Controlled Pulmonary Drug Delivery

The pace of new research and level of innovation repeatedly introduced into the field of drug delivery to the lung is surprising given its state of maturity since the introduction of the pressurized metered dose inhaler over a half a century ago. It is clear that our understanding of pulmonary drug delivery has now evolved to the point that inhalation aerosols can be controlled both spatially and temporally to optimize their biological effects. These abilities include controlling lung deposition, by adopting formulation strategies or device technologies, and controlling drug uptake and release through sophisticated particle technologies. The large number of contributions to the scientific literature and variety of excellent texts published in recent years is evidence for the continued interest in pulmonary drug delivery research. This reference text endeavors to bring together the fundamental theory and practice of controlled drug delivery to the airways that is unavailable elsewhere. Collating and synthesizing the material in this rapidly evolving field presented a challenge and ultimately a sense of achievement that is hopefully reflected in the content of the volume.

Dr. Hugh Smyth is Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics at the University of Texas, Austin. He is a recipient of the Young Investigator in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology Award of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and has edited a volume on pulmonary drug delivery. Drs. Hickey and Smyth share a research interest in the delivery of drugs to the lungs for the treatment and prevention of a number of diseases.

Dr. Anthony Hickey is Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a fellow of the Institute of Biology, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has published several edited and authored volumes in the fields of pharmaceutical aerosols, process engineering and particulate science.