Peter Davern


Contact Details

Lecturer
Chemical Sciences Dept.,
University of Limerick
Limerick
T: + 353 61213185
E: peter.davern@ul.ie
 
researcher

Biography

Interests:
  • The crystallisation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) onto excipients
  • Pharmaceutical organic chemistry
  • Process safety
  • "From Arsenic to Zirconium - Poems and Surprising Facts about the Elements", No Starch Press (2020)
Course Director, BSc in Environmental Science programme             

Research Interests

The crystallisation of APIs onto excipients:
The work focuses on (i) methods (wet and dry impregnation, and ion exchange) to facilitate the crystallisation of APIs onto pre-formed particles or granules of excipients or excipient mixtures, and (ii) the development of surface treatment of excipients to make them more suitable as matrices on which crystallisation will occur. Initially the role of the solvent, supersaturation and metastable zone widths will be assessed with a view to determining how best to promote heterogeneous crystallisation on the excipient as opposed to nucleation in solution. Once formed, the nature and strength of the interactions will be investigated, including an evaluation of the suitability of the technique for a range of pharmaceuticals with propensity to form a range of polymorphs and particle habits when crystallised through primary nucleation.                     

Books

  Year Publication
2020 From Arsenic to Zirconium - Poems and Surprising Facts about the Elements.
Peter Davern (2020) From Arsenic to Zirconium - Poems and Surprising Facts about the Elements. San Francisco, US: No Starch Press. [Details]
2017 The Periodic Table of Poems.
Peter Davern (2017) The Periodic Table of Poems. US: CreateSpace Independent Publishing. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
2019 'Carrier particle mediated stabilization and isolation of valsartan nanoparticles'
Kumar A;Davern P;Hodnett BK;Hudson SP; (2019) 'Carrier particle mediated stabilization and isolation of valsartan nanoparticles'. Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces, 175 [DOI] [Details]
2018 'Heterogeneous Crystallization of Fenofibrate onto Pharmaceutical Excipients'
Bueno, RA;Crowley, CM;Davern, P;Hodnett, BK;Hudson, S (2018) 'Heterogeneous Crystallization of Fenofibrate onto Pharmaceutical Excipients'. Crystal Growth & Design, 18 :2151-2164 [DOI] [Details]
2018 'The heterogeneous crystallization of a novel solvate of clozapine base in the presence of excipients'
Verma, V;Bannigan, P;Lusi, M;Crowley, CM;Hudson, S;Hodnett, BK;Davern, P (2018) 'The heterogeneous crystallization of a novel solvate of clozapine base in the presence of excipients'. Crystengcomm, 20 [DOI] [Details]
2018 'The heterogeneous crystallization of a novel solvate of clozapine base in the presence of excipients'
Verma, V;Bannigan, P;Lusi, M;Crowley, CM;Hudson, S;Hodnett, BK;Davern, P (2018) 'The heterogeneous crystallization of a novel solvate of clozapine base in the presence of excipients'. Crystengcomm, 20 :4370-4382 [DOI] [Details]
2018 'Dependence of Heterogeneous Nucleation on Hydrogen Bonding Lifetime and Complementarity'
Verma, V;Zeglinski, J;Hudson, S;Davern, P;Hodnett, BK (2018) 'Dependence of Heterogeneous Nucleation on Hydrogen Bonding Lifetime and Complementarity'. Crystal Growth & Design, 18 :7158-7172 [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]
2018 'Experimental Study on the Influence of Excipients on the Heterogeneous Crystallization and Dissolution Properties of an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient'
Verma, V,Peddapatla, RVG,Crowley, CM,Crean, AM,Davern, P,Hudson, S,Hodnett, BK (2018) 'Experimental Study on the Influence of Excipients on the Heterogeneous Crystallization and Dissolution Properties of an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient'. Crystal Growth & Design, 18 :338-350 [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]
2017 'Influence of Process Parameters on the Heterogeneous Nucleation of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients onto Excipients'
Bueno, RA,Crowley, CM,Hodnett, BK,Hudson, S,Davern, P (2017) 'Influence of Process Parameters on the Heterogeneous Nucleation of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients onto Excipients'. Organic Process Research & Development, 21 :559-570 [DOI] [Details]
2015 'The extent and influence of asbestos safety awareness training among managers who had previously commissioned an asbestos survey in their workplace buildings'
Hickey J.;Saunders J.;Davern P. (2015) 'The extent and influence of asbestos safety awareness training among managers who had previously commissioned an asbestos survey in their workplace buildings'. Industrial Health, 53 (5):398-409 [DOI] [Details]
2015 'The extent and influence of Asbestos Safety Awareness training among managers who had previously commissioned an asbestos survey in their workplace buildings'
Hickey, J,Davern, JSP,Davern, P (2015) 'The extent and influence of Asbestos Safety Awareness training among managers who had previously commissioned an asbestos survey in their workplace buildings'. Industrial Health, 53 :398-409 [Details]
1994 'CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY OF SULFAMIDOPENICILLINS'
DAVERN, P; SHEEHY, J; SMYTH, T (1994) 'CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY OF SULFAMIDOPENICILLINS'. JOURNAL OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY-PERKIN TRANSACTIONS 2, (2):381-387 [DOI] [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
2016 Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing Forum 2016 - Core Programming Area at the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting
Verma V.;Crowley C.;Davern P.;Hudson S.;Hodnett B. (2016) Dissolution of carbamazepine crystallised directly onto excipients Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development and Manufacturing Forum 2016 - Core Programming Area at the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting , pp.285-288 [Details]
2016 Particle Technology Forum 2016 - Core Programming Area at the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting
Verma V.;Crowley C.;Davern P.;Hudson S.;Hodnett B. (2016) Dissolution of carbamazepine crystallised directly onto excipients Particle Technology Forum 2016 - Core Programming Area at the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting , pp.572-575 [Details]
2016 Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division 2016 - Core Programming Area at the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting
Verma V.;Crowley C.;Davern P.;Hudson S.;Hodnett B. (2016) Dissolution of carbamazepine crystallised directly onto excipients Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division 2016 - Core Programming Area at the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting , pp.1014-1017 [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Associate member /
Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) Graduate member /
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Member /
IChemE Safety & Loss Prevention Group Member /

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
IOSH (Ireland Branch), Western District Committee member (2012 - 2017) /
Royal Society of Chemistry (2012-13) Irish Universities Committee Member (2012 – 2013) /
CS Dept. Safety Committee Committee member (2013 - present) /
SciFest Ireland Judging Committee Panelist (2018 – present) /
UL Safety Committee Committee member (2014 - present) /
CS Dept. Postgraduate Progression Review Committee Chair (2017 - present) /
CS Dept. Athena Swan Committee Committee member (2018 - present) /
CS Dept. Student Status Committee Chair (2015 - present) /

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
GlaxoSmithKline, Cork Process Development Chemist / Production Technologist (1993 - 1995) /
Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Cork Production Chemist (1995 - 2002) /
Davern & Bell Co-proprietor (2002 - 2005) /
University of Limerick Lecturer - part-time (2005 - 2009); Lecturer below the bar (2009 - 2018); Lecturer (2019 - present) /

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
1989 University of Limerick BSc (Hons) Industrial Chemistry
1993 University of Limerick PhD Organic Chemistry

Consultancy

  Client Description
Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Cork
providing technical support to API production (2005 - 2017)

Outreach Activities

  Description

'Chemistry Magic Show' demonstrations for the following:
   * Local primary schools
   * UL Open Days
   * BT Young Scientist Exhibitions, Dublin

'Chemistry Magic Show' Workshops for secondary school chemistry teachers

Other Activities

  Description

Course Director - Dip. in Safety, Health & Welfare at Work (2010 - 2014)

Organizer: 1-day Master Class in Process Safety (2018): Six internationally-recognized process safety experts, 100+ from the Irish PharmaChem sector.

Organizer: 2-day Master Class in Process Safety (2016): Seven internationally-recognized process safety experts delivering plenary lectures / workshops to 80+ engineers, chemists, and process safety practitioners from the Irish PharmaChem sector.

Course Leader - BSc in Environmental Science (2018 - present)

Course Leader - BSc in Health & Safety (2011 - 2015)

Teaching Interests

Pharmaceutical organic chemistry
Process safety

Recent Postgraduates

  Graduation Student Name University Degree Thesis
2018 Raquel Arribas Bueno University of Limerick PhD Crystallisation of active pharmaceutical ingredients in the presence of heterosurfaces
2019 Vivek Verma University of Limerick PhD Role of hydrogen bonding lifetime and complementarity in heterogeneous nucleation
2018 Valentina Arsenjeva University of Limerick MSc Studies related to selected steps in the industrial production of Octreotide
2014 Aine Newell University of Limerick PhD Workplace health & safety: Establishing the administrative burden of regulation, and assessing the use of information as a means of addressing the burden and improving perceptions

Modules Taught

  Term (ID)) Title Link Subject
Autumn Safety & Industry ER4627Process safety
Autumn Organic Pharmaceutical Chemistry 1 CH4007Organic pharmaceutical chemistry
Spring Process Technology 2 CH4404Process safety
Spring Organic Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2 CH4008Organic pharmaceutical chemistry
Spring Plant & Process Management 2 CH4608Process safety
Autumn Chemical Engineering Design Methods 1 CG5031Process safety