Rate My Professor Kristen Bremmell

Dr. Kristen Bremmell is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Science at the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, College of Health, Adelaide University. She earned her PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Newcastle, where her doctoral research investigated polymer-surfactant-particle interactions for industrial wastewater treatment. Prior to that, she completed an Honours degree in chemistry at the University of Sydney with a BHP scholarship and undergraduate studies majoring in chemistry at the University of Newcastle. Bremmell's career began with undergraduate projects at BHP Research on mineral processing, followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Melbourne's Particulate Fluid Processing Centre, focusing on alumina tailings dewatering. She subsequently held positions as a research fellow and then Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor at the Ian Wark Research Institute and School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia.

Her research specializes in colloid and interface science applied to pharmaceutical delivery systems, including lipid-based formulations, mesoporous silica for enhancing oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs, silica-lipid hybrids, nanoparticle-lipid microcapsules for oral delivery, and polyelectrolyte multilayer films. She investigates protein interactions and adsorption in biomaterials using colloid-probe AFM, non-fouling surfaces with PEG, and red blood cell nano-rheology. With over 67 publications and more than 2,000 citations, key works include "Pentlandite–lizardite interactions and implications for their separation by flotation" (2005, cited 193 times), "Polyelectrolyte adsorption at the solid/liquid interface: interaction forces and stability" (1998, 138 citations), "Deformation and nano-rheology of red blood cells: An AFM investigation" (2006, 127 citations), and recent papers such as "Why do lipid nanoparticles target the liver? Understanding of biodistribution and liver-specific tropism" (2025, 106 citations) and "Enhancing oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs with mesoporous silica based systems: opportunities and challenges" (2019). Bremmell supervises PhD students on advanced oral chemotherapeutics, lipid nanoparticles for vaccines, and gut microbiome modulation. She teaches Dosage Form Design 2, Honours Biomedical Research A and B, contributing to Bachelor programs in Pharmaceutical Science, Pharmacy, and Biomedical Research.