Hugh D.C. Smyth – författare

The pace of new research and level of innovation repeatedly introduced into the field of drug delivery to the lung is surprising given its state of maturity since the introduction of the pressurized metered dose inhaler over a half a century ago. It is clear that our understanding of pulmonary drug delivery has now evolved to the point that inhalation aerosols can be controlled both spatially and temporally to optimize their biological effects. These abilities include controlling lung deposition, by adopting formulation strategies or device technologies, and controlling drug uptake and release through sophisticated particle technologies. The large number of contributions to the scientific literature and variety of excellent texts published in recent years is evidence for the continued interest in pulmonary drug delivery research. This reference text endeavors to bring together the fundamental theory and practice of controlled drug delivery to the airways that is unavailable elsewhere. Collating and synthesizing the material in this rapidly evolving field presented a challenge and ultimately a sense of achievement that is hopefully reflected in the content of the volume.

Non-linear phenomena pervade the pharmaceutical sciences.  Understanding the interface between each of these phenomena and the way in which they contribute to overarching processes such as pharmaceutical product development may ultimately result in more efficient, less costly and rapid implementation. The benefit to Society is self-evident in that affordable treatments would be rapidly forthcoming. We have aggregated these phenomena into one topic “Pharmaco-complexity: Non-linear Phenomena and Drug Product Development”.