Dr Sion Coulman
Senior Lecturer
Qualifications
- Registered pharmacist 2002-present
- PhD in drug delivery, Cardiff University, 2007
- MPharm, University of Wales, Cardiff, 2001
Career profile
I graduated from the University of Wales, Cardiff in 2001 with an MPharm degree and subsequently moved into my pre-registration year in community pharmacy. In the summer of 2002 I became a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Great Britain and began professional practice as a locum pharmacist, working part-time in the community sector. This coincided with the beginning of my PhD studies at Cardiff University where I spent three years investigating novel transdermal delivery systems for the delivery and expression of exogenous plasmid DNA in human skin. In 2005, whilst completing my PhD studies, I began a short contract at Cardiff University as a Teaching Fellow. In the summer of 2006 I took up a Lectureship at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and I am now a Senior Lecturer.
Committees and reviewing
- Engagement Committee - Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair Learning
2020
- Arikat, F.et al. 2020. Targeting proinsulin to local immune cells using an intradermal microneedle delivery system; a potential antigen-specific immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes. Journal of Controlled Release 322, pp. 593-601. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.02.031)
2019
- Dul, M.et al. 2019. Conjugation of a peptide autoantigen to gold nanoparticles for intradermally administered antigen specific immunotherapy. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 562, pp. 303-312. (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.03.041)
2018
- Gualeni, B.et al. 2018. Minimally-invasive and targeted therapeutic cell delivery to the skin using microneedle devices. British Journal of Dermatology 178(3), pp. 731-739. (10.1111/bjd.15923)
- Davies, L.et al. 2018. Accelerating topical anaesthesia using microneedles. Skin Pharmacology and Physiology 30(6), pp. 277-283. (10.1159/000479530)
2017
- Moreno, E.et al. 2017. Skin vaccination using microneedles coated with a plasmid DNA cocktail encoding nucleosomal histones of Leishmania spp.. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 533(1), pp. 236-244. (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.09.055)
- Dul, M.et al. 2017. Hydrodynamic gene delivery in human skin using a hollow microneedle device. Journal of Controlled Release 265, pp. 120-131. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.02.028)
- Zhao, X.et al. 2017. Formulation of hydrophobic peptides for skin delivery via coated microneedles. Journal of Controlled Release 265, pp. 2-13. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.03.015)
- McGrath, M.et al. 2017. Editorial. Journal of Controlled Release 265, pp. 1-1. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.10.030)
- Jones, B.et al. 2017. Imaging techniques for dry powder inhaler capsules. Inhalation
2016
- Shelvey, B., Coulman, S. and John, D. 2016. Evaluating an undergraduate interprofessional education session for medical and pharmacy undergraduates on therapeutics and prescribing: the medical student perspective. Advances in Medical Education and Practice 7, pp. 661-670. (10.2147/AMEP.S116618)
- Czubala, M. A.et al. 2016. TGFβ induces a SAMHD1-independent post-entry restriction to HIV-1 infection of human epithelial Langerhans cells. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 136(10), pp. 1981-1989. (10.1016/j.jid.2016.05.123)
- Chong, R. H.et al. 2016. Evaluating the sensitivity, reproducibility and flexibility of a method to test hard shell capsules intended for use in dry powder inhalers. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 500(1-2), pp. 316-325. (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.01.034)
- Zhao, X.et al. 2016. Microneedle delivery of autoantigen for immunotherapy in type 1 diabetes. Journal of Controlled Release 223, pp. 178-187. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2015.12.040)
2015
- Alhadj Ali, M.et al. 2015. Topical steroid therapy induces pro-tolerogenic changes in Langerhans cells in human skin. Immunology 146(3), pp. 411-422. (10.1111/imm.12518)
- Alrakaf, S.et al. 2015. An international comparison study of pharmacy students’ achievement goals and their relationship to assessment type and scores. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 79(3), pp. 1-8. (10.5688/ajpe79335)
2014
- Griffiths, C. M.et al. 2014. Exploring MPharm students’; opinion on a specialist cancer treatment hospital placement. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 22(S2), pp. 96-97. (10.1111/ijpp.12146)
- Alrakaf, S.et al. 2014. An international validation study of two achievement goal measures in a pharmacy education context. Advances in Medical Education and Practice 2014(5), pp. 339-345. (10.2147/AMEP.S68241)
2013
- Chong, R.et al. 2013. Gene silencing following siRNA delivery to skin via coated steel microneedles: In vitro and in vivo proof-of-concept. Journal of Controlled Release 166(3), pp. 211-219. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.12.030)
- Groves, R. B.et al. 2013. An anisotropic, hyperelastic model for skin: experimental measurements, finite element modelling and identification of parameters for human and murine skin. Journal of the Mechanical Behaviour of Biomedical Materials 18, pp. 167-180. (10.1016/j.jmbbm.2012.10.021)
- Torrisi, B. M.et al. 2013. Pocketed microneedles for rapid delivery of a liquid-state botulinum toxin A formulation into human skin. Journal of Controlled Release 165(2), pp. 146-152. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.11.010)
- Torrisi, B. M.et al. 2013. The development of a sensitive methodology to characterise hard shell capsule puncture by dry powder inhaler pins. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 456(2), pp. 545-552. (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2013.08.011)
- Chong, R. H.et al. 2013. Gene silencing following siRNA delivery to skin via coated steel microneedles: In vitro and in vivo proof-of-concept. Journal of Controlled Release 166(3), pp. 211. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.12.030)
2012
- Pearton, M.et al. 2012. Microneedle delivery of plasmid DNA to living human skin: Formulation coating, skin insertion and gene expression. Journal of Controlled Release 160(3), pp. 561-569. (10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.04.005)
- Groves, R. B.et al. 2012. Quantifying the mechanical properties of human skin to optimise future microneedle device design. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering 15(1), pp. 73-82. (10.1080/10255842.2011.596481)
2011
- Chong, R.et al. 2011. Nucleic acid delivery to skin for the potential treatment of dermatopathogenic conditions [Abstract]. Human Gene Therapy 22(10), pp. A82-A82.
- Smith, M. W., Birchall, J. C. and Coulman, S. 2011. The wider contribution of microbiology to the pharmaceutical sciences. In: Denver, S. P. et al. eds. Hugo and Russell's Pharmaceutical Microbiology 8th Edition. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 463-482.
- Coulman, S.et al. 2011. In vivo, in situ imaging of microneedle insertion into the skin of human volunteers using optical coherence tomography. Pharmaceutical Research 28(1), pp. 66-81. (10.1007/s11095-010-0167-x)
- Groves, R. B.et al. 2011. Using inverse finite element modeling to identify the anisotropic mechanical properties of human and mouse skin in tension. Presented at: International Conference on the Mechanics of Biomaterials and Tissues, Hawaii, USA, 11-15 December 2011.
2010
- Hughes, M. L.et al. 2010. What makes a good lecturer? MPharm students’ views. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 18(s1), pp. 29-30. (10.1111/j.2042-7174.2010.00027.x)
2009
- Ng, K. W.et al. 2009. Development of an ex vivo human skin model for intradermal vaccination: Tissue viability and Langerhans cell behaviour. Vaccine 27(43), pp. 5948-5955. (10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.07.088)
- Ng, K. W.et al. 2009. Tissue viability and Langerhans cell behaviour in an ex-vivo human skin model for cutaneous DNA vaccination [Abstract]. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 61(S1), pp. A1-A5. (10.1211/002235709789037044)
- Coulman, S. 2009. Targeting the delivery of proteins, DNA and vaccines to the skin [Abstract]. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 61(S1), pp. A146., article number: 201. (10.1211/002235709789037080)
- Coulman, S.et al. 2009. Microneedle mediated delivery of nanoparticles into human skin. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 366(1-2), pp. 190-200. (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2008.08.040)
- Ng, K. W.et al. 2009. Ex vivo immunological studies using excised human skin. British Journal Of Dermatology 160(4), pp. 921-921.
2006
- Birchall, J. C.et al. 2006. Cutaneous gene expression of plasmid DNA in excised human skin following delivery via microchannels created by radio frequency ablation. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 312(1-2), pp. 15-23. (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2005.12.036)
- Coulman, S.et al. 2006. Minimally invasive cutaneous delivery of macromolecules and plasmid DNA via microneedles. Current drug delivery 3(1), pp. 65-75.
2005
- Birchall, J. C.et al. 2005. Cutaneous DNA delivery and gene expression in ex vivo human skin explants via wet-etch microfabricated microneedles. Journal of drug targeting 13(7), pp. 415-421. (10.1080/10611860500383705)
- PH1122 The role of the pharmacist in professional practice
- PH1124 Human body systems
- PH2107 Formulation science
- PH3110 Optimisation of pharmaceutical care
- PH3114 Design, formulation and quality assurance of medicinal products
- PH3202 Research methodology
- PH4116 Pharmacy research or scholarship project
- PH4117 Pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and the population
- PH4118 Pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacy practice and the patient
Research interests
My principal research interest is the development of the microneedle device as a non-invasive method for trans/intra-dermal delivery of novel and existing medicines, and the translation of microneedle technology from a laboratory prototype to a clinically useful device. The microneedle device bridges engineering, pharmaceutics and healthcare disciplines and therefore I am part of multi-disciplinary teams that include academic and non-academic colleagues from the UK, Europe and the USA. The technology is now approaching clinical usefulness and over the forthcoming years will hopefully facilitate non-invasive delivery of a number of therapeutics and hence offer a range of new therapeutic opportunities.
I also have an active research interest in the performance and use of capsule-based dry powder inhalers (DPIs), stimulated by a growing interest in the potential of DPIs as a means to deliver labile macromolecular drugs to the lung. Our research evaluates the performance of these devices, both in the laboratory and in the hands of the user.
I also have a pedagogic interest in numeracy and medicines-based calculations, with a particular focus on the education of pharmacy students and pharmacists in this area. In collaboration with colleagues from Mathematics at Cardiff and Pharmacy in Brighton I have developed a contextualized diagnostic numeracy test that is currently being used at UK Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine.
Scientific research
- The skin as a target and gateway for drug delivery
- Microneedle devices
- Capsule based dry powder inhalers
- The patient-device interface
Pedagogic research
- Pharmaceutical education and training particularly in medicines-based calculations
Novel drug delivery devices to enhance the delivery of therapeutics through the skin barrier
The passage of therapeutic molecules into or across the skin is significantly impeded by the inherent barrier properties of the outermost layer of skin, the stratum corneum. However sophisticated engineering techniques have resulted in the emergence of a number of novel transdermal drug delivery devices such as the microneedle array. These minimally invasive devices can create microchannels in the skin to facilitate localised delivery of drug molecules. Current investigations in our laboratory are developing and examining the performance of microneedle devices for the delivery of of macromolecular therapeutics including peptides, proteins and nucleic acids. Our research uses excised human skin that is maintained in organ culture and also human volunteers to provide results that are predictive of the clinical setting.
Pharmacy education
I have a pedagogic interest in numeracy and medicines-based calculations, with a particular focus on the education of pharmacy students and pharmacists in this area. In collaboration with colleagues from Mathematics at Cardiff and Pharmacy in Brighton I have developed a contextualized diagnostic numeracy test that is currently being used at UK Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine.
Key expertise
- Physicochemical characterisation of nanoparticle drug delivery systems
- In vitro transdermal delivery studies
- Ex vivo human skin studies
- Compressive tests for needle penetration (microneedle and DPI)
- Optical Coherence Tomography (microneedle and DPI)
- Non-invasive human volunteer studies (microneedle and DPI)
- Patient and public engagement with drug delivery devices (microneedle and DPI)
Post-doctoral researchers
- Lleceu Davies
- Maria Dul
- Xin Zhao
- Current PhD students
- Farah Arikat
- Bethan Copp
- Matthew Ivory
Research funding
An applicant in projects that total more than £6million and are supported by research councils, charitable bodies, government organizations and the Pharmaceutical Industry
