Hydrogels in Drug Delivery: Advances in the Manufacture, Characterization, and Application of Hydrogels to Address Current Global Healthcare Challenges

About

Dr Alejandro J. Paredes is a Pharmacist by training (2011) and holds a PhD (2016) both degrees from the National University of Córdoba Argentina. Dr Paredes made pre- and post-doctoral visits to laboratories in Cuba Uruguay Spain and Italy and worked as a Research Fellow at Queens University Belfast (QUB UK). In January 2021 Dr Paredes took up a Lectureship (Assistant Professor) at QUB and was promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in April 2023. At QUB he leads a group focused on controlled and targeted drug delivery using nanocrystals. He obtained a PGCHET in 2022 and teaches Pharmaceutical Sciences in multiple modules for the BSc MPharm and MSc programs at QUB. Alejandro is a named inventor in two patents and has authored >140 publications including 54 research papers 10 review articles 2 book chapters 2 textbooks and >70 conference presentations. Dr Paredes has obtained >£3.4M of funding for his research with prestigious grants as PI from EPSRC the Academy of Medical Sciences the Royal Society and Applied Microbiology International. Dr Paredes obtained the Emerging Scientist Award 2024 from the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS UK) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and CICOPS (Italy). Alejandro is an active member of the APS Controlled Release Society American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Applied Microbiology International and British Society for Nanomedicine. Moreover he is a member of the Early Career Editorial Board of Materials Today Bio the Advisory Board of AAPS PharmSciTech and an Associate Editor of Drug Delivery and Translational Research. Prof. Eneko Larrañeta holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Materials Science at the School of Pharmacy Queen's University Belfast specialising in drug delivery systems and biomaterials. He earned a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Navarra where his research centred on self-assembled hydrogels. After completing his PhD in 2012 Prof. Larrañeta worked as a research fellow in nanotechnology for drug delivery before joining Queen's University Belfast in 2013 to advance microneedle technology for transdermal drug delivery. His expertise spans hydrogels nano/microparticles and microneedle-based systems. Currently his research focuses on implantable systems for sustained drug release utilising techniques like melt processing and additive manufacturing. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers edited multiple books and contributed numerous book chapters. Prof. Larrañeta has secured funding from leading organisations and collaborated widely with pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies. He has been named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher and recognised among the top 2% of scientists in his field by Stanford Universitys analysis using Scopus data. He is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society for Applied Microbiology. Dr Garry Laverty is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy Queen's University Belfast. His Biofunctional Nanomaterials group develop self-assembling hydrogel platforms for biomedical applications based on peptide and their unnatural variants (peptide-mimetics). These have huge potential within the fields of drug delivery and biomaterials with the group's focus primarily on the development of sustained release systems (in situ forming injectable hydrogel depots) primarily for use in HIV/AIDs prevention combined with contraception. This system is also showing promise for use in conditions with medication adherence and drug delivery issues e.g. ocular use cancer tuberculosis malaria antipsychotics. Garry's work is funded by £1.5 million of competitive research funding from sources including: the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) the Medical Research Council (MRC) the Wellcome Trust the Royal Society Innovate UK and Invest NI. He has authored 53 publications relating to peptide materials and drug delivery. He also holds an interest in the application of neutron scattering techniques to define the microscopic properties of hydrogels having been awarded substantial beam time by Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL Grenoble) and UKRI Science Technology Facilities Council ISIS Neutron and Muon Source facilities. Professor Ryan Donnelly holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology at the School of Pharmacy Queens University Belfast where he is Director of Research. A registered pharmacist his research is centred on design and characterisation of advanced polymeric drug delivery systems for transdermal and intradermal drug delivery with a strong emphasis on improving patient outcomes. He is currently developing a range of novel microneedle technologies through independent research but also in collaboration with several major pharmaceutical companies. His work has attracted more than £30 million in funding and he has authored over 1000 peer-reviewed publications including 11 patent applications 7 textbooks 28 book chapters and approximately 360 full papers. He leads a personal research group of approximately 50 people from 15 different countries and has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences. Professor Donnelly is Europe/Africa Editor of Drug Delivery & Translational Research. He has won the International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology (APV) Research Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Pharmaceutical Sciences (2024) the Royal Pharmaceutical Societys Harrison Medal (2024) the Kydonieus Foundation Transdermal Delivery Award (2024) the European Journal of Pharmaceutics & Biopharmaceutics Most Cited Paper Award (2023) the Drug Delivery & Translational Research Best Paper Award (2023) Visit Belfasts Ambassador Award for Life & Health Sciences (2022) the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences Innovative Science Award (2020) Evoniks Resomer Award (2018) the Controlled Release Societys Young Investigator Award (2016) BBSRC Innovator of the Year (2013) the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Pharmaceutical Research Meritorious Manuscript Award (2013 & 2022) the GSK Emerging Scientist Award (2012) the Royal Pharmaceutical Societys Science Award (2011) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Irelands Gold Medal (1999).