Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
West Cambridge Site
Philippa Fawcett Drive
Cambridge CB3 0AS
Email: hm623[at]cam[dot]ac[dot]uk
Education
Integrated MEng, BEng with Industrial Placement in Chemical Engineering, University of Leeds, 2018.
MRes in Sensor Technologies for a Healthy and Sustainable Future, University of Cambridge, 2020.
Research Interests
Amorphous drugs offer superior biopharmaceutical properties in comparison to their crystalline counterparts. However, due to the higher internal energy, amorphous drugs have an intrinsic drive to convert to the more stable, lower energy crystalline state. As this recrystallisation could occur during production, storage or administration, it is important to maintain physical stability throughout the pharmaceutical shelf life.
Numerous formulation and processes have been proposed to hinder crystallisation, and commonly polymers are incorporated in the form of amorphous solid dispersions for this purpose. They essentially reduce molecular mobility, thus decreasing the driving force for crystallisation and enhancing physical stability.
Predicting crystallisation tendency, understanding the influencing parameters and how they link and their relative degree of influence, remains a considerable challenge. In my work, I use temperature-dependent THz-TDS to understand the role and influence of properties such as molecular flexibility on crystallisation tendency, as well as to investigate drug-polymer interactions for varying polymer loads.