Meet the Expert : Sudaxshina Murdan

What has been the most surprising or unexpected result in your research so far?

Answer: I was working on organic gels, and varying the concentration of the gelling agent to determine the minimum concentration needed to form a gel. I expected that below a certain concentration, the liquid would not gel, but instead become viscous.  To my surprise, I found a large 3-dimensional gel mesh within the clear liquid.  The mesh could be seen with the naked eye, was very beautiful and showed that gelation did not happen homogeneously and gave an indication of the structure which caused gel formation.

What attracted you to the area of drug and vaccine formulation, and how did you end up working on such a diverse range of species including humans, fish, poultry, and livestock?

Answer: I started working on formulation (for humans) during my PhD and have continued since.  The attraction is the myriad possibilities, for example, the ability to target the drug/vaccine to their target site to improve efficacy and reduce adverse effects and waste. I ended up working on vaccines for several species simply by meeting researchers at conferences, discussing their needs, and seeing how formulation science (that I know) could be applied to developing vaccines for any species, including fish, poultry and livestock.

How do you balance the diverse demands of your roles in research, teaching, and as an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead and Green Champion?

Answer: It’s hard! And it is tempting to focus on the most urgent and exciting. Having deadlines and scheduling meetings with others helps.  For example, I do some EDI work every Thursday morning, so that that information can be included in the weekly newsletter.

What role do you think interdisciplinary collaboration plays in advancing pharmaceutical sciences, and can you give an example from your own work?

Answer: None of us know how to solve all the different aspects of a problem. So interdisciplinary collaboration is the only way to make scientific advances and create products.  Learning from someone who is an expert in their domain is much easier than learning on one’s own. An example is my project on delivering virus-like particles (VLPs) under the tongue for vaccination against polio.  VLPs are very good vaccine candidates, but I do not know how to produce them, so collaborate with Professor Nicola Stonehouse, a virologist at the University of Leeds. Professor Stonehouse’s lab prepares the VLPs, sends to my group and advises us, for example, on their properties and handling.  We formulate them into a preparation that is suitable for administration under the tongue.  Regular joint meetings to discuss the work ensures progress.

In what ways do you believe the sustainability initiatives in the pharmaceutical field can impact the broader healthcare landscape?

Answer:  Sustainability initiatives will improve the healthcare landscape in terms of improved treatment and reduced costs. A simple example is a reduction in the amount of materials used in medicine packaging as a sustainability measure.  This can also reduce the overall cost of goods, and of their transport and disposal. Another example is replacement of metered dose inhalers (which have a high carbon footprint and are often used in a suboptimal way by patients) with dry powder inhalers (which have a lower carbon footprint and are easier to use) when clinically appropriate.

If you could implement one major change in the pharmaceutical sciences curriculum to better prepare future pharmacists, what would it be and why?

Answer: This is not really a change, but a plea to ensure we keep a very strong scientific component in the pharmacy degree.  Pharmacists must have a deep understanding of pharmaceutical concepts so they can best advise the healthcare team, given that they are the medicine experts.

What’s your next big challenge in terms of your research on mucosal vaccinations and antifungal treatments?

Answer:  Many oral vaccines have low efficacy in low-income countries (around 50% compared to 90-95% in high income countries).  It is thought that gut enteropathy in certain regions of the world is responsible for the low efficacy of oral vaccines.  My idea is to avoid the problematic gut and immunise sublingually i.e. under the tongue.  I am therefore seeking funding to investigate whether sublingual immunisation could overcome the low oral vaccine efficacy.

For antifungal treatment, I am seeking funding to develop a nail printer which prints medicines directly on people’s diseased nails.  The nail printer would contain several drug-filled cartridges.  Printing nail medicines would have many benefits for patients, including a hassle-free administration (by a podiatrist or pharmacist or other health worker) and the ability for the healthcare worker to use several drugs in combination, given that drug combinations are more effective than single drugs.  The healthcare worker would also be able to choose the correct drug(s) to reflect the cause of the fungal infection.

Further information: 

• UCL School of Pharmacy 
• Staff profile
• X @Sudaxshina