Professor Mingzhong Li

Prof Li's research is focused on solving key challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry for improvements in production quality and reduction in manufacturing costs through utilising cutting edge analytical and modelling techniques to explore optimal formulations starting from a molecular level characterisation and up to bulk properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and excipients and application of real time process analysis and simulation techniques for process monitoring and control.

Prof Li's current research areas include using co-crystallisation approach to modification of APIs’ physical and chemical properties, multiscale modeling of drug product and manufacturing process design (i.e., molecular dynamics modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and population balance model), application of physiologically based pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) to evaluate in vivo performance of formulation, development of online particle sizing techniques for control of crystallisation processes and development of online process models for control of fluidised bed granulation processes.

Pharmaceutical technologies group.

Click here for a full listing of Mingzhong Li's publications and outputs.

• Pharmaceutical co-crystal screening
• Pre-formation development: in vitro dissolution and stability tests 
• Multiscale modeling of drug product and manufacturing process design (i.e., molecular dynamics modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and population balance model)
• Application of physiologically based pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) to evaluate formation performance in vivo
• Patient centric oral medicines for Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Crystallisation/Co-crystallisation mechnisms (i.e., nucleation and crystal growth)
• Particle sizing, process modelling, control and optimisation (i.e., granulation processes and crystallisation)

• Formulation science and drug delivery
• Analytical techniques and chemometrics
• Crystallisation/co-crystallisation.

• PhD
• MSc
• BSc.

• Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Science
• MSc Pharmaceutical Quality by Design.

• UKRI Talent Panel College 
• EPSRC Peer Review College  
• Committee member, British Association for Crystal Growth

• Particle technology subject group in Institution of Chemical Engineers

• British Association for Crystal Growth
• Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Great Britain

• A member of Conference Committee of “The 47^th British Association for Crystal Growth annual conference”, 27-29 June 2016, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
• A member of Conference Committee of “The 46^th British Association for Crystal Growth annual conference”, 21-23 June 2015, Queen Mary, London UK
• Chair on “Surface Dissolution Imaging Symposium”, De Montfort University, 12-13 June, 2012.

• The 47^th British Association for Crystal Growth annual conference, 27-29 June 2016, University of Leeds, Leeds UK
• The 46^th British Association for Crystal Growth annual conference, 21-23 June 2015, Queen Mary, London UK

• Co-crystallisation
• Pre-formulation/formulation
• In vitro dissolution
• Pharmaceutical process modelling and control
• QbD.

• Mr. Jay Makadia,3rd-year PhD student, 1st supervisor
• Mr. Morteza Haghshenas, 3rd-year PhD student, 1st supervisor
• Mr. Chufan Liang, 2nd-year PhD student, 1st supervisor
• Mr. Mayowa Adeyemi, 2nd-year PhD studnet, 1st supervisor
• Mr. Shadrack Madu, 1st-year PhD student, 1st supervisor
• Miss Peach Alinda, 1st-year PhD student, 1st supervisor

• In-process particle sizing by refractive index measurement, EPSRC, 01/09/2008-31/08/2010, £196072, PI.
• Network Travel Grant, EPSRC Directed Assembly Network, £600, 2013, PI
• Building the International Leading Pharmaceutical Research Capacity for the Pharmaceutical Technologies Group at De Montfort University, Higher Education Innovation fund, £8000, 2013-2014, PI
• European Pharmaceutical Cocrystal Collaboration Network for EU Grant Applications, Higher Education Innovation fund, £2900, 2015, PI
• Equipment Capital, Higher Education Innovation fund, £72,878, 2016, PI.
• Developing Patient Centric Oral Medicines for Neglected Tropical Disease, EPSRC, EP/R021198/1, £71,217, 1/4/2018-31/3/2019, PI.
• Development of Patentable Novel Antimalarial Medicines, Funded by HEIF (Higher Education Innovation fund), £14,924, 1/01/2018 -31/07/2018, PI.
• Patient-centric supramolecular formulations of new anti-leishmanial drugs for Indian Communities, EPSRC, EP/T020490/1, £906,253, 1/4/2020-31/3 /2022, PI at De Montfort Univeristy (Durham University is the leading partner of the project consortium). 
• Multiple-reactor Crystallisation System – Polar Bear Plus Crystal, HEIF, £19,938, 2020, Principal investigator
• Mechanistic Multiscale Co-crystal Dissolution Modelling, EPSRC, EP/V047329/1, £202,422, 01/02/2021-31/01/2023, PI
• Patient-centric Supramolecular Formulations of Novel Antimalarial Drugs from Nigerian Plants, Royal Society, IES\R2\222004, £12,000, 02/11/2022-01/11/2024, PI
• Exploring a novel X-ray technique to monitor co-crystal dissolution in situ for the design of medicine, Daiwa Foundation, 4179/15016, £9000, 01/01/2023-31/12/2023, PI

• Pharmaceutical technologies group network, RIF, 1/01/2010-31/07/2010, £5000, PI.
• Equipment Capital, HEIF4, 2010, £67,850, PI

• Graduate School High Flyers PhD Scholarships 2017-18, DMU, £59,100, PI.

• Graduate School High Flyers PhD Scholarships 2016-17, DMU, £59,100, Co-I. 

• Graduate School PhD Scholarships 2020-2023, DMU, £59,100, PI.

•  Patient-Centric Cocyrstal Formulations of Praziquantel for Paediatric Use, QR GCRF, DMU, £24,940, 2020, PI

PCT/GB2009/002599, Determining the particle size distribution of a suspension, UK.

• Dr. Ning Qiao, PhD, 2014, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Investigation of Carbamazepine-Nicotinamide cocrystal solubility and dissolution by the UV imaging system

• Dr. Huolong Liu, PhD, 2014, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Modeling and control of batch pulsed top-spray fluidized bed granulation

• Dr. Shi Qiu, PhD, 2015, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Effect of polymers on Carbamazepine cocrystals phase transformation and release profiles

• Dr. Minshan Guo, PhD, 2018, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Investigating the Dissolution and Permeation Properties of Flufenamica Acid Cocrystals

• Dr. Preyanthiny Kirubakaran, PhD, 2021, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Mechanistic Understanding of Co-crystal solubility and dissolution by using a combination of Experimental and Molecular Modelling Techniques

• Dr. Manreet Kaur, PhD, 2021, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Artimisinin Bioavailability Improvement

• Dr. Linzie Bolus, PhD, 2021, 1st supervisor

PhD thesis: Developing multi-component crystalforms of Daidzein and Luteolin forBioavailability improvement

2022: Miss Solin Sam, Miss Anju Thomas, Miss Anu Sunny, Miss elizabeth Joy

2021: Mr Orvil Pereira, Mr Kassim Abukassim, Miss Amina Sheta 

2020: Miss Peace Alinda, Miss , Miss natasha Buchanan, Miss Priyanka Ahmed

2019: Mr Atif Qayyun, Miss Emma Holden, Miss natasha Buchanan, Miss Priyanka Ahmed

2018: Mr Chufan Liang, Mr. Chuhong Cheng, Mr. Weilin Tan, Mr. Mohammed Patel

2017: Miss Yasmine Alyassin; Mr. Saeed Gugu; Mr. Abdulrahman Nuhu; Mr. Aaron Gill; Mr. Rahman Ahmed

2016: Miss Jialu Situ; Miss Manreet Kaur; Miss Preyanthiny Kirubakaran; Mr. Jay Makadia

2015: Miss Junmin Lai; Mr. Balraj Rai; Miss Samya Khaled

2014: Miss Minshan Guo; Mr. Dillan Pattni; Mr. Xuechao Hou; Mr. Simron Rai

2012: Miss Fatma Ali; Miss  Ayobami Temitope Ajibola; Mr. Junaid Razaq; Mr. Rukhsar Tariq

• Oct 2023: Congratulations to Shadrack for publishing a paper entitled" Assessing Dose-Exposure-Response Relationships of Miltefosine in Adults and Children using Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling Approach " in Pharmaceutical Research, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11095-023-03610-0  
• May 2023: Congratulations to Kejing for publishing a paper entitled "Optimisation of Pharmaceutical Cocrystal Dissolution Performance through a Synergistic Precipitation Inhibition" in Pharmaceutical Research, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11095-023-03532-x  
• April 2023: Congratulations to Jay for publishing a paper entitled " Aprigenin cocrystals: from computational prescreening to physicochemical property characterization" in Crystal Growth & Design, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.cgd.3c00030  
• November 2022: Congratulations to the Group to be awarded a Daiwa Foundation Award for supporting reciprocal visits between the group with the Fukuoka/Gunma Universities to stimulate collaborations.
• October 2022: Congratulations to the Group to be awarded a Royal Society International Exchanges award for overseas travel between collaborators in the UK and Nigeria.
• August 2022: Congratulations go to Dr. Manreet Kaur,  who has been awarded "Doctoral Thesis Prize" for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences in the Doctoral Thesis Prize competition. Her thesis entitled: Artimisinin Bioavailability Improvement. 
• August 2022: Congratulations to Peace for publishing a paper entitled “Nucleation of Supersaturated Flufenamic Acid Cocrystal Solutions in the Presence of a Polymer” in Crystal Growth & Design.  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.cgd.2c00323
• July 2022: Prof. Li has been awarded a Vice‑Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award (VCDTA).  https://demontfortuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/DMUHome/staff_news/Pages/July2022/Awards-to-Recognise-Teaching-Excellence.aspx 
• Dec. 2021: Congratulations to Jay for publishing a paper entitled " Artemisinin-acetylenedicarboxylic acid cocrystal: screening, structure determination, and physicochemical property characterisation" in CrystEngComm, https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/ce/d1ce01400e/unauth   
• Dec. 2021:  Congratulations to Linzie to pass her Viva with minor corrections.
• Nov. 2021: Congratulations to Manreet for publishing two papers entitled " Artemisinin Cocrystals for Bioavailability Enhancement. Part 1: Formulation Design and Role of the Polymeric Excipient" in Molecular Pharmaceutics, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00384 and "Artemisinin Cocrystals for Bioavailability Enhancement. Part 2: In Vivo Bioavailability and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling" in Molecular  Pharmaceutics,   https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00385
• July 2021: Welcome Dr. Kejing Shi as a PDRF to join the group.
• Jun. 2021: Congratulations to Manreet to pass her Viva with minor corrections.
• Feb. 2021: Welcome Dr. Preyanthiny Kirubakaran as a PDRF to join the group. 
• Feb. 2021: Congratulations to Preya to pass her Viva with minor corrections.
• Jan. 2021: Congratulations to Peace Alinda to be offered a PhD studentship to study in the group.
• Dec 2020: Congratulations to Group to be awarded an EPSRC grant.
• Dec 2020: Congratulations to Group to be awarded funds for Crystal16.
• Dec 2020: Congratulations to Group to be awarded funds for BIOVIA Materials Studio AcademicResearch Suite.
• July 2020: Congratulations to Mr Shadrack Madu to be offered a PhD studentship to study in the group.
• July 2020: Congratulations to Linzie for publishing a paper entitled "Cocrystallisation of Daidzein with pyridine-derived molecules: Screening, structure determination and characterisation" in Journal of Molecular Structure, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022286020312187?dgcid=author;
• February 2020: Congratulations to the group to be awarded funds for Polar Bear Plus Crystal.
• February 2020: Congratulations to the group as part of  UK-India collaborative consortium to be awarded an EPSRC project. The project is a multidisciplinary, multicentre Anglo-Indian collaboration between Prof Patrick Steel (lead), Profs Jon Steed and Andrew Russell at Durham, De Montfort University, Keele University (Profs Helen Price and Lisa Dikomitis), University of Hyderabad (Prof Ashwini Nangia), IICB Kolkata (Prof Nahid Ali) and BHU (Prof Shyam Sundar). In this UK-India collaborative project, that brings together chemistry, pharmaceutics, formulation science, parasitology and medical anthropology, we aim build on these to develop novel antileishmanial compounds with better modes of administration.
• January 2020: Welcome Mr Mayowa Adeyemi to join the group for PhD study
• December 2019: Congratulations to Preya for publishing a paper entitled "Understanding the effects of a polymer on the surface dissolution of pharmaceutical cocrystals using combined experimental and molecular dynamics simulation approaches" in Molecular Pharmaceutics, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.9b00955
• November 2019: Congratulations to Manreet to be awarded a travel bursary to attend the GCRF NTD network Workshop in Techniques and Technologies in Drug Discovery to be held in Mendoza, Argentina  1-4 November 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6597573123493638144/
• July 2019: Congratulations go to our post graduate research student, Miss  Manreet Kaur, 3^rd year PhD student from the Pharmaceutical Technologies Group, who has been awarded the poster competitions  at the 50^th annual meeting of the British Association of Crystal Growth (BACG) in London. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6556926232737398784/
• Story of Dr. Minshan Guo: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2019/may/minshan-lands-lectureship-at-one-of-chinas-leading-universities.aspx
• April 2019: Welcome Mr Chufan Liang to join the group for PhD study.
• March 2019: Congratulations go to Linzie to win 2nd Prize of Research Degree Students' Poster Competition
• September 2018: Welcome Mr Morteza Haghshenas to join the group for PhD study.
• August 2018: Congratulations to Minshan to pass her Viva with minor corrections.
• August 2018: Congratulations to Minshan for publishing a paper entitled "Investigating Permeation Behaviour of Flufenamic Acid Cocrystals using A Dissolution and Permeation System" in Molecular Pharmaceutics: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.8b00670 
• July 2018: Welcome Mr Jay Makadia to join the group for PhD study.
• April 2018: Congratulation to Linzie for winning Research Degree Students' Poster Competition 3rd Prize.
• March 2018: Congratulation to the group to be awarded an EPSRC project.
• January 2018: Welcome Dr. Ke Wang to join the group as a Research Assistant.
• November 2017: Dr. Li is Guest Editor for Special Issue "Pharmaceutical Crystallisation Science and Engineering" in Pharmaceutics.
• October 2017: Congratulations to Minshan for publishing a paper entitled "Insight into Flufenamic Acid Cocrystal Dissolution in the Presence of a Polymer in Solution: from Single Crystal to Powder Dissolution" in Molecular Pharmaceutics: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.7b00712.
• July 2017: Congratulations go to our post graduate research student, Miss  Preya Kirubakaran,1^st year PhD student from the Pharmaceutical Technologies Group, who has been awarded the 1^st place of the poster competitions  at the 48^th annual meeting of the British Association of Crystal Growth (BACG) in Manchester, from 27th to 30th of June, with more 150 delegates from 14 countries
• February 2017: Congratulations on Linzie Bolus's success on the award of a high flyer scholarship. 
• June 2016: Congratulations go to Dr. Shi Qiu, who has been awarded "Doctoral Thesis Prize" for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences in the Doctoral Thesis Prize competition. Her thesis entitled: Effects of Polymers on Carbamazepine cocrystals phase transformation and release profiles.

• Group is recruiting two full studenship PhDs with deadline of 25th January 2024. Details can be found as https://www.dmu.ac.uk/doctoral-college/study/scholarships.aspx 

• Group is recruiting a full studentship PhD with deadline of 11th January 2021. Details can be found as https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CCU192/phd-studentship-multi-scale-modelling-for-pharmaceutical-co-crystal-products or https://www.dmu.ac.uk/doctoral-college/study/scholarships.aspx .

• Group is recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with deadline of 28th Feb. 2021. Details can be found as 

  https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CDX298/post-doctoral-research-fellow  or https://dmuhub.dmu.ac.uk:444//sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/hrrcf_a_posting_apply?PARAM=cG9zdF9pbnN0X2d1aWQ9MDA1MDU2QTU1QzY5MUVEQjk4QzJEQkQ5MzQ1OUQ1MkUmY2FuZF90eXBlPUVYVCY9&saml2=disabled&sap-client=900&sap-language=EN#