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Drugs and Biomaterials
Doctoral Programme,
Faculty of Chemical Technology
The Drugs and Biomaterials study programme focuses mainly on the fields of medicinal chemistry, drug analysis and the study of the structures of solid pharmaceuticals, research about and study of the properties of inorganic and polymeric materials for biomedical applications, pharmaceutical process engineering, and applied informatics for the pharmaceutical industry. CareersGraduates of this programme will be qualified for employment at universities, Czech Academy of Sciences institutes, and research and technology centres in the Czech Republic and abroad, mainly in the areas of basic and applied research of drugs and pharmaceutical forms, pharmaceutical technologies and biomaterials. Further employment opportunities for graduates are additionally to be found at R&D institutes, in analytical and control laboratories for industrial companies in these fields, and in public (governmental) administrative units, including professional R&D management positions. Programme Details
Ph.D. topics for study year 2025/26Glycomimetic ligands for DC-SIGN receptor
AnnotationDC-SIGN is a carbohydrate-binding protein expressed on the surface of immune cells. Its targeting could be exploited in two ways: (1) to develop more efficient vaccines, and (2) to develop new treatments against certain pathogens. Despite the potential of natural carbohydrate ligands, their use in achieving specific delivery to DC‑SIGN expressing cells has largely been unsuccessful. In collaboration with the Molecular Drug Targeting Group from the University of Vienna, we have been working on the design and development of new glycomimetic ligands which bind DC‑SIGN with high selectivity and reasonable affinity. In the past years, we have identified several new scaffolds. The proposed PhD project will aim at performing structure–activity relationship study on these new DC-SIGN ligands. The major part of the thesis will be based on synthetic organic chemistry. The PhD candidate will learn the basics of carbohydrate chemistry and glycosylation reactions, as well as other organic reactions (use of orthogonal protecting groups, metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions…). Evaluation of binding affinity will be performed in Vienna and the PhD candidate will have the opportunity to learn the basics (either NMR-based techniques for protein–ligand interactions or cell-based techniques) during an internship.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Surface energy heterogeneity of particulate matter
AnnotationFree surface energy is one of the important parameters in industrial applications and processes of powder and fibrous materials. Differences in surface energy affect interfacial interactions such as wetting, cohesion, or adhesion. As the wide range of uses of powders is controlled by surface reactions or interactions, the characterization of surface energies can be important information for improving surface properties (eg surface modification). General theories can only be applied to smooth, molecularly flat solid surfaces or particles. However, most interfaces for particulate matter do not have an ideally smooth surface or an ideally homogenized surface, so the work will focus on determining the heterogeneity of surface properties; heterogeneity of surface energy, and its relation to other properties of these substances.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Technology, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Pharmaceutical substances chirality identification from powder diffraction data
AnnotationPharmaceutically interesting compounds are often not available in a form of crystals suitable for single crystal X-ray structure determination. The structure can be determined from powder - unfortunately standard experiment make chirality determination impossible. The main aim of this work will be to calibrate the crystal structure by adding an ion or cocrystallization partner with known chirality.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Solid State Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Growing Single Crystals and Structure Analysis of Multiple Component Crystals
AnnotationAPI's multiple-component crystals are a valuable option in modfying pharmacokinetic profile, stability of API etc. The application properties of any particular active compound are often rendered by means of the component is built in the structure. This work aims to prepare single crystals of salts, solvates, co-crystals and polymorphs of selected compounds, study potentional temperature dependent phase transitions, their complex characterization using a bundle of analytical methods accenting X-ray structure analysis and consequent correlation of parameters and solvent occupied voids.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Solid State Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Preparation of organic single crystals based on pharmaceutical materials and characterization of their properties
AnnotationTopic of this work will be focused on preparation and crystal growth of volatile and subliming organic compounds with accent on active pharmaceutical ingredients (polymorhps, solvates, salts or cocrystals) from gaseous phase and solution in order to prepare large-volume crystals thereof. The work will be focused on sublimation apparatus design and optimization of the crystal growth procedure of organic compounds from gaseous state using horizontal two section resistive furnace with separate temperature regulation. This method is based on transferring (subliming) the starting material into gaseous state in the storage part of the growth system and its subsequent crystallization (desublimation) in the dedicated coolest place of the system. Setting of suitable temperature regime in both furnace sections defines and controls the growth rate of growing crystal. An integral part of the work comprises: (i) a new crystallization container divided into storage and crystallization stages will be designed, (ii) growth conditions (temperature gradient in the furnace, temperature regimes) will be optimized, and (iii) the physical, structural and optical properties of the prepared crystals will be characterized. Second part of this work will be focused on preparation of crystals of model organic compounds grown from solution. The solvents influence on the crystallization process and final crystal quality will be evaluated. Results of characterizations performed on crystals obtained from diverse procedures as well as of used procedures will be compared.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Solid State Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Study of the skin barrier formation and the possibilities of its restoration at the molecular level
AnnotationThe molecular mechanisms of the formation of the intercellular lipid matrix, which is crucial for high quality skin barrier function, are still not well understood. This work will aim at unraveling these processes using biophysical techniques on model membranes (SAXS, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, AFM, etc.), and membrane permeability will also be studied in this context. Based on these findings, the conditions for the design of topical lipid formulations capable of restoring the disrupted (diseased) skin lipid barrier will be defined.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Technology, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
The use of surface energy as a tool for the formulation applications
AnnotationPharmaceutical products are sophisticated mixtures of numerous compounds that can be liquids or solids. However, there is still the problem how to select them efficiently without costly and time-consuming tests that are associated with the complexity of the drug development. Surface energy could be used as powerful prediction tool to perform such selections. The aim of this work is to provide a new perspective on the prediction of component compatibility (API and excipient) for formulation design for the production of solid dosage forms based on the surface properties of their components.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Technology, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Development of advanced nanoparticle formulations for topical drug delivery
AnnotationNewly developed drugs often have a problematic physicochemical profile resulting in very low bioavailability. Nanoparticle formulations offer a possible solution. This work will deal with the formulation of selected active ingredients into different types of nanoparticles and study their efficacy on bioavailability to living tissue.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Technology, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
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Updated: 20.1.2022 16:26, Author: Jan Kříž