LEUNG Shui Yee, Sharon 梁水意

B.Eng. (Chemical Eng.) (Hons.), Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Medicine
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 3943 9795
Fax:(852) 2603 5295
Email: sharon.leung@cuhk.edu.hk

Personal Details

Dr. Sharon Shui Yee Leung received her B. Eng. (Chemical Engineering) in 2007 from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and completed her PhD (Chemical Engineering) in the University of Sydney in 2012. After her PhD, she joined the Faculty of Pharmacy in the University of Sydney with interest in developing technology platforms for the production of engineering particles for respiratory delivery. In 2014, she was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Faculty of Pharmacy to develop technologies for aerosol delivery of bacteriophages to combat multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Sharon joined the School of Pharmacy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in April 2018. Her research focuses on incorporating engineering approach with formulation designs to advance the science and potential application of phage and phage-encoded proteins as novel antibacterial agents to address the threats associated with MDR bacteria.

Research Interests

Sharon is keen to incorporate her engineering and microfluidics background for the production of inhalable drug powders with engineered features, such as using of particles with controlled porosity as therapeutic carriers and polymer encapsulation for control release of active ingredients.

She is interested in examining the mechanisms responsible for stabilization of bacteriophages in powder formulations to enable optimization of process parameters for production of inhalable powders containing biologicals, such as phage, proteins and peptides. Recently, she is investigating to encapsulation of bacteriophages into liposomes using a microfluidic approach to target intracellular pathogens, such as mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Research Collaboration

• School of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
• Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta
• State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China
• Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing, China
• Department of Chemical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
• Department of Microbiology, CUHK
• Department of Chemistry, CUHK
• Department of Paediatric, CUHK

Recent Research Grants

(* as PI)

• Hydrogel Delivery of Vancomycin and DNase I to Eradicate Osteosynthesis-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) Infection and Support Osteoporotic Fracture Healing (19180062). Sponsored by Health and Medical Research Fund during the period 01-04-2020 to 31-03-2022 for the sum of HK$ $1,090,440
• • Role: Co-investigator (PI: Prof Wong Ronald Man Yeung, CUHK Orthopaedics & Traumatology)

• *Asthma Control in Paediatric Patients using Mannitol Challenge Test – Impact of Body Mass Index (Ref: 04180037). Sponsored by Health and Medical Research Fund (Research Fellowship) during the period 15-02-2020 to 14-02-2022 for the sum of HK$ 833,180
• Role: Principal Investigator

• *Inhalable liposome-mediated bacteriophages to kill intracellular antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Ref: 24300619). Sponsored by Research Grant Council (Early Career Scheme) during the period 1-1-2020 to 31-12-2022 for the sum of HK$ 597,959
• Role: Principal Investigator

• Development of a tablet-in-tablet formulation system in Hong Kong for treatment of peptic ulcer (Ref: PRP/025/19FX). Sponsored by Innovation and Technology Fund (Partnership Research Programme) during the period 1-4-2020 to 31-3-2022 for the sum of HK$ 3,167,844.85
• Role: Co-investigator (PI: Prof Zhong Zuo, CUHK Pharmacy)

Teaching

Bachelor of Pharmacy Programme

• PHAR2213 Pharmaceutical Product Development & Manufacturing
• PHAR2313 Principles of Pharmaceutical Dispensing
• PHAR4201 Community Pharmacy Clerkship
• PHAR4911 (Research Project I) and PHAR4912 (Research Project II)

MPhil & PhD in Pharmacy

• PHAR5130 Overview of Drug Development

Representative Publications

1. Liu Y, Leung SSY, Huang Y, Guo Y, Jiang N, Li P, Chen J, Wang R, Bai C, Mi Z, Gao Z. Identification of Two Depolymerases From Phage IME205 and Their Antivirulent Functions on K47 Capsule of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Front Microbiol. 2020. 11: 218.
2. Leung B, Dharmaratne P, Yan W, Chan BCL, Lau CBS, Fung KP, Ip M, Leung SSY. Development of thermosensitive hydrogel containing methylene blue for topical antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2020. 203: 111776.
3. Liu Y, Leung SSY, Guo Y, Zhao L, Jiang N, Mi L, Li P, Wang C, Qin Y, Mi Z, Bai C, Gao Z. The capsule depolymerase Dpo48 rescues Galleria mellonella and mice from Acinetobacter baumannii systemic infections. Front Microbiol. 2019. 10: 545.
4. Leung SSY, Morales S, Britton WJ, Kutter E, Chan H-K. Microfluidic-assisted bacteriophage encapsulation into liposomes. Int J Pharm. 2018. 545: 176-182.
5. Leung SSY, Parumasivam T, Nguyen A, Gengenbach T, Carter EA, Carrigy NB, Wang H, Vehring R, Finlay WH, Morales S, Britton WJ, Kutter E, Chan H-K. Effect of Storage Temperature on the Stability of Spray Dried Bacteriophage Powders. Euro J Pharms Biopharm. 2018.  127: 213-222.
6. Leung SSY, Parumasivam T, Gao FG, Carter EA, Carrigy NB, Vehring R, Finlay WH, Morales S, Britton WJ, Kutter E, Chan HK. Effects of storage conditions on the stability of spray dried, inhalable bacteriophage powders. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 2017. 521: 141-149.
7. Leung SSY, Wong J, Guerra HV, Samnick K, Prud’homme RK, Chan HK. Porous mannitol carrier for pulmonary delivery of cyclosporine A nanoparticles. AAPS Journal. 2017. 19: 578-586.
8. Parumasivam T, Leung SSY, Tang P, Mauro C, Britton W, Chan HK. The delivery of high-dose dry powder antibiotics by a low-cost generic inhaler. AAPS Journal. 2017. 19: 191-202.
9. Parumasivam T, Leung SSY, Quan DH, Triccas JA, Britton WJ, Chan HK. Rifapentine-loaded PLGA microparticles for tuberculosis inhaled therapy: Preparation and in vitro aerosol characterization. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2016. 88: 1-11.
10. Leung SSY, Parumasivam T, Gao FG, Carrigy NB, Vehring R, Finlay WH, Morales S, Britton WJ, Kutter E, Chan HK. Production of inhalation phage powders using spray freeze drying and spray drying techniques for treatment of respiratory infections. Pharmaceutical Research. 2016. 33: 1486-1496.

More Publications

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