Hydrogels: Design, Synthesis and Application in Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine

Hydrogels are crosslinked, macromolecular polymeric materials arranged in a three-dimensional network, which can absorb and retain large amounts of water. Hydrogels are commonly used in clinical practice and experimental medicine for a wide range of applications, including drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, diagnostics, cellular immobilization, separation of biomolecules or cells, and barrier materials to regulate biological adhesions. This book elucidates the underlying concepts and emerging applications of hydrogels and will provide key case studies and critical analysis of the existing research.

Thakur Raghu Raj Singh is Lecturer in Pharmaceutics in the School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast. He has obtained his PhD in Drug Delivery from School of Pharmacy, Queens University Belfast (2009), M.Sc in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University Science Malaysia (2006) and B.Pharm from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India (2002). Dr Singh’s research interest is in the design and physicochemical characterisation of advanced hydrogel-based drug delivery systems for ocular, transdermal and topical applications. In particular, his current research involves fabrication and design of novel long-acting injectable and implantable hydrogel-based drug delivery systems.

Garry Laverty is Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Science and Practice at the School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast. He graduated with a First Class Honours Masters degree (MPHARM) from the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast in 2005. After successful completion of his pre-registration training Garry commenced a PhD in Pharmaceutics related to the activity of peptides against the biofilm forms of medical device related pathogens.

Ryan Donnelly holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology at Queen's University Belfast. His research is centred on design and physicochemical characterisation of advanced polymeric drug delivery systems for transdermal and topical drug delivery with a strong emphasis on improving therapeutic outcomes for patients. His patented bioadhesive patch design was licensed to Swedish Pharma AB, for whom Professor Donnelly now acts as a Technical Director. He is currently pursuing commercialisation of novel microneedle technologies with a number of major international pharma companies.