11/12/2025
Crystal Tiong Hui Man, a third-year PhD student from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), had been awarded the prestigious Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) to undertake a research attachment at Lakehead University, Canada, during the Fall 2025 semester. With financial support amounting to CAD $10,200, this programme provided a valuable international platform for Crystal to advance her work on nanofiber drug delivery systems under the joint guidance of her home supervisor, Dr Nurizzati Mohd Daud, and her host supervisor, Professor Dr Pedram Fatehi.
During her attachment at Lakehead University, Crystal had received intensive hands-on training in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), enabling her to independently design and execute chromatographic methods for drug quantification. She applied HPLC to study the drug release behaviour and digestion stability of her nanofiber formulations, particularly in simulated gastrointestinal environments, generating detailed kinetic profiles that will deepen understanding of how formulation parameters influence oral drug delivery performance. In parallel, she had conducted transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses on her nanofiber samples to probe their inner structures and molecular-level interactions, thereby linking with functional outcomes such as encapsulation efficiency and controlled release.
This research attachment significantly enhanced her technical expertise, scientific output, and international research exposure. By integrating advanced HPLC, TEM and NMR capabilities into her PhD project, she was able to produce more rigorous, publication-ready data and build a stronger mechanistic foundation for her nanofiber drug delivery system. The skills, knowledge, and collaborations developed at Lakehead University were not only accelerate her doctoral progress but also contributed to strengthening research capacity in biomaterials and analytical characterization within UTM and the broader Malaysian scientific community.