Sarah Hudson (UL)

Dr Sarah Hudson, Department of Chemical Sciences, Bernal Insitute, University of Limerick

Sarah graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1999 as a Trinity Foundation Scholar. She was awarded a masters in Chemistry from Trinity a year later, where she worked on the photophysical properties of rhenium complexes with Prof John Kelly. She completed her PhD with Prof Edmond Magner, Prof Kieran Hodnett and Dr Jakki Cooney in the immobilisation of enzymes at the University of Limerick. Her subsequent postdoctoral studies were spent with Prof Robert Langer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston and Dr Peter McLoughlin at Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland where she moved into the field of drug delivery and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The Hudson research group focuses on the manipulation of the physicochemical properties of small and large active molecules to improve their stability, solubility and dissolution rates with the ultimate goal of improving the bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients. They explore the solution and solid-state behaviour of these molecules both during formulation/manufacture into medicines and in biorelevant environments. Their research focuses on the thermodynamics behind aggregation, crystallisation and precipitation in a range of solvents and bio relevant media and develops formulations to control this solution/solid-state behaviour. Sarah is a Materials theme leader and funded investigator in the SSPC. She is the project coordinator for LongActNow and project leader on a Disruptive Technology Innovation Award on the development of enzymes as therapeutics. She currently supervises 8 PhD students, 4 postdoctoral researchers and 2 research assistants.