Dr Dionysios Douroumis

Dr Dionysius Douroumis obtained his Diploma in Chemistry and PhD from the Department of Pharmacy at Patras University in Greece. He studied the development of electroanalytical techniques for in situ monitoring of drug release from liposomal formulations. He worked as a postdoctorate fellow (2004) at the Friedrich–Schiller University of Jena, Department of Pharmacy, with Professor Alfred Fahr. He studied the development of parenteral formulations of antiepileptic drugs in a post funded by Novartis Pharma, Basel.

After the completion of this project Dr Douroumis worked as a team leader (2005) again with Professor Fahr in the development of nano-liposomal formulations and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by applying photodynamic therapy in a post funded by Biolitec Pharma GmbH. Following this, he worked for Phoqus Pharmaceutical plc as a senior scientist (2005) at the product development department. His main tasks were the development of sustained/pulsatile release formulations, fast disintegrating dosage forms (FDDF) and taste masking of bitter drugs, also focusing on the development of coated coronary stents (Cypher) using a novel electrostatic dry powder deposition technology (EDPDT).

Dr Douroumis joined the School of Sciences at the University of Greenwich in November 2007, gaining a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCert), from the School of Education, University of Greenwich in 2008.

He is a member of the Journal of Nanomedicine and Nanoscience (JNMNT), Omics Publishing Group Editorial Board, and the following societies:

• The Higher Education academy (UK)
• Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS – UK)
• Phospholipid Research Centre (Lipoid, Germany)
• Greek Chemists Association (Greece)

Responsibilities within the university

Course co-ordinator

Pharmaceutical Product Development, Manufacture and Control

Course participation

Drug Design and Delivery
Pharmaceutical Analysis and Testing, Mathematics and Statistics
Pharmaceutics and Formulation

MPhil/PhD supervision

Ichioma Onyesom
Md Jasim Uddin

Research interests

Nanotechnology

• Development of novel drug delivery systems for cancer imaging and treatment (liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, mesoporous silica nanoparticles and conjugated quantum dots).

Hot Melt Extrusion (HME)

• Development of solid dosage forms via HME (solubility enhancement, taste masking – oral disintegrating tablets, ODTs).

Medical Devices

• Drug eluting Stents: Coating using novel polymers, drug loading, drug encapsulation release studies and scale up process
• Microneedles for transdermal delivery.

Presentations

Schafroth, N., Jadhav, U.Y., Makne, S., and Douroumis, D. 2010. Nano and micro particle engineering of poorly soluble drugs via spray – drying. UK-PharmSci 2010, The Science of Medicines, 1–3 September, UK

Douroumis, D. et al. 2010. Engineering of micro and nano particles via spray – drying. Büchi Seminar, King's College London, 29 June 2010, London, UK

Douroumis, D. et al. 2009. Inclusion of water insoluble active molecules in mesoporous silica nanoparticles. 36th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society, 18–22 July 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mhatre, A., Pawar, R., and Douroumis, D. 2009. The application of electrostatic dry powder deposition technology to coat drug-eluting stents. 36th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society, 18–22 July 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark

Group members

Ichioma Onyesom (PhD); Mohamed Maniruzzaman (PhD); Abhidal Patil (MSc); Alberto Azor Lafarga (Erasmus student, Faculty of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid).

Awards

Bhujbal, P., Rajaram, S., Favretto, M.E., and Douroumis, D. 2010: Awarded a commendation for the group's poster Size Tunable Conjugated CdS Quantum Dots with High Photoluminescence Yield. UK-PharmSci 2010, The Science of Medicines, 1–3 September, UK

Consultancy

The Drug Delivery – Engineering and Processing (DDEP) Group undertakes a range of consultancy projects.

Recent publications

Douroumis, D. et al. (in press) Development and evaluation of orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) containing Ibuprofen granules prepared by hot melt extrusion. Colloids and Surfaces.

Douroumis, D. et al. (in press) Assessment of fluidity of different invasomes by electron spin resonance and differential scanning calorimetry. Int. J. Pharm.

Douroumis, D. et al. (2011) In vitro and in silico investigations of drug delivery via zeolite BEA. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 21, pp. 7789

Douroumis, D. (2011) Orally disintegrating dosage forms and taste-masking technologies. Expert Opin. Drug Deliv., 8(5), pp. 665–75.

Douroumis, D., Gryczke, A., and Schminke, S. (2010) Development and evaluation of Cetirizine HCl taste-masked oral disintegrating tablets. AAPS PharmSciTech., 12(1), pp.141–51

Douroumis, D. et al. (2010) Development of solid lipid nanoparticles for enhanced solubility of poorly soluble drugs. Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, 6(6), pp. 634–40

Douroumis, D. et al. (2010) Preparation and characterisation of Ibuprofen solid lipid nanoparticles with enhanced solubility. Journal of Microencapsulation, 28(1), pp. 74–81

Douroumis, D. et al. (2010) A facile synthesis route of size tunable CdS quantum dots with high photoluminescence yield. Journal for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 10: pp. 5885–88

Obonyo, O., Fisher, E., Edwards, M., and Douroumis, D. Quantum dots (Qds) synthesis and biological applications as imaging and drug delivery systems. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, pp. 1–19

Boyapally, H., Nukala, R.K., Bhujbal, P., and Douroumis, D. (2010) Controlled release from directly compressible theophylline buccal tablets. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 77, pp. 227–33.

Douroumis, D. et al. (2010) Inclusion of poorly soluble drugs in highly ordered mesoporous silica nanoparticles. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 387, pp. 272–77.

Douroumis, D. et al. (2010) Application of electrostatic dry powder deposition technology for coating of drug eluting stents. Pharmaceutical Research, 27, pp. 72–81.