Associate Professor Darren Svirskis

BHB, BPharm, PhD

Associate Professor

In: Pharmacy » Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

Research | Current

Research interests

Controlled Drug Delivery
Novel Drug Delivery Systems
Conducting Polymers
Implantable Drug Delivery
Microelectrode Arrays
Brain:Machine Interface

Postgraduate supervision

Current PhD Candidates - Principle supervisor

Saiful Azmi - Neuronal mimicry: Triggered glutamate release from a conducting polymer

Mahima Bansal - A glutamate delivery system for neural stimulation

Anusha Dravid - Delivering nerve growth factor to promote outgrowth in lower motor neurons (with Simon O'Carroll)

PhD Candidates - Co-supervisor

Marvin Tang - Co-delivery of gemcitabine and dCK DNA to overcome resistance to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer (with A/Prof Zimei Wu)

Wiremu - Perioperative local anaesthetic (With Professor Andrew Hill)

Joy - Development of a novel drug delivery system for targeted brain delivery in neurodegenerative diseases (with A/Prof Zimei Wu)

Qing Xu - Pressure sensing PEDOT to improve ocular health (with Dr Duleepa Thrimawithana)

Current Masters Candidates

Zhumin (Nicola) Wei - Effect of drug molecular weight and charge on permeation through free standing PEDOT membranes

Nancy Bala - Towards biorelevant media: The influence of surface tension on drug release (with Dr Sara Hanning)

Completed PhDs (primary supervisor)

Dr Prabhat Bhusal - Development of a recoverable controlled release polymeric implant for use following abdominal surgery

Dr Dedeepya Uppalapati - Liquid crystalline templated conducting polymer structures

Dr Zaid Aqrawe - Conducting polymer / neuronal communication

Completed PhDs (co-supervisor)

Dr Travis Badenhorst - Dermal and cellular delivery of an endogenous peptide (with Dr Zimei Wu)

Dr Shawn (Guanyu) Chen - Development of a novel drug delivery system to enhance the oral bioavailability of Gemcitabine for the treatment of cancer (with Dr Jingyuan Wen)

Dr Emma Kang - Cancer drug delivery systems and nano-carriers for drug targeting (with Dr Zimei Wu)

Dr M. Naveed Yasin - Conducting polymer implant for on-demand ocular drug delivery (with Dr Ilva Rupenthal)

Responsibilities

Undergraduate course coordination

Pharmacy 213 module leader for Gastrointestinal Tract

Pharmacy 412 module leader for Integrated Therapeutics

Postgraduate course coordination

Pharmacy 751: Pharmaceutical Techniques

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Aqrawe, Z., Wright, B., Patel, N., Vyas, Y., Malmstrom, J., Montgomery, J. M., ... Svirskis, D. (2019). The influence of macropores on PEDOT/PSS microelectrode coatings for neuronal recording and stimulation. SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL, 281, 549-560. 10.1016/j.snb.2018.10.099
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/46158
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Zaid Aqrawe, Bryon Wright, Jenny Malmstrom, Johanna Montgomery, Jadranka Travas-Sejdic, David Williams
Sharma, M., Chandramouli, K., Curley, L., Pontre, B., Reilly, K., Munro, J., ... Svirskis, D. (2018). In vitro and ex vivo characterisation of an in situ gelling formulation for sustained lidocaine release with potential use following knee arthroplasty. Drug delivery and translational research, 8 (3), 820-829. 10.1007/s13346-018-0492-x
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/41326
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Simon Young, Manisha Sharma, Andrew Hill, Jacob Munro
Yasin, M. N., Brooke, R. K., Rudd, S., Chan, A., Chen, W.-T., Waterhouse, G. I. N., ... Svirskis, D. (2018). 3-Dimensionally ordered macroporous PEDOT ion-exchange resins prepared by vapor phase polymerization for triggered drug delivery: Fabrication and characterization. Electrochimica Acta, 269, 560-570. 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.02.162
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44759
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Wan-Ting Chen, Geoffrey Waterhouse, Ilva Rupenthal, Andrew Chan
Bansal, M., Sharma, M., Bullen, C., & Svirskis, D. (2018). Free standing PEDOT films prepared by vapour phase polymerisation as electrically tuneable barriers to drug permeability. Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applications, 84, 248-253. 10.1016/j.msec.2017.12.002
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/42430
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Manisha Sharma, Chris Bullen, Mahima Bansal
Aqrawe, Z., Montgomery, J., Travas-Sejdic, J., & Svirskis, D. (2018). Conducting polymers for neuronal microelectrode array recording and stimulation. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 257, 753-765. 10.1016/j.snb.2017.11.023
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jadranka Travas-Sejdic, Zaid Aqrawe
Aqrawe, Z., Montgomery, J., Travas-Sejdic, J., & Svirskis, D. (2017). Conducting polymers as electrode coatings for neuronal multi-electrode arrays. Trends in Biotechnology, 35 (2), 93-95. 10.1016/j.tibtech.2016.06.007
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jadranka Travas-Sejdic, Johanna Montgomery, Zaid Aqrawe
Uppalapati, D., Boyd, B. J., Garg, S., Travas-Sejdic, J., & Svirskis, D. (2016). Conducting polymers with defined micro- or nanostructures for drug delivery. Biomaterials, 111, 149-162. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.09.021
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jadranka Travas-Sejdic
Ramtin, A., Seyfoddin, A., Coutinho, F. P., Waterhouse, G. I. N., Rupenthal, I. D., & Svirskis, D. (2016). Cytotoxicity considerations and electrically tunable release of dexamethasone from polypyrrole for the treatment of back-of-the-eye conditions. Drug Delivery and Translational Research, 6 (6), 793-799. 10.1007/s13346-016-0284-0
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44391
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Geoffrey Waterhouse, Ilva Rupenthal, Frazer Coutinho