Marisa Van Der Merwe

Dr. Marisa Van Der Merwe is the Associate Dean (Academic) at the University of Portsmouth's Faculty of Science and Health, School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. She holds a PhD from the University of Potchefstroom and has been involved in academic roles since 2003. Her academic progression includes promotions to Lecturer (2004), Senior Lecturer (2005), Principal Lecturer (2016), and Reader in Clinical Pharmaceutics (2021). She currently leads the MPharm (Hons) Pharmacy program and contributes to institutional committees, including securing an Athena SWAN Bronze award for her department.

**Education:**

• BPharm (Cum Laude), University of Potchefstroom, 1998
• MSc in Pharmaceutics (Cum Laude), University of Potchefstroom, 2000
• PhD in Pharmaceutics (Leiden Amsterdam Center for Drug Research), 2003

**Research Interests:**
Dr. Van Der Merwe focuses on Clinical Pharmaceutics, nanomedicine applications (e.g., carbon nanotubes, electro-spraying), and chitosan-based drug delivery systems. Her work emphasizes mucosal vaccine delivery and stability of IV medicines in clinical settings. Key collaborations include the Southampton Pharmacy Research Centre (SPRC) and NHS institutions.

**Research Trends:**
Her publications span 20 years, with recent work addressing IV medicine stability under temperature variations, electrohydrodynamic techniques for drug delivery, and nanomaterial applications. Earlier studies explored chitosan derivatives in peptide drug delivery and mucosal absorption enhancers.

**Advising & Grants:**
She mentors postgraduate students as a principal investigator and co-supervisor. Research is supported by external funding, though specific grants are not listed.

**Labs/Teams:**
Affiliated with the Southampton Pharmacy Research Centre (SPRC) and collaborates with NHS partners to advance clinical pharmacy practices and drug delivery innovations.