Romina Pezzoli

Romina is a Materials Engineer Specialising in Polymers and is currently undertaking a PhD focusing on Amorphous Solids and Composites with emphasis on:
- Development of Novel Amorphous Solid Dispersions to improve the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs through the use of hydrophilic polymers as carriers.
- Evaluation of the effect of the manufacturing method over the stability and phase behaviour of the solid dispersions.
Andrew Healy

Andrew holds a BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Science from AIT and is currently undertaking a research masters in the area of polymers and nanocomposites with his project entitled:
Development of a novel bioresorbable nanocomposite for use in implantable medical devices
- The project aims to develop a novel bioresorbable nanocomposite polymer based material which will have inherent characteristics that make it suitable as an implantable medical device.
- It also looks at utilising an additive manufacturing technique, fused deposition modeling (FDM), as a method of implant fabrication.
Evert Fuenmayor

Dean Hurley

* Developing a more rigorous understanding of the mechanism of amorphous phase stabilisation and to better control the properties (e.g., miscibility, Tg, stability) of BCS class II compounds in formulations.
* Researching the physical stabilisation of the amorphous form of drugs in solid dispersions as a function of: (1) drug polymer miscibility (2) system thermodynamics and Tg, (3) intermolecular drug–polymer interactions in solid dispersions.
* Creating a predictive design space for solid dispersions within HME and spray drying processing, rather than relying on empirical approaches that are still prevalent in industry.
* Evaluating differences in outcomes between spray drying and HME processes in terms of solid dispersion physical stability under the following; “processability”, powder flow, agglomeration and compression.
Shane Halligan

Melt Processed Smart Polymer Composite Drug Delivery Systems
- Utilising hydrophyllic polymers as a means of enhancing the solubility of poorly water soluble drugs.