Staff Profile

Qualifications

• MPharm, Cardiff University
• PhD in Drug Delivery, Cardiff University
• PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Brighton

Professional Experience

• Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, Newcastle University (Present)
• Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, Newcastle University
• Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, University of Brighton
• Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, University of Brighton
• Postdoctoral Research Assistant (Pharmaceutics), University of Reading
• Research Assistant (Critical Care Immunology), Imperial College London

Editorial Board Membership

• European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics
• Frontiers Bioengineering and Biotechnology

Professional Affiliations

• Member of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

I teach pharmaceutics across the programmes offered in the School of Pharmacy, including:

• MPharm Pharmacy
• MRes Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine

The topics covered range from fundamental principles of physical chemistry and analytical techniques, to complex drug delivery systems and preclinical research. I introduce students to the concepts of formulation, routes of administration and dosage form design and manufacture. These are delivered in a blended form as lectures, workshops, online materials, laboratory practicals and research activities that provide hands-on application of subject knowledge to develop real-world skills. They are delivered with a focus on applications in a research, industrial or clinical setting.

I was formerly the Stage 2 Lead for the MPharm programme (2019–2023).

For my full research profile and latest research updates, please visit https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/kengng.

My research aims to advance precision medicine and theranostics through the development and integration of:

• Targeted drug delivery systems
• Accessible point-of-care diagnostic devices

With a particular focus on transdermal microneedles patches and biosensors.

Our current projects focus on the following areas:

• Microneedle immunosensors for real-time protein biomarker detection;
• 3D-printed microneedles for drug delivery and diagnostic applications;
• Laser-assisted methods for enhancing skin permeability;
• Long-acting microneedle formulations for treating chronic medical conditions;
• Understanding and bioengineering the skin. We use this work to develop suitable laboratory models for testing our disease detection and drug delivery technologies, but the same models also have applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

My research has been funded by the EPSRC, MRC, Research England, Wellcome Trust and Northern Accelerator.

I welcome enquiries for research positions and collaborations.

• Articles

  • Bocchino A, Marquez-Grana C, Singh OP, Melnik E, Kurzhals S, Mutinati GC, Coulman S, Martin C, Ng KW, Vergilio MM, Birchall J, Donovan P, Galvin P, O'Mahony C. A multifunctional platform for the production and customization of polymer-based microneedle devices. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 2025, 388, 116491.
  • Smith E, Lau WM, Abdelghany TM, Vokajlovic D, Novakovic K, Ng KW. Vac-and-fill: A micromoulding technique for fabricating microneedle arrays with vacuum-activated, hands-free mould-filling. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 2024, 650, 123706.
  • Vukajlovic D, Timmons R, Macesic S, Sanderson J, Xie F, Abdelghany TM, Smith E, Lau WM, Ng KW, Novakovic K. Mathematical modelling of genipin-bovine serum albumin interaction using fluorescence intensity measurements. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2024, 276(Part 1), 133850.
  • Al Musaimi O, Ng KW, Gavva V, Valenzo OMM, Haroon HB, Williams DR. Elastin-Derived Peptide-Based Hydrogels as a Potential Drug Delivery System. Gels 2024, 10(8), 531.
  • Rimawe B, Lee JY, Ng KW, Goh CF. In vitro evaluation of microneedle strength: A comparison of test configurations and experimental insights. RSC Pharmaceutics 2024, 1(2), 227-233.
  • Dixon RV, Lau WM, Ng KW. A microneedle-microplate platform to detect biomarkers in the skin. British Journal of Pharmacy 2022, 7(2), 1164.
  • Dixon RV, Skaria E, Lau WM, Manning P, Birch-Machin MA, Moghimi SM, Ng KW. Microneedle-based devices for point-of-care infectious disease diagnostics. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2021, 11(8), 2344-2361.
  • Dixon RV, Lau WM, Moghimi SM, Ng KW. The diagnostic potential of microneedles in infectious diseases. Precision Nanomedicine 2020, 3(4), 629-640.
  • M Ways TM, Ng KW, Lau WM, Khutoryanskiy VV. Silica Nanoparticles in Transmucosal Drug Delivery. Pharmaceutics 2020, 12(8), 751.
  • Williams AC, Obeid KA, Ng KW, Lau WM. The influence of oxygen and pressure on keratinocytes. British Journal of Pharmacy 2019, 4(1), S6-S7.
  • Skaria E, Patel BA, Flint MS, Ng KW. Poly(lactic acid)/Carbon Nanotube Composite Microneedle Arrays for Dermal Biosensing. Analytical Chemistry 2019, 91(7), 4436-4443.
  • Totti S, Ng KW, Dale L, Lian G, Chen T, Velliou E. A novel versatile animal-free 3D tool for rapid low-cost assessment of immunodiagnostic microneedles. Sensors and Actuators: B. Chemical 2019, 296, 126652.
  • MWays TM, Lau WM, Ng KW, Khutoryanskiy VV. Synthesis of thiolated, PEGylated and POZylated silica nanoparticles and evaluation of their retention on rat intestinal mucosa in vitro. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 2018, 122, 230-238.
  • Alves DR, Booth SP, Scavone P, Schellenberge P, Salvage J, Dedi C, Thet N-T, Jenkins ATA, Waters R, Ng KW, Overall ADJ, Metcalfe AD, Nzakizwanayo J, Jones BV. Development of a High-Throughput ex-Vivo Burn Wound Model Using Porcine Skin, and Its Application to Evaluate New Approaches to Control Wound Infection. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 2018, 8, 196.
  • Ng KW, Lau WM, Williams AC. Towards pain-free diagnosis of skin diseases through multiplexed microneedles: biomarker extraction and detection using a highly sensitive blotting method. Drug Delivery and Translational Research 2015, 5(4), 387–396.
  • Correia GD, Ng KW, Wijeyesekera A, Gala-Peralta S, Williams R, MacCarthy-Morrogh S, Jiménez B, Inwald D, Macrae D, Frost G, Holmes E, Pathan N. Metabolic profiling of children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease. Critical Care Medicine 2015, 43(7), 1467-1476.
  • Lau WM, Ng KW, Sakenyte K, Heard CM. Distribution of esterase activity in porcine ear skin, and the effects of freezing and heat separation. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 2012, 433(1-2), 10-15.
  • Ng KW, Allen ML, Desai A, Macrae D, Pathan N. Cardioprotective effects of insulin: how intensive insulin therapy may benefit cardiac surgery patients. Circulation 2012, 125(5), 721-728.
  • Lau WM, Ng KW, White AW, Heard CM. Therapeutic and cytotoxic effects of the novel antipsoriasis codrug, naproxyl-dithranol, on HaCaT cells. Molecular Pharmaceutics 2011, 8(6), 2398–2407.
  • Pathan N, Burmester M, Adamovic T, Berk M, Ng KW, Betts H, Macrae D, Waddell S, Paul-Clark M, Nuamah R, Mein C, Levin M, Montana G, Mitchell JA. Intestinal injury and endotoxemia in children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2011, 184(11).
  • Ng KW, Greco M, Allen M, Desai A, Macrae D, Bacon S, Gevers E, Inwald D, Pathan N. Immune dysregulation in children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease is marked by altered antigen-sensing capability. Critical Care Medicine 2011, 39(12), 36.
  • Ng KW, Pearton M, Allender CJ, Morrissey A, McLoughlin P, Birchall JC. Biodegradable microneedles for intra-epidermal vaccination. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 2010, 62(6), 798.
  • Ng KW, Pearton M, Coulman S, Anstey A, Gateley C, Morrissey A, O'Mahony C, Allender C, Birchall J. Tissue viability and Langerhans cell behaviour in an ex-vivo human skin model for cutaneous DNA vaccination. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 2009, 61, A2-A3.
  • Ng KW, Pearton M, Coulman S, Anstey AV, Gateley C, Morrissey A, Allender CJ, Birchall JC. Ex vivo immunological studies using excised human skin. British Journal Of Dermatology 2009, 160(4), 921.
  • Ng KW, Pearton M, Coulman S, Anstey A, Gateley C, Morrissey A, Allender C, Birchall J. Development of an ex vivo human skin model for intradermal vaccination: Tissue viability and Langerhans cell behaviour. Vaccine 2009, 27(43), 5948-5955.
  • Khan A, Benboubetra M, Sayyed PZ, Ng KW, Fox S, Beck G, Benter IF, Akhtar S. Sustained polymeric delivery of gene silencing antisense ODNs, siRNA, DNAzymes and ribozymes: in vitro and in vivo studies. Journal of Drug Targeting 2004, 12(6), 393-404.

• Book Chapters

  • Lau WM, Ng KW. Finite and infinite dosing. In: Dragicevic, N; Maibach, HI, ed. Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Drug Penetration Into/Through the Skin. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2017, pp.35-44.
  • Ng KW, Lau WM, Williams AC. Synergy between chemical penetration enhancers. In: Dragicevic, N; Maibach, H, ed. Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Chemical Methods in Penetration Enhancement. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2015, pp.373-385.
  • Ng KW, Lau WM. Skin Deep: The Basics of Human Skin Structure and Drug Penetration. In: Dragicevic, N; Maibach, H, ed. Percutaneous Penetration Enhancers Chemical Methods in Penetration Enhancement. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2015, pp.3-11.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Dale L, Totti S, Velliou E, Lian G, Chen T, Ng KW. Validation of an immunodiagnostic microneedle device for the detection of the melanoma biomarker, S100B. In: 10th APS International PharmSci Conference. 2019, University of Greenwich, London, UK: Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
  • Hill-Tout J, Covill D, Lau WM, Ng KW. Thermoreversible hydrogel-coated microneedles for dermal drug delivery. In: 10th APS International PharmSci Conference. 2019, University of Greenwich, London, UK: Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
  • Sivaharan AJ, Lau WM, Ng KW. Gel-based, 3D visual and colorimetric detection of a skin cancer biomarker using immunodiagnostic microneedles. In: 10th APS International PharmSci Conference. 2019, University of Greenwich, London, UK: Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
  • Ng KW, Obeid KA, Williams AC, Lau WM. Decoupling the effects of hyperbaric pressure and hyperoxygenation on human keratinocyte behaviour. In: 10th APS International PharmSci Conference. 2019, University of Greenwich, London, UK: Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
  • Totti S, Ng KW, Lian G, Chen T, Velliou E. In situ melanoma biomarker detection on a novel skin cancer 3D model via immunodiagnostic microneedles. In: Tissue and Cell Engineering Society Conference 2018. 2018, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK: AO Foundation.
  • Totti S, Ng KW, Lian G, Chen T, Velliou E. A novel 3D polymeric tool for accurate screening of the performance of immunodiagnostic polymeric microneedles. In: Bioinspired Materials Conference 2018. 2018, Manchester: MDPI.
  • Velliou E, Totti S, Ng KW, Lian G, Chen T. A Multifunctional Versatile 3D Melanoma Model for Rapid Micro-Needle Based in Situ detection of Disease Specific Biomarkers. In: AIChE Annual Meeting. 2018, Pittsburgh, PA, USA: American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
  • Skaria E, Flint MS, Patel BA, Ng KW. Nanocomposite Microneedle Electrochemical Arrays for Non-Invasive Transdermal Sensing of Analytes. In: PittCon. 2017, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

• Editorials

  • Ng KW, Moghimi SM. Skin biosensing and bioanalysis: what the future holds. Precision Nanomedicine 2018, 1(2), 124-127.
  • Ng KW. Penetration enhancement of topical formulations. Pharmaceutics 2018, 10(2), 51.