Dr Ayşe Kaya

Dr Ayşe Kaya is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Pharmaceutical Sciences within the School of Allied Health at Anglia Ruskin University. Her research focuses on the design and development of advanced pharmaceutical formulations and nanomedicine-based drug delivery systems for cancer treatment.

She obtained her Master of Pharmacy (M.Pharm) degree as Valedictorian from Altınbaş University, Türkiye, before completing an MSc in Pharmaceutical Science with Distinction at Anglia Ruskin University. She subsequently completed her PhD at Anglia Ruskin University, where her research investigated the development of inhalable formulations of disulfiram metabolites for the localised treatment of non-small cell lung cancer through innovative formulation strategies to enhance drug solubility and pulmonary delivery.

Following her doctoral studies, Dr Kaya was appointed as a Research Associate before progressing to her current position as Postdoctoral Researcher. Her research combines pharmaceutical formulation, nanotechnology and translational medicine to develop novel delivery systems capable of improving the bioavailability, stability and therapeutic efficacy of poorly water-soluble drugs.

Her work spans formulation development, physicochemical characterisation, in vitro biological evaluation and preclinical translational research. She collaborates with multidisciplinary teams working across pharmaceutical sciences, ophthalmology, oncology and biomaterials to develop innovative therapies addressing significant unmet clinical needs.

• Nanomedicine
• Pharmaceutical formulation
• Drug delivery systems
• Lipid-based nanoparticles
• Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs)
• Liposomal drug delivery
• Cyclodextrin inclusion complexes
• Pulmonary drug delivery
• Drug solubility enhancement
• Cancer therapeutics
• Translational pharmaceutical sciences

• Pharmaceutical Formulation Development
• Molecular Biology

• PhD Pharmaceutical Science, Anglia Ruskin University (2024)
• MSc Pharmaceutical Science, Anglia Ruskin University (2020)
• M Pharm Altınbaş University, Türkiye (2013)

• Member of Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC)

Academic contributions:

• Independent Viva Chair for ARU (2025–present)

Kaya, A.; Arafat, B.; Chichger, H.; Pierscionek, B.; Najlah, M. Design and Development of Dry Powder Cyclodextrin Complexes of Zinc Diethyldithiocarbamate for Pulmonary Drug Delivery. Pharmaceutics 2026, 18, 904. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics18080904

Najlah, M., McCallum, N., Pereira, A.M., Alves, D., Ansari-Fard, N., Rehmani, S. and Kaya, A. (2025). Sugar-Linked Diethyldithiocarbamate Derivatives: A Novel Class of Anticancer Agents. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 26, 5589.

Kaya, A., Arafat, B., Chichger, H., Tolaymat, I., Pierscionek, B., Khoder, M. and Najlah, M. (2024). Preparation and Characterisation of Zinc Diethyldithiocarbamate-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes for Potential Lung Cancer Treatment. Pharmaceutics, 16(1), 65.

Pereira, A.M., Kaya, A., Alves, D., Ansari-Fard, N., Tolaymat, I., Arafat, B. and Najlah, M. (2022). Preparation and Characterization of Disulfiram and Beta Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes for Potential Application in the Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 via Nebulization. Molecules, 27(17).

Ansari-Fard, N., Kaya, A., Alves, D., Arafat, B., Pierscionek, B. and Najlah, M. (2022). Development of Liposomal Formulations of Zinc Diethyldithiocarbamate for Colorectal Cancer Treatment. British Journal of Pharmacy, 7(2), S1–S2.

Kaya, A., Ansari-Fard, N., Alves, D., Arafat, B., Chichger, H. and Najlah, M. (2022). Solubility Enhancement for Diethyldithiocarbamate-Zinc for Lung Cancer Treatment. British Journal of Pharmacy, 7(2), S1–S2.

• Recipient of the 2026 ARU Vice Chancellor’s Research & Innovation Award for Outstanding Industry Engagement, As a part of pharmaceutical Group Contribution.
• Oral Presentation at Making Pharmaceutics (Coventry, 2026).
• Poster presentation at Controlled Release Society (Bologna, 2024), Received Top Poster Award
• Poster presentation at The Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences ( Belfast, 2023), Received Best poster Award.