Staff Profile
Dr Keng Wooi Ng
Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics
- Email: keng.ng@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 2343
- Personal Website: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/kengng
- Address: School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Medical Sciences
Newcastle University
King George VI Building
Queen Victoria Road
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
Background
Professional Experience
Editorial Board Membership
Qualifications
- MPharm, Cardiff University
- PhD in Drug Delivery, Cardiff University
- PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Brighton
Professional Experience
- Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, Newcastle University (Present)
- 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
Professional Affiliations
- Member of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Translational and Clinical Research Institute
Teaching
I teach pharmaceutics across the programmes offered in the School of Pharmacy, including:
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.
In addition to delivering teaching, I also lead Stage 2 of the MPharm programme and the Stage 2 Formulation Critique assessment. I am also a member of the School Execute Committee.
Research
For more details including recent research news, 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
- Pharmaceutical formulation
- Accessible diagnostic technologies, with a particular interest in transdermal microneedles and nanotechnology
Our current projects focus on the following areas:
- Disease detection in the skin using rapid, point-of-care microneedle biosensors.
- Drug delivery in the skin using microneedles, nanoformulations and other barrier-mitigating strategies.
- 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.
I welcome enquiries for research positions and collaborations.
Publications
- 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.
- M Ways TM, Ng KW, Lau WM, Khutoryanskiy VV. Silica Nanoparticles in Transmucosal Drug Delivery. Pharmaceutics 2020, 12(8), 751.
- Dixon RV, Lau WM, Moghimi SM, Ng KW. The diagnostic potential of microneedles in infectious diseases. Precision Nanomedicine 2020, 3(4), 629-640.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- Ng KW. Penetration enhancement of topical formulations. Pharmaceutics 2018, 10(2), 51.
- Ng KW, Moghimi SM. Skin biosensing and bioanalysis: what the future holds. Precision Nanomedicine 2018, 1(2), 124-127.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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, 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.
- 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, 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, 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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, 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.
- 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, 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.
- 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.