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Meet Our Current Fellows

Milad Asgarpour

Current Fellow

Milad Asgarpour

Current Fellow

PROJECT TITLE & ACRONYM: Multiscale predictive model for continuous pharmaceutical co-crystal formation via twinscrew granulator (CoCrym)

The way we collectively communicate, set rules, settle down and so on is a complex pattern which leads us toward a good or bad future/society. The same thing is happening for molecules. In order to motivate molecules to move toward our goals, i.e. improved quality of medicines, we need to understand the way they talk to each other and their tendency and behaviour when they are in a group (as mixtures).

As human-beings, we seek out people who match and complement us; in a way, the same thing happens to molecules. They approach or avoid each other. Also, we tend to join or leave groups, clubs and make our subcultures like teenagers or adults with different interests and goals. This also happens to molecules as well, they gather around themselves and grow (nucleation, agglomerations, etc.), or leave (breakage, dissolution, etc.) and so on. I am trying to investigate these behaviours for pharmaceutical molecules so that we can improve the quality of medicines!

Milad is a graduate of University of Tehran in Chemical Engineering (B.Sc. & M.Sc.). He then moved to Beijing to work with Prof. Carlos Andrea Palma in Institute of Physics at Chinese Academic of Sciences. In Hong Kong, he joined School of Energy and Environment in CityU and then moved to Moscow to collaborate with SkolTech multiscale modelling group. Milad, in Oct 2018, visited Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Dusseldorf, Germany. He joined University of Limerick as a PROCESS fellow in Oct 2019 to work with Prof. Gavin Walker.

Dr Vijith Kumar

Current Fellow

Dr Vijith Kumar

Current Fellow

PROJECT TITLE & ACRONYM: Chalcogen and Halogen Bonding for the Synthesis of Multi-component Pharmaceutical Materials: Crystal Engineering to Formulation (MULTI-xTAL)

Vijith earned a Master's degree in Analytical Chemistry from Mangalore University. After working for a short time in pharmaceutical industry he moved to Indian institute of Science, Bangalore and worked as a research fellow with Professor T. N Guru Row from 2012-2013 in the area of chemical crystallography and materials design. In 2017, he obtained a PhD degree for the study of Halogen and hydrogen bond based crystal engineering from Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, under the supervision of Professor Giuseppe Resnati. During his doctoral studies, he worked three months as visiting researcher with Professor Makoto Fujita at University of Tokyo, Japan. Soon after PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the same University with Professor Pierangelo Metrangolo for a year (2017-2018) in the area of halogen bond mediated macromolecular self-assembly. Later, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor David L. Bryce at University of Ottawa, Canada (2018-2019) in the scope of solid-state NMR spectroscopy to probe the noncovalent interactions.

His current research at Professor Mike Zawarorko’s group focuses on the design and development of new multi-component pharmaceutical materials based on the crystal engineering principles to address the issue of poor (bio) pharmaceutical properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

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Dr Mahdi Ghadiri

Current Fellow

Dr Mahdi Ghadiri

Current Fellow

PROJECT TITLE & ACRONYM: Flow chemistry for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing (FLOWRE)

Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges facing pharma industry is inefficient manufacturing. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry wastes around $50 billion a year. An appropriate solution to resolve the problem is development of continuous pharmaceutical manufacture. FLOWRE will work toward addressing development of a novel continuous drug synthesis.

Mahdi is a Chemical and Biochemical engineer with BEng degree in Chemical Engineering, MEng degree in Chemical Engineering, separation processes (solvent extraction and CFD simulation of membrane processes), and PhD in development a quantification method to measure metal recovery in bioprocess using X-ray µCT. He worked for two years as a research assistant on modelling and simulation of membrane separation processes. His previous work has refined his technical skills, particularly, analytical techniques, and good practices regarding bioprocess, solvent extraction and (bio)leaching of metal ions, modelling and simulation of separation processes. Madhi holds profound knowledge in chemical and biochemical engineering technologies and sciences such as kinetics and reaction engineering, transport phenomena and especially separation processes. His work is particularly interested in process engineering that embraces various biochemical and chemical engineering subjects and utilizes experimental work, modelling, design and calculation procedures.

Dr Thanusha A.V.

Current Fellow

Dr Thanusha A.V.

Current Fellow

PROJECT TITLE & ACRONYM: Construction of 3D electro conductive nerve for the application of nerve damage (NervRgn)

The complex collection of nerves and neurons that transmit signals between different parts of the body is mainly coordinated by the nervous system. Due to the fragile nature of nerves, peripheral nerve regeneration is an important area of research, as damage can occur by various mechanisms. These include disease, stretching, traumatic injuries or pressure to the protective lining of the nerve. In the United States of America alone, more than 200,000 nerve repair procedures are performed each year. Typically, current nerve repair technologies rely on grafting which has the advantage of closely mimicking the nerve characteristic. However, they also come with a major limitation or drawback on graft size, geometry, and potential averse immune response. The National Institute of Health of the United States of America strongly recommends the need for a new approach and materials for nerve regeneration (Castro & Hutmacher, 2018). This has motivated alternative nerve repair strategies, with neural tissue engineering (NTE) an essential strategic technique. The overarching goal of the present proposal (NervRgn) is to develop 3D printable functional materials for nerve regeneration.