Principal Investigator: Dr. Reinhard Vehring
Dr. Vehring is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Alberta and holds the George Ford Chair in Materials Engineering. He graduated with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Gerhard Merkator University in Duisburg, Germany, and received a doctorate from the University of Bochum in the field of molecular spectroscopy on microparticles. Dr. Vehring has held positions in academia and industry advancing aerosol science and particle technology for more than 26 years. Before returning to academia, he worked on pulmonary delivery of peptides, proteins, and small molecules at Nektar Therapeutics and was part of the team developing Exubera, the first inhalable insulin. Subsequently, he developed solid dosage forms for virus vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and oncology therapeutics at Medimmune, and supported FluMist, the first nasally administered live attenuated influenza vaccine. Dr. Vehring was the lead inventor for the cosuspension formulation technology which is used by Pearl Therapeutics to develop metered dose inhaler based therapeutics for respiratory diseases. At the University of Alberta, Dr. Vehring directs the Particle Engineering facility focusing on advanced micro and nanoparticle design and analysis.
PLEASE NOTE: Dr. Vehring is not accepting any new graduate students.
Project Manager: David Barona
David obtained a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA) in 2008. He has worked at the University of Alberta as a Research Assistant on Sprayable Superhydrophobic Surfaces (2008-2012) as well as Project Manager and Systems EIT for several space science R&D projects (2010-present). His research interests include micro/nanoparticles and their applications, engineering of multi-component sprayable solutions, surface engineering and Lab on Chip (LoC) devices.
Senior Research Scientist: Hui Wang
Hui obtained his BSc in Materials Science and Engineering from Southeast University in Nanjing, China. During his MSc and PhD studies with the Particle Engineering Group at the University of Alberta, he focused on designing and applying advanced characterization techniques, including cascade impaction, Raman spectroscopy, and shadowgraphic imaging, for the testing and optimization of inhalation formulations for pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) and dry powder inhalers (DPIs). He has rich experience in design, production, testing, and pulmonary delivery of medicinal microparticles. He is currently a research scientist to the group, working on various projects related to respiratory drug delivery. His research interests include inhalation formulation development, particle engineering and spray drying.
Master’s Student: Maximilian Aisenstat
Maximilian obtained his BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2020. His research focuses on particle design for nasal delivery and for vaccine stabilization.
Master’s Student: Zahra (Anita) Minootan
Anita obtained her bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Isfahan University of Technology in Isfahan, Iran. Her bachelor’s thesis was titled “Synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4@TSI@AgNPs magnetic core-shell nanocomposite and its application in water treatment”.
In May 2021 Anita started her master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Prof. Reinhard Vehring and Prof. Andrew Martin. Her research explores new propellants in pressurized metered-dose inhalers.
Master’s Student: Isobel Tetreau
Isobel received her BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2021. She began her Master’s studies under the joint supervision of Drs. Reinhard Vehring and Andrew Martin in January 2022. Her research focuses on the development of inhalable spray-dried particles containing anti-tuberculosis bacteriophages
Luba holds a BA (Hon) and MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Alberta. She has worked for the Particle Engineering Group since 2016.
PAST GROUP MEMBERS
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS:
Mani Ordoubadi, PhD (2022 – 2023)
Alberto Baldelli, PhD (2016 – 2017)
Sulayman Oladepo, PhD (2014 – 2015)
Mohammed A. Boraey, PhD (2014)
Susan Hoe, PhD (2011 – 2014)
DOCTORAL GRADUATES:
Mani Ordoubadi (2021) — Formulation Design of Spray-Dried Microparticles for Respiratory Drug Delivery
Nicholas Carrigy (2019) — Engineering Stable Bacteriophage Dosage Forms Active Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria for Respiratory Delivery and Food Safety Applications
Hui Wang (2019) — Assessing Colloidal Stability of Pharmaceutical Suspensions with a Shadowgraphic Imaging Methods
James Ivey (2018) — Particle Formation from Evaporating Microdroplets for Inhaled Drug Delivery
Alberto Baldelli (2016) — Experimental and Theoretical Studies on the Particle Formation Process of Particles for the Improvement of Pulmonary Drug Delivery
Farzin Molaghasem Shemirani (2014) — Metered Dose Inhaler Aerosols: Efficiency, Particle Engineering and Atomization (co-supervised with Dr. Warren H. Finlay)
Mehdi Azhdarzadeh (2014) — Effect of Electrostatic Charge on the Deposition of Monodisperse Uniformly Charged Particles in Idealized Extrathoracic Airway of an Adult, Child and Infant (co-supervised with Drs. Warren H. Finlay & Jason S. Olfert)
Mohammed Boraey (2014) — A Particle Engineering Approach for the Design of Structured Microparticles
MASTER’S GRADUATES:
Shabab Bin Karim (2021) — A Particle Engineering Approach to the Development of Microparticles Suitable for Enteric Delivery of Biologics
Zheng Wang (2021) — Investigations in Formation and Properties of Spray-Dried Microparticles using Monodisperse Spray Drying
Mellissa Gomez (2020) — Development of a Thermostable Tuberculosis Vaccine Candidate Suitable for Pulmonary Delivery through Particle Engineering
Alvin Ly (2018) — Atmospheric Spray Freeze-Drying on Common Biologics and Excipients as a Comparison to Lyophilization (co-supervised with Drs. Warren H. Finlay & Andrew A. Martin)
Maximilian Albers (2016) — Particle Formation from Leucine in Water-Ethanol Cosolvent Systems (co-supervised with Dr. Cemal Esen)
Hui Wang (2014) — Low-frequency and macro-Raman analysis of respirable dosage forms and their sampling with a low flow rate single-nozzle cascade impactor
Sadaf Matinkhoo (2013) — Development of Engineered Micro-Particles via Spray Drying for Respiratory Drug Delivery
Abouzar Shamsaddini Shahrbabak (2013) — Uniaxial Compaction of Pharmaceutical Powders
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Pallavi Bhambri, BSc (2015-2016)
Omar Melhem, PhD (2017-2018)
Shital Bachchhav, PhD (2019-2020)
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:
Ryan Tan (2021)
Isobel Tetreau (2020)
Maximilian Aisentat, Chester Jar (2019)
Leanne Milburn, Yushan Liu (2018)
Reegan McAllister, Melissa Gomez (2017)
Junseob Kim, Laurence Kuan (2016)
Luke Oberhagemann (2015)
Chelsea Morin, Jordan Titosky (2014)
Chelsea Morin, Jordan Titosky, Jonathan Suderman (2013)
Kira Toxopeus, Jonathan Suderman, Mathieu Cloutier (2012)
Alex Wong, Roberta Hunt, Kalem Hamilton, Jeffrey Fong, Sören Stritzel (2011)
Morgan Gwin, Paul Finlay, Allen Feng, Michael Bennett (2010)