Dr Amr ElShaer

Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education
Department of Pharmacy
School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry
Penrhyn Road

Associate Professor in Pharmaceutics

[email protected]

About

My research and academic career started by pursuing an MSc in Pharmaceutics at Aston University in 2009. After finishing with distinction, I was offered a PhD scholarship (under the supervision of Professor Afzal Mohammed) in the area of Molecular Pharmaceutics.

Afterwards, I joined Redx Pharmaceuticals as DMPK Scientist then joined Kingston University as a lecturer in 2013.

At Kingston, I run multidisciplinary projects to explore the synthesis and manufacture of smart polymers to sense the glucose concentrations in blood and release the drug according to the diabetic patient need. My team also evaluates the use of contact lenses to deliver ophthalmic drugs.

I am also interested in exploring the potential application of 3D printing in designing bespoke and personalised pharmaceutical formulations. I am a senior Fellow of the HEA and active reviewer of pharmaceutics journals including: Nature Scientific reports, RSC Advances, and BioMed Research International. I acted as an external examiner for a number of UK and overseas PhD students.

Currently I am acting as the Chair of the Pharmacy Fitness to Practise Committee, serve as MPharm admission tutor and sit on the University Board of Governors and Senate. In 2015, I got a Santander Travel award. I also received the Staff Commercial Entrepreneur award in 2018.

Qualifications

PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Aston University
MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Aston University
BSc in Pharmacy, Cairo University
PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Kingston University

Domains

During my academic career at Kingston University, I developed a multi-disciplinary research group made of eight PhD students, one research visitor and one post doctorate researcher.

My research group worked in multiple projects around the area of development of drug delivery system of anti-diabetic drugs. My research group is trying to develop innovative technologies to enhance the quality of life of diabetic patients. We explore the use of 3D printing to design bespoke tablets for co-morbid diabetic patients. We are also designing new sustained release orodispersible tablets that target paediatrics and geriatrics to achieve a better compliance. In addition, my group designed a new nanoparticulate system that can sense glucose concentrations in diabetic patients and release insulin according to the body needs. The novel drug delivery system can potentially enable diabetic patients to have a better control of their blood glucose level and will offer a better quality of life for people with diabetes. A third project is looking at developing insulin inhalers using spray freeze drying technology. We also explore the use of contact lenses as a vehicle to deliver drugs into the eye. In order to ensure that our technologies suit the patients' needs, we always seek patients' opinions / inputs to inform our technology designs.

My multi-disciplinary projects enabled me to collaborate with colleagues from different disciplines within and outside Kingston University. Our fruitful collaboration is translated into a number of published high high-quality research outputs, and we work together seeking funding through charities and research councils to expand the research projects. I acted as an external examiner for a number of UK and overseas PhD students.

Specialisms

Dosage form design
Orally disintegrating tablets (Orodispersibles)
3D printing
Contact lenses for ocular drug delivery
Glucose sensitive delivery systems

I am an authentic, resilient and inclusive leader who values the contribution of my colleagues and team members. As an adaptive leader, I invest in building up the technical and professional competence of my team to strike any challenges we might face. My futuristic vision together with my inspiration helps me to motivate and empower my diverse team to work hard and smart towards achieving our goals and vision. I rely on technology to facilitate my leadership approach.

Board of governors member (Vice-Chancellor nominee)

As part of my role I participate in determining the educational character and mission of Kingston University, I oversee the financial viability of the University and contribute in making key policy decisions about the running of the University. I was also elected as a Senate member in July 2019.

Chair of the Pharmacy Fitness to Practise (FtP) Committee

My responsibility includes devising and updating the Pharmacy department FtP policy and procedures in collaboration with the committee members. I led the implementation of DBS and Health Checks for new Pharmacy students by liaising with our admission team, occupational health and pharmacy school office. I also oversee the FtP investigation hearings and train colleagues on conducting FtP investigations. I led the design of a new Pharmacy FtP webpage that is used as a platform to share our departmental FtP policy and procedures with the students and colleagues.

Admission Tutor for Pharmacy

I process UCAS applications for MPharm (B230) and Pharmacy foundation programmes (B231, F190) programmes. I work closely with the MPharm interview lead to organise and coordinate interviews for MPharm applicants. I also brief and train our MPharm colleagues on our recruitment process/strategy during the UCAS clearing cycle. I represent Kingston University at the Pharmacy Schools council admissions meetings to discuss strategies of recruiting pharmacy students.

Qualifications and expertise

Strategic Executive Development Programme for Diverse Leaders in Higher Education (StellarHE Programme, 2018)

University responsibilities

Board of Governors member (Vice-Chancellor nominee)
Elected Senate
Chair of the Pharmacy Fitness to Practise (FtP) Committee
Admission Tutor for Pharmacy

Public and Civic roles

Board of Governors member at St Albans Catholic School

Publications

Polymeric microneedles: advancing potential through innovative manufacturing, polymer design, and characterization techniques

Lamie, Caroline, Chioni, Athina Myrto, Garrido-Mesa, Natividad and Elshaer, Amr, 2026, Current Pharmaceutical Design (32), 11 pp 824-853, Published

Dr Amr ElShaer

About

Qualifications

Domains

Teaching and learning

Research

Leadership and management

Publications

Articles

Book Sections/Chapters

Conference Items

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