Dr Chris McConville BSc, MSc, PhD

Dr Chris McConville

School of Pharmacy
Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, Formulation and Drug Delivery

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 3209
Email
c.mcconville.2@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Pharmacy
Institute of Clinical Sciences
Sir Robert Aitken Institute for Medical Research
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Chris McConville is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, Formulation and Drug Delivery. His previous experience within the pharmaceutical industry and academia has provided him with expertise in preformulation, dosage form design, drug delivery and analysis.

He believes that for most diseases we currently have some excellent drug candidates; but in some cases we just choose to administer them incorrectly.  Therefore, there is a need to improve the way in which we deliver certain drugs to the body. 

His research is focused on the design, formulation and characterisation of novel dosage forms and delivery devices to improve therapeutic outcomes for patients, while reducing systemic toxicities and improving their quality of life during treatment. 

Qualifications

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (2013)
  • PhD in Pharmaceutics, Queen’s University of Belfast (2008)
  • MSc in Biomolecular Structure and Function, Queen’s University of Belfast (2005)
  • BSc in Applied Biochemical Sciences, University of Ulster (2003)

Biography

Chris completed his PhD in 2008 in the School of Pharmacy at Queens University Belfast. The work involved the development and characterisation of a novel rod insert vaginal ring (RIVR) for the delivery of protein based HIV microbicides. His subsequent postdoctoral position (Oct 2008 to July 2010) was also conducted in the School of Pharmacy at QUB and involved the development and evaluation of novel vaginal ring formulations, polymer blends and solid dosage forms for the delivery of HIV microbicides.

In July 2010 he was appointed as a senior lecturer in pharmaceutics at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, where he continued his research on the development of HIV microbicide products, while also focusing on the solubility enhancement of poorly soluble drugs, the development of biodegradable implantable drug delivery devices and the use of microparticles for controlled pulmonary drug delivery. In June 2012 he was appointed senior lecturer in pharmaceutics at the University of Wolverhampton. 

In 2015 he was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, Formulation and Drug Delivery at the University of Birmingham.  His research is focused on the development of implantable drug delivery devices for the localised treatment of brain tumours, the development of vaginal dosage forms for the treatment of gynaecological cancers and the development of micro and nanoparticles for the sustained delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs.  He is also researching the development of novel vaginal rings and tablets for use as Multipurpose Prevention Technologies that deliver multiple drugs using a single formulation to prevent unintended pregnancy; HIV and HSV infections.

Teaching

Chris holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning and has experience in lecturing to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

He currently teaches on the MPharm programme at the University of Birmingham.

Postgraduate supervision

Chris McConville is interested in supervising research projects in the following areas:

  • The development of implantable drug delivery devices for the localised treatment of brain tumours
  • The use of 3D printing to manufacture multi-layered tablets
  • HIV Microbicides and Multipurpose Prevention Technology
  • Solubility enhancement of poorly water soluble drugs using Hot Melt Extrusion

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Chris on the contact details above, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email: dr@contacts.bham.ac.uk  or call +44 (0)121 414 5005.

For a full list of available Doctoral Research opportunities, please visit our Doctoral Research programme listings

Research

His main research themes are:

Localised Delivery of Chemotherapeutic Drugs:  This area of research involves the development of a range of drug delivery devices and formulations that can deliver chemotherapeutic drugs locally to the site of the tumour and includes:

  • Development of implantable drug delivery devices for the treatment of brain tumours
  • Development of Drug-loaded micro and nanoparticles for the treatment of various cancers
  • Vaginal dosage forms for the treatment of gynaecological cancers
  • Hydrogels and thermo responsive gels for the localised delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs to the bladder

The use of Hot Melt Extrusion, Injection moulding and 3D printing to manufacture pharmaceutical dosage forms:  This area of research is investigating the use of the aforementioned process to improve the solubility of poorly soluble drugs, manufacture complex pharmaceutical dosage forms and implantable devices as well as bespoke personalised medications and includes:

  • Solubility enhancement of poorly water soluble drugs using Hot Melt Extrusion
  • The manufacture of multi-layered vaginal tablets as a Multipurpose Prevention Technology.
  • The use of Hot Melt Extrusion, injection moulding and 3D printing to manufacture multi-layered tablets and devices

Ongoing research projects include:

  • Development of Irinotecan-loaded PLGA millirods for the localised treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme
  • CerviRing: The development of a vaginal ring for the treatment of cervical cancer
  • Disulfiram-loaded inhalable microparticles for the localised treatment of lung cancer
  • Nano-encapsulation of disulfiram for the treatment of brain, lung, breast, liver and pancreatic cancers
  • Development of a multi-layered vaginal tablet containing Dapivirne, Levonorgestrel and acyclovir for use as a Multipurpose Prevention Technology

He is currently co-supervising two PhD students:

  • Kate Butcher, on, “the nano-encapsulation of disulfiram” with Prof Weiguang Wang, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton.
  • Hussani Bello, on, “liquid solid dosage forms for the solubility enhancement of poorly soluble drugs”, with Dr Waseem Kaialy, School of Pharmacy, University of Wolverhampton.

He is co-supervising a postdoctoral research fellow as part of a British Lung Foundation sponsored project investigating the development of nano-enabled Disulfiram to target non-small cell lung cancer.

He is also involved in a Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) Marie Curie Fellowship investigating the nano-technology enabled repositioning of Disulfiram as an anti-cancer stem cell agent.

Other activities

Chris is currently a reviewer for a number of leading pharmaceutical and drug delivery journals.

Publications

Shergill M, Patel M, Khan S, Bashir A, McConville C (2015) Development and Characterisation of Sustained Release Solid Dispersion Oral Tablets Containing the Poorly Water soluble Drug Disulfiram. International Journal of Pharmaceutics.  497:3-11.

Tawari, PE., Wang, Z., Najlah, M., Tsang, CW., Kannappan, V., Liu, P.,   McConville, C., He, B., Armesilla, AL., Wang, W (2015)  The cytotoxic mechanisms of disulfiram and copper(II) in cancer cells.  Toxicology Research. 4:1439-1442.

McConville, C., Tawari, P., and Wang, W (2015) Hot Melt Extruded and Injection Moulded Disulfiram-Loaded PLGA Millirods for the Treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme via Stereotactic Injection.  International Journal of Pharmaceutics  494:73-82

Chatta, D., Cottrell, L., Burnett, B., Laverty, G., McConville C. (2015) The use of Water-Soluble Mucoadhesive gels for the Intravesical Delivery of Epirubicin to the Bladder for the Treatment of non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 67:1355-62

McConville, C., (2015). The use of Localised Vaginal Drug Delivery as Part of a Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Strategy in the Treatment of Cervical Cancer.  Gynecology and Obstetrics Research.  2:26-28

McConville, C., and Major, I (2015). Hot Melt Extruded and Injection Moulded Dosage Forms: Recent Research and Patents.  Recent Patents on Drug Delivery & Formulation.  9: 194-200.

McConville, C (2015). The Therapeutic Potential of Vaginal Drug Delivery in the Treatment of Cervical Cancer.  Therapeutic Delivery.  6:559-70.

Zembko, I., Ahmed, I., Farooq, A., Dail, J., Tawari, P., Wang, W., and McConville, C (2015). Development of Disulfiram-loaded PLGA Wafers for the Localised Treatment of Brain Tumours: A Comparison of Manufacturing Techniques.  Journal of Pharmaceutical Science.  104: 1076-1086.

McConville, C., Smith, J.M., McCoy, C.F., Srinivasan, P., Mitchell, J., Holder, A., Otten, R.A., Butera, S., Doncel, G.F., Friend , D.R., Malcolm, R.K (2015).  Lack of in vitro–in vivo correlation for a UC781-releasing vaginal ring in macaques.  Drug Delivery and Translational Research.  5(1): 27-37. ISSN: 2190-3948

Baffoe, C.S., Nguyen, N., Boyd, P., Wang, W., Morris, M., and McConville, C (2015).  Preformulation and Development of Disulfiram-Loaded Immediate and Extended Release Vaginal Tablets for the Localised Treatment of Cervical Cancer.  Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. 67(2): 189-198.

McConville, C (2014). Localised Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Cancer.  Cancer Studies: Open Access.  1(1): 1-7.

McConville, C (2014). HIV Microbicides and Multiple Prevention Technology as Methods to Stop the Spread of HIV.  Austin Journal of HIV/AIDS Research.  1(2): 2-3.

McConville, C (2014). HIV Microbicides and Multipurpose Prevention Technology in Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS. Clinical Research in HIV/ AIDS. 1(2): 1012-1019.

Ramadhani, N., Shabir, M., and McConville, C (2014). Preparation and characterisation of Kolliphor® P 188 and P 237 solid dispersion oral tablets containing the poorly water soluble drug disulfiram.  International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 475(1–2): 514–522.

Boyd, P., Major, I., Wang, W., and McConville, C (2014). Development of Disulfiram-Loaded Vaginal Rings for the Localised Treatment of Cervical Cancer. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. 88(3):945-53.  ISSN: 0939-6411

McConville, C., Boyd, P., and Major, I (2014). Efficacy of tenofovir 1% vaginal gel in reducing the risk of HIV-1 and HSV-2 infection.  Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health, 7: 1-8.

McConville, C., Friend, D., Clarke, M. R., and Malcolm, R.K (2013).  Preformulation and development of a once-daily sustained-release tenofovir vaginal tablet containing a single excipient.  Journal of Pharmaceutical Science, 102(6): 1859-1868.

McConville, C., and Friend, D (2013).  Development and characterisation of a self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDSs) for the vaginal administration of the antiretroviral UC-781. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 83(3): 322-329.

McConville, C., Major, I., Friend, D., Clarke, M. R., and Malcolm, R.K (2012).  Development of a UC781 Releasing Poly Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Vaginal Ring. Drug Delivery and Translational Research, 2(6): 489-497.

McConville, C., Woolfson, A. D., and Malcolm, R. K (2012).  The effect of freeze-drying parameters on the cure characteristics of freeze-dried BSA-loaded silicone elastomer. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 127(6): 4402-4408.

McConville, C., Major, I., Firend D. R., Clark, M. R., Woolfson A. D., and Malcolm R. K (2012).  Development of Polylactide and Poly Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Blends for the Manufacture of Vaginal Rings. Journal of biomedical materials research, Part B, 100B: 891–895.

McConville, C., Andrews, A. P., Woolfson, A. D., and Malcolm, R. K (2012).  The effect of the incorporation of hydroxy-terminated liquid silicones on the cure characteristics, morphology and release of a model protein from silicone elastomer covered rods. J Applied Polymer Science, 124(1): 805–812.

Gorlani, A., Brouwers, J., McConville, C., Van Der Bijl, P., Malcolm, K. Forsman, A., Weiss, R., K., De Haard, H., and Verrips, C. T (2012).  Llama antibody fragments have good potential for application as HIV-1 topical microbicides. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, 28(2): 198-205.

McConville, C (2011).  Implantable Drug Delivery Devices.  Australian Pharmacist, 30(9): 764-766.

McConville, C (2011).  Pulmonary drug delivery.  Australian Pharmacist, 30(3): 236-239.

Clark, M. R., Kiser, P. F., Loxley, A., McConville, C., Malcolm, R. K., and Friend, D. R (2011).  Pharmacokinetics of UC781-Loaded Intravaginal Ring Segments in Rabbits: A Comparison of Polymer Matrices. Drug Delivery and Translational Research, 1(3): 238-246.

McConville, C (2011) Future Directions of Vaginally Administered HIV Microbicide Formulations. Australian Pharmacist, 30(2): 154-157.

McConville, C., Andrews, A. P., Laverty, T. P., Woolfson, A. D., and Malcolm, R. K (2010).  Rheological Evaluation of the Isothermal Cure Characteristics of Medical Grade Silicone Elastomer Materials. J Applied Polymer Science, 116(4): 2320-2327.

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