N., Nasibullin S.F., Abdullina S.G., Tukhbatullina I.K., Moustafine R.I.*, Khutoryanskiy V.V.* Acrylated Eudragit® EPO as a novel polymeric excipient with enhanced mucoadhesive properties for application in nasal drug delivery, Int. J. Pharm., 562, 241–248 (2019)