Staff Profile

Background

Oisín is a pharmacist and academic at Newcastle University School of Pharmacy.

Oisín joined Newcastle University as a Lecturer in 2021. Prior to this, he studied Pharmacy at the University of Ulster where he spent his summers working on supramolecular probes and therapeutics for melanoma in Professor Callan's group. At graduation, he received the Gold medal from the Pharmaceutical Society of NI. He then completed his clinical training in his hometown of Derry before moving to the University of Limerick to complete his PhD. During this time he studied how to apply crystal engineering techniques to improve the physicochemical properties of drugs.

He was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the University of Michigan where he learned how to develop quantitative mathematical models for drug dissolution and solubility. After this, he returned to Ireland to take up a postdoctoral appointment funded by Janssen Pharmaceuticals and spent a brief period as a Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy at University College Cork before moving to Newcastle.

Background

To uncover pharmaceutical problems, I collaborate with a wide range of disciplines, including physicans, pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, chemists, and engineers at internationally renowned pharmacy departments and at multinational pharmaceutical companies. This has led to a diverse range of projects built around the central theme of investigating key scientific challenges in the pharmaceutical space which include the solubility and pharmacokinetic behaviour of medicines.

I am keen to hear from any student (national or international) for PhD studies, or from experienced researchers who wish to pursue a postdoctoral appointment in one of my research areas. Get in touch and let me know how I can help you start your research career at Newcastle!

A full list of publications can be found at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ILUlsgwAAAAJ&hl=en

I teach Pharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics across MPharm, MDiet and MRes programmes at Newcastle. I am also assessment lead for all exams on the MPharm programme and supervise a range of PhD, MRes and MPharm research projects.

• Articles

  • Kavanagh ON, Ashton M, Husband AK. Exploring factors that impact pass rates in a UK pharmacist registration exam, 2011-2024. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2025, 33(1), 88-94.
  • Noble KA, Chan HKY, Kavanagh ON. Meta-analysis guided development of a standard artificial urine. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 2024, 198, 114264.
  • Vinogradov R, Kavanagh ON, Palmer J, Murphy P, Curtis E, Kamali F, Robson S. A randomized crossover design study comparing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of 2 single doses of oral aspirin (75 mg v 150 mg) in pregnant women at risk of preeclampsia: implications on assessing aspirin response and patient adherence to therapy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2024, epub ahead of print.
  • Haskins MM, Kavanagh ON, Sanii R, Khorasani S, Chen J-M, Zhang Z-Y, Dai X-L, Ren B-Y, Lu T-B, Zaworotko MJ. Tuning the Pharmacokinetic Performance of Quercetin by Cocrystallization. Crystal Growth and Design 2023, 23(8), 6059–6066.
  • Cogo Machado T, Kavanagh ON, Goncalves Cardoso S, Rodriguez-Hornedo N. Synchronization of Cocrystal Dissolution and Drug Precipitation to Sustain Drug Supersaturation. Molecular pharmaceutics 2022, 19(8), 2765-2775.
  • Kavanagh O, Cogo Machado T. Method of preparation for diamorphine (heroin) administration for harm reduction. Harm Reduction Journal 2022, 20, 44.

• Letters

  • Vinogradov R, Kavanagh ON, Kamali F, Robson S. Comparing 75mg vs 150mg aspirin in pregnancy women at risk of preeclampsia. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2025, epub ahead of print.
  • Vinogradov R, Kavanagh ON, Kamali F, Robson S. A randomised crossover design study comparing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of two single doses of oral aspirin (75 mg vs 150 mg) in pregnant women at risk of pre-eclampsia: a response to the letter to editor. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2025, epub ahead of print.