Michail Kastellorizios, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Education & Experience:

I received a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and a Master’s degree in Industrial Pharmaceutics from the University of Patras, Greece. The focus of my Master’s research was development of liposomal formulations as coatings for aortic stents. I received a PhD in Pharmaceutics from the University of Connecticut where I worked on sustained release polymeric formulations for the prevention of the foreign body reaction to implanted medical devices. After receiving my PhD, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Connecticut where I mentored graduate students and worked on in vitro dissolution method development and bioequivalence studies of in situ forming implants. Prior to my current position I was the Director of R&D at a medical device startup (Biorasis, Inc.). While at Biorasis, I led the research and development efforts to advance the company’s continuous glucose monitoring biosensor towards first in human clinical testing.

Teaching Areas & Interests:

I have mentored graduate, undergraduate, and PharmD students and I have served on PhD students’ thesis committees. I mentored a Senior Design team at the University of Connecticut School of Engineering that won first place for their development of a smart watch prototype for diabetes management. Mentoring students of all levels in pharmaceutics and formulation science is one of my main priorities.

Professional Activities & Awards:

I am a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) and I received the 2015 Formulation Design and Development award for excellence in graduate research. I am a member of the Controlled Release Society and was a founding committee member of the Controlled Release Society Connecticut Student Chapter where we won the Student Chapter of the Year award in 2012. I have served as reviewer for various pharmaceutics journals as well as NIH study sections.

Scholarly Interests:

My research applies formulation science and physical pharmacy:

• Pharmaceutical technology with emphasis on studying nanoparticle penetration and distribution in target tissues, development and of novel drug formulations for targeted therapy;
• Complex dosage forms development and characterization;
• In vitro diagnostic tools including medical devices and device-drug combination products;
• Space medicine with emphasis on utilization of the International Space Station to study physicochemical characteristics of complex dosage forms and development of stable medications for astronauts.

Link to Dr. Kastellorizios’ Lab Page