Dara Fitzpatrick is an award winning lecturer in Analytical Chemistry in UCC. He undertook research for a Ph.D. at Trinity College Dublin under the supervision of Prof. John Corish in the area of transdermal drug delivery. This was followed by a European Framework V postdoctoral fellowship in the area of transdermal drug delivery modelling with training in HSE Sheffield and Amsterdam. He also obtained a H.Dip in statistics during this time from Trinity College Dublin.
His current research interest is the development of a pioneering new acoustic spectroscopic instrument called BARDS (Broadband Acoustic Resonance Dissolution Spectroscopy). This new platform technology is creating a paradigm shift in the analysis of powders, blends, tablets and rapid dissolution formulations. It has multiple applications including the ability to differentiate polymorphs and infer particle size distributions. The research has lead to the creation of a spin-out company called BARDS Acoustic Science Labs with sales of instruments to global companies such as GSK, Pfizer, Chiesi, and Cargill.
The Analytical Scientist has awarded BARDS one of the top 10 innovations among the top global instrumentation companies. BARDS received a Pfizer Awards for 'Innovation through Teamwork' in 2013 and also a commendation at the APS conference in Edinburgh 2013 and 2017. Dara has been nominated twice by Enterprise Ireland for the 'One to Watch Award'.
Dr. Fitzpatrick has published and been cited widely in high impact international journals such as Analytical Chemistry, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Chemosphere and also a front cover of Analyst in 2014 with a 'hot article' called Rapid profiling of enteric coated drug delivery spheres via Broadband Acoustic Resonance Dissolution Spectroscopy (BARDS). He has also authored two book chapters and presented over 40 papers at international conferences. He also acts as a reviewer for many of these publications.
He has been awarded over €1.2 million in competitive research funding in the last five years through Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and The Irish Research Council. Collaborations with the Food and Pharma sectors have also brought in significant research funding with break through outputs. He is currently contacting potential partners for a EU Cost action on Dissolution Science.