In this project, the interest is in understanding how active ingredients (whether a drug or a nutraceutical molecule) can be loaded in a gel-like capsule or in some similar platform (like a bead or a tablet), in a controlled manner. 

The objective is to achieve controlled release of the active molecule from the capsule and from other substrates of interest, so as to maximize their concentration in the body.

It is an application oriented project, to be funded by a company. The final outcome would be to understand the physicochemical mechanism of balanced uptake versus release of drug or nutraceutical molecules of interest, whether in disease management or in healthy or beneficial supplements.

It is an experimental project, to be done in collaboration with company personnel and an interdisciplinary team of students in our research group. The PhD student can also learn and develope protocols of in-vitro and in-vivo assays and biostatistical tools to further develope and optimize existing formulations.

Either chemicall engineering or life sciences background students can work on different aspects of this project, based on their interest and aptitude, as it is an interdisciplinary problem, which has a large stake in formulating various biochemical and biomedical products of soft gel-like substances, providing either pharmaceutical actives or health and food supplements.