Principal Investigator
Dr Mo Maniruzzaman is the Bauerle Centennial Professorship Fellow and an Assistant Professor in Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the Founding Director and Head of PharmE3D Lab. Prior to this, he was a Lecturer in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at the University of Sussex, UK. He studied and obtained a B.Sc Hon’s from University of Greenwich, UK with first class in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2009. In the same year, he was awarded a prestigious ORSAS bursary followed by the University bursary to pursue a PhD in formulations of oral solid dosage forms and process engineering at the University of Greenwich. Dr Maniruzzaman obtained a PhD with no corrections (000422158 RDC/12/M-3/14.8) with two accompanying awards including the Vice Chancellor’s Award in 2013 for the outstanding performance in his doctoral research. He is a pharmaceutical scientist member (SRPharmS) of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, UK and served as Chair of UoG-AAPS Chapter. The Maniruzzaman Lab has received more than 20 prestigious awards and scholarships for the outstanding academic/scholarly work including USP’s Next Generation Scientists Program Fellowship 2022 (Ishaan Duggal), Emerging Leaders in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences (2022), Pharmaceutical Research, Emerging Voices in Drug Delivery (2022), Winning Contributor for Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, the 2021 NIPTE Rising Star Scholarship Award, Texas Global FRSG 2021, Research Reboot 2021, IPEC Foundation Graduate Student Award 2021 (Rishi Thakkar), 2021 NIPTE Outstanding Student Researcher Award (Rishi Thakkar), MDPI Pharmaceutics SI Best Paper Award 2020, Reseath4Impact 2020, and the STARs Award 2019. Dr Maniruzzaman has extensive research experience in pharmaceutical engineering, advanced drug delivery, and additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing/bioprinting). This is reflected by authorship of more than 84 published papers (in ACS, Elsevier, RSC, and AAPS Q1 journals), 20 issued patents and patent applications, 3 books, 14 book chapters, and more than 40 conference presentations. The PharmE3D Lab led Dr Maniruzzaman has invented various proprietary technologies such as DosePlus, CoM3D, CoMIDEx, SPEED, SMART, MAGiC, and MeET some of which have already been licensed to multiple pharmaceutical companies such as CoM3D Limited. He has secured federal and non-federal (foundation, industrial) funding including the R01 from NIH/FDA for vaccine technology, 3D printed pharmaceutical dosage forms (i.e. tablets, capsules), medical devices (i.e. implants, hybrid bandage), particles fabrication technologies with a grant value of >$4.2 million since joining UT Austin in 2019 with three major federal & non-federal grants pending (grant value ~$5 million). In addition to sitting on ‘Editorial Board’ of more than 5 internationally recognized pharmaceutical sciences journals such as Heliyon – Pharmaceutical Science, Pharmacology and Toxicology Section, AAPS PharmSciTech, Current Drug Delivery, Heliyon, Legume Science, he has recently edited various special issues, “Continuous Manufacturing and Process Analytical Tools” in International Journal of Pharmaceutics with another two in Drug Delivery and Translational Research and Pharmaceutics, respectively.
Research Assistant Professor/Research Fellow(s)
Dr. Jaidev Chakka received his Ph.D. in Nanomedicine in September 2015 from SASTRA University, India. He worked on developing dual drug delivery theranostic nanoparticles for the treatment of Pancreatic Cancer. He joined as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, India, worked on 3D printed and porous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Later he moved to College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa, and worked as a postdoc on the development of novel non-viral gene delivery vehicle-loaded scaffolds for ex vivo and in vivo testing (in rats) for bone regeneration. He is interested in the 3D printing of long-acting medical implants, biomaterials, and characterization of the delivery devices for personalized medicine.
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Dr. Santosh Bashyal (joining Jan 2022) graduated with a Ph.D. in Pharmacy in February 2021 from Keimyung University, South Korea with an Excellent Ph.D. Dissertation Chancellor Award. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the same institution. He was involved in the development of cutting-edge investigations in drug delivery, including oral, buccal, and transdermal delivery of therapeutic proteins/peptides. He is interested in constructing smart translatable drug delivery systems utilizing formulation approaches and 3D/4D printing engineering technology for the oral and transdermal delivery of therapeutic biologics to address unmet clinical needs.
Dr. Faez Alkadi (joining Jan 2022) has received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Akron, Ohio, USA in May 2019. During his PhD, he worked on the development of a process to directly 3D print soft electronics on non-planar surfaces using non-conventional materials. Dr. Alkadi is interested in investigating all aspects of building robust functional products such as choosing the right 3D printing process for the desired application, testing materials printability, setting printing parameters for each material and testing the functionality of the final product.
Niloofar received her PhD in Materials Science Engineering and Commercialization from Texas State University in 2020. Her research was focused on the development of biocompatible nanomaterials for cancer therapy. She is interested in research in the fields of nanomedicine, nanobiotechnology, biosensors, biomaterials, polymer science and engineering.
Dr. Karen (Yu) Zhang received her Ph.D. degree in 2018 at chemical and biological engineering from University of Sheffield. She subsequently worked as postdoctoral associate on ink formulation for printing of security features at University of Liverpool for one year. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at University of Texas at Austin (from September 2019). Her research interest is focused on 3D / 2D printing of bio-materials for medical applications.
Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellows (Fulbright Scholars)
Baher’s academic research and teaching experiences have been earned from working as an assistant professor of pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy at faculty of pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt, and as a visiting research scholar at pharmaceutical technology department, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), USA. I obtained my B.Pharm. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, with Highest Honors and Distinction (93.56% – Ranked 1st) from faculty of pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt. My master’s degree in pharmaceutics, from Cairo university, focused on nanocarriers as topical drug delivery systems. The practical work of my Ph.D. of pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy was performed at UTHSC, USA, and the degree was obtained from Cairo University, Egypt.
Abdelrahman Helmy received his PhD in Pharmaceutics in August 2017 from Assiut University, Egypt. His PhD research focused on the development of colon targeted drug delivery systems. Since 2017, he has been working as an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics at Deraya University, Minya, Egypt. Also, he served as a Research Fellow at the Drug Research Center at Assiut University, Asyut, Egypt. In addition to his academic background, he has extended experience in the pharmaceutical industries, namely, in the R&D and QC departments. Dr Helmy is interested in exploring the 3D printing technique and some aspects of biomedical engineering in targeted drug delivery.
PhD Students
Ilham (joining Fall 2022) is a former solid-state/pre-formulation drug scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific. He is a subject-matter expert in laser diffraction (particle sizing), trained in GMP, and a qualified subject matter expert (QSME) trainer. Previously, he earned a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Washington along with co-authoring three papers (one in Nature), one presentation, and one US patent. His PhD projects are mainly around pharmaceutical co-crystals and particle engineering, 3D printing, and continuous granulation; utilizing various proprietary technologies developed in the Pharm3ED Lab.
Prajwal Thool is currently working as a Sr Scientific Researcher in the Small Molecule Pharmaceutics (SMP) group at Genentech Inc. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from Nagpur University, India and a M.S. Degree in Industrial and Physical Pharmacy from St. John’s University, Queens, NY. His research areas are focused on the development of pediatric dosage forms for oral administration, development of new technologies to advance small molecule pipeline assets, evaluation of bulk powder behaviors, i.e., powder flow, caking, segregation, etc. He wishes to work in the areas of: 3D-printing, oral delivery of Engineered Bacteria, and oral delivery of large molecules to name a few. When not working, he likes to explore the wilderness with like minded friends, enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, and photography.
Alaa Yaser Darwesh is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Maniruzzaman Lab. She obtained her master’s degree in Pharmaceutics Science in December 2020 from Mansoura University, Egypt. She was granted Mansoura University Incentives for scientific dissemination in 2021 and 2022 for publishing papers extracted from her master thesis in Q1 and Q2 ranked journals, respectively. She was awarded the Egyptian Government Scholarship to study her Ph.D. program at The University of Texas at Austin. Throughout the years in her master’s degree, she was able to gain excellent experience in preparing targeted nanoparticles and different types of nanofibers (buccal and colon-targeted nanofibers). She has great interests in the field of nano-drug delivery and investigation and the application of 3D printing techniques for pharmaceutical engineering.
Hala studied in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Egypt and received her master’s degree in Industrial Pharmacy. She was awarded the Egyptian Government Scholarship to study her Ph.D. program at The University of Texas at Austin in 2022. Her research interests include 3D printing of personalised medicines and drug delivery. One of her favourite hobbies is walking and enjoying the scenery and she enjoys travelling.
Bhupendra graduated with an M.Sc. in pharmacy from Kyungpook National University, South Korea in 2020, and obtained his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Kathmandu University, Nepal in 2016. While a master’s student, he was the recipient of the best thesis award, travel grant award-Japan, KNU international graduate scholarship and the best poster presentation award. His research interests include 3D printing technology for patient-centric medicines and targeted drug delivery, continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and application of QbD/PAT tools for product/process optimization. Along with the academic duties, he divides his time with sports, movies and professional clubs.
Ishaan is a first year graduate student in the Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to this, Ishaan completed his master’s in Pharmaceutics and Drug Design from the University of Minnesota where he was inducted into the Rho Chi Honor Society. Ishaan also held a number of important leadership positions during his time at UMN. His research interests include additive manufacturing of solid oral dosage forms and smart bio-materials.
Vineet graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from University of Mumbai in India and received his Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He was also recognized with the ‘M.S. Scholarly Excellence Award’ which is given to a student based on excellence in research and scholarship, and academic performance. His works at UT Austin involve developing a process and technology for faster and efficient manufacturing of novel drug delivery systems.
Anqi is a first-year PhD student who will join Maniruzzaman Group in Fall 2020. She has received her Bachelor’s degree of Pharmaceutical Analysis from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, China, and obtained her Masters’ degree in Pharmaceutics from University of Minnesota. Her current research project at UT Austin is focused on 3D printable oral formulations and process optimisation.
Amit graduated from Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences with a bachelor’s degree and obtained his master’s degree at the University of Mississippi. During his time at Ole Miss, he pursued research aimed at finding innovative solutions to enhance the efficacy of and overcome problems related to targeted drug delivery systems. Amit received various awards for his outstanding performance at Ole Miss (Phi Kappa Pi, Gamma Beta Pi, Golden Key, 3MT thesis competition etc.). His current research at the University of Texas at Austin is on 3D bio-printing and smart bio-materials.
Jiawei graduated from Sichuan University, China with a Bachelor Degree in Pharmacy followed by Bachelor in Literature. She has completed her M.Sc in Pharmaceutics from the University of Minnesota, USA. Jiawei was also awarded various awards for her academic achievements. Her current research at UT Austin, involves advanced drug delivery and additive manufacturing for the development of novel drug delivery systems.
PharmD/PhD Research Students/UG Research Students
Amaka Epoh is a current P2 Pharm D. student at the University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy. She has her Bachelors in Microbiology with a minor in Biochemistry from University of Nigeria. Amaka also currently serves as an ambassador for the College of pharmacy.
Johana Suh is a 2nd year Pharm D. student at The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy. She finished her undergraduate studies at The University of Texas at Austin as well. She is currently interested in learning about how bioprinting can help improve the ways of pharmaceutical therapy.
Reagan is a current PharmD student here at The University of Texas at Austin. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry in May 2020 from SUNY Brockport. While remaining actively involved in various student organizations within the College of Pharmacy, Reagan is interested in broadening her knowledge in pharmaceutics and drug delivery, as this area of research will provide her the opportunity to utilize her formal medical knowledge in an innovative way . She plans to pursue the research honors program, and potentially a Ph.D.
Kristina Rodrigues is a second year Pharm D. student as well as a pharmacy ambassador at The University of Texas, College of Pharmacy. She previously attained her undergraduate degree in Biology with a Pre-Health certificate from UT Austin. Her current interests include nanoparticle technology and 3D bioprinting, and she is hoping to venture into a career in the pharmaceutical industry to explore innovative drug delivery systems.
Aisha is a P2 student at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with her Bachelors of Science and Arts in Biology with Honors. Aisha is interested in a career at the intersection of biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry. She also enjoys spending time outdoors, as well as with her friends and family.
Alfredo is a second-year undergraduate chemical engineering student at UT with an interest in applying chemical engineering into innovative biotechnology. Apart from his interest in chemical and technological research, Alfredo is involved in organizations on campus and loves playing intramural sports throughout the year.”
Joon is a second-year undergraduate chemical engineering as well as biochemistry student, who has special interest in pharmacy and application of chemical engineering to medicinal applications. He is a recipient of URF 2020 Fellowship to work in the area of 4D printing of medical devices.
Chris is a 2nd year student in the Pharm.D program at the University of Texas College of Pharmacy, and also obtained his Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health from the University of Texas at Austin. Apart from his interests in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry and involvement with different organizations at the college, he enjoys reading, listening to new music, and keeping up with the NBA.
Visiting Scholars
Prof. Banerjee is a SERB International Research Experience (SIRE) Fellow for the year 2022-2023 on the project entitled “Responsive Self-folding Feedstock for Pharmaceutical 4D Printing Applications” supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. He is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)-Guwahati, India.
Muhammad Abdur Rahim, Ph.D. (joining Spring 2022) is undertaking research work in the field of Pharmaceutics at PharmE3D Lab, UT Austin under the HEC International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) fellowship award 2021. He studied and obtained his PhD under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Muhammad Asadullah Madni (department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, IUB). Mr. Muhammad Abdur Rahim has been seeking expertise in the field of Pharmaceutics with specialty in biomaterials, vesicular drug delivery systems, stimuli responsive drug delivery systems for cancer chemotherapy and novel nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems for various Pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.
Previous Lab Members
- Dr Rishi Thakkar, PhD student: 2019-2022 (current position: Senior Scientist I, AbbVie)
- Dr Jiaxiang Zhang, Postdoc: 2019-2021 (current position: Scientist, Ocean University of China)
- Dr Deck Tan, PhD student: 2017-2021 (current position: Postdoc, De Montfort University, UK)
- Dr Kejing Shi, PhD student: 2017-2021 (current position: Healthcare Scientist, NHS UK)
- Dr Yan Wu, PhD student: 2017-2022 (current position: Postdoc, University of Southampton, UK)
- Aakib Radhanpuri, Research engineer: 2020-2021 (current position: Mechanical Engineer)
- Mahmoud Hanafy, GRA: 2020 (current position: PhD student, College of Pharmacy, UT Austin)
- Dr Shafi Arifuzzaman, Visiting faculty: 2020-2021 (current position: Staff Engineer, Lam Research)
- Bhavana Dokka, UG researcher: 2020-2021
- Andrew Do, UG researcher: 2021
- Aneela Manzoor, Visiting fellow: 2021-2022
- Maarij khan, Visiting fellow (HEC): 2022