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Biography

Niall O'Reilly joined the PMBRC as Centre Manger in 2009 and has over 16 years pharmaceutical R&D experience, six of which has been in industry. Niall has overseen the development of the centre since 2009 including the coordination of projects with almost 60 industry partners totalling €2.8m. Prior to joining the PMBRC, Niall held positions in Élan Drug Delivery (now Alkermes) and Genzyme Ireland Ltd. working in areas such as formulation and process development; analytical method development and validation; stability; clinical manufacture, scale-up and commercialisation. He has experience in the development of tablets, multiparticulates, capsules, powders, softgels, transdermals and injectables. Niall’s research interests include controlled release drug delivery, drug product formulation and pharmaceutical analysis. Niall holds a B.Sc. degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Limerick and was awarded a Ph.D. from the same institution for his research on biotransformations in organic solvents.

Research Interests

  • Drug delivery
  • Drug product formulation
  • Pharmaceutical analysis and characterisation
  • Biocatalysis

 

Publications

  • Alhajj, N.; O'Reilly, N.J., Cathcart, H. Development and characterization of a spray-dried inhalable ciprofloxacin-quercetin co-amorphous system. Int. J. Pharm., 2022, in press.
  • Alhajj, N.; O'Reilly, N.J., Cathcart, H. Developing ciprofloxacin dry powder for inhalation: A story of challenges and rational design in the treatment of cystic fibrosis lung infection. Int. J. Pharm., 2022, 613, 121388. 
  • Burhan, A.M.; Klahan, B.; Cummins, W.; Andrés-Guerrero, V.; Byrne, M.E.; O'Reilly, N.J.; Chauhan, A.; Fitzhenry, L.; Hughes, H. Posterior Segment Ophthalmic Drug Delivery: Role of Muco-Adhesion with a Special Focus on Chitosan, Pharmaceutics, 2021, 13, 1685.
  • Alhajj, N.; O'Reilly, N.J., Cathcart, H. Designing enhanced spray dried particles for inhalation: A review of the impact of excipients and processing parameters on particle properties, Powder Technology, 2021, 384-313-331.
  • Alhajj, N.; O'Reilly, N.J., Cathcart, H. Leucine as an excipient in spray dried powder for inhalation. Drug Discovery Today, 2021, 26, 2384-2396.
  • Kumari, S.; Dandamudi, M.; Rani, S.; Behaeghel, E.; Behl, G.; Kent, D.; O’Reilly, N.J.; O’Donovan, O.; McLoughlin, P.; Fitzhenry, L. Dexamethasone‐loaded nanostructured lipid carriers for the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease. Pharmaceutics, 2021, 13, 905.
  • Kavanagh, O.; Healy, A.M.; Dayton, F.; Robinson, S.; O'Reilly, N.J.; Mahoney, B.; Arthur, A.; Walker, G; Farragher, J.P. Inhaled hydroxychloroquine to improve efficacy and reduce harm in the treatment of COVID-19, Medical Hypothesis, 2020, 143, 110110.
  • Din SU; Cathcart, H; O'Reilly, N.J.; Hughes, H.;, Ndzie, E; O'Ceallaigh, T; McLoughlin, P. An investigation into the Stability, Crystallization Kinetics, and Heating Rate Dependent Crystallization of Amorphous Posaconazole, Crystal Growth and Design, 2020, 20, 5129-5142.
  • Dillon, C.; Hughes, H.; O’Reilly, N.J.; Allender, C.J.; Barrow, D.A.; McLoughlin, P. Dissolving microneedle based transdermal delivery of therapeutic peptide analogues, Int. J. Pharm., 2019, 565, 9-19.
  • Baghel, S.; Cathcart, H.; O’Reilly, N.J. “Investigation into the Solid-State Properties and Dissolution Profile of Spray-Dried Ternary Amorphous Solid Dispersions: A Rational Step toward the Design and Development of a Multicomponent Amorphous System” Mol. Pharm., 2018, 15, 3796 – 3812.
  • Baghel, S.; Cathcart, H.; O’Reilly, N.J. “Understanding the generation and maintenance of supersaturation during the dissolution of amorphous solid dispersions using modulated DSC and 1H NMR”. Int. J. Pharm. 2018, 536, 414 – 425.
  • Dillon, C.; Hughes, H.; O’Reilly, N.J.; McLoughlin, P. Formulation and characterisation of dissolving microneedles for the transdermal delivery of therapeutic peptides, Int. J. Pharm., 2017, 526, 125-136.
  • Baghel, S.; Cathcart, H., O’Reilly, N.J.*,Theoretical and experimental investigation of drug-polymer interaction and miscibility and its impact on drug supersaturation in aqueous medium,  Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm., 2016, 107, 16-31.
  • Baghel, S.; Cathcart, H., Redington, W.; O’Reilly, N.J., An investigation into the crystallization tendency/kinetics of amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients: A case study with dipyridamole and cinnarizine, Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm., 2016, 104, 59-71.
  • Baghel, S.; Cathcart, H., O’Reilly, N.J., Polymeric amorphous solid dispersions: A review of amorphization, crystallization, stabilization, solid-state characterization, and aqueous solubilization of biopharmaceutical classification system Class II drugs, J. Pharm. Sci., 2016, 105, 2527-2544
  • Behl, G.; Iqbal, J.; O’Reilly, N.J.; McLoughlin, P.; Fitzhenry, L. Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) Contact Lenses Containing Chitosan Nanoparticles as an Ocular Delivery System for Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate. Pharm. Res. 2016, 33, 1638-1648.
  • Elsiddig, R.; Hughes, H.; Owens, E.; O’Reilly, N.J.; O’Grady, D.; McLoughlin, P., Kinetic and thermodynamic evaluation of phosphate ions binding onto sevelamer hydrochloride, Int. J. Pharm., 2014, 474, 25-32.
  • O’Reilly, N.J.; Magner, E., The effect of solvent on the catalytic properties of Microperoxidase-11, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2011, 13,  5304-5313.
  • O’Reilly, N.J.; Magner, E., The electrochemistry of Cytochrome c in aqueous and mixed solvent solutions: Thermodynamics, kinetics and the effect of solvent dielectric constant, Langmuir, 2005, 21, 1009-1014.

Work Experience

Waterford Institute of Technology       Manager, PMBRC, WIT           2009 to date

Genzyme Ireland Ltd., Waterford        Development Scientist             2007 - 2009

Élan Drug Delivery, Athlone               Formulation Scientist                2000 - 2002

Élan Drug Delivery, Athlone               Analytical Chemist                    1998 - 2000         

Intel Ireland Ltd., Leixlip                     Process Engineer (co-op)         1997