Reader in Pharmaceutical Analysis
I have a my wide experience of industry, research and professional activities in all aspects of pharmaceutical science. My main current focus is to continue to bring this to bear in my undergraduate and postgraduate pharmaceutical science teaching and to re-focus my research back to core separation science for pharmaceuticals.
I am Programme Leader for MSc Drug Discovery and Development and conduct research through supervising seven PhD students and regularly running multiple MSc projects.
Teaching and supervision
I was very closely associated with the University’s highly regarded BSc Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science course. During a period of ‘modernisation’ of teaching provision, I played a major role in the continuation of pharmaceutical sciences at undergraduate level through BSc (Hons) Biopharmaceutical Sciences and designed and subsequently led MSc Drug Discovery and Development.
While my main area of expertise is separation science and its applications in pharmaceutical R&D, I also teach several courses on pharmaceutical R&D, its regulation, and all aspects of pharmaceutical analysis. Every year, I supervise group mini-projects and ten individual student projects.
I have successfully supervised 31 PhD students, 21 as the principal supervisor.
Research interests for potential research students
I am currently seeking funding for projects on the application of modern LC to the routine QC lab and on the development of extreme selectivity to enhance modern LC. I would be more than willing to supervise self-funding students wishing to research in these areas.
Research
As befits a pharmaceutical analyst who has worked in industrial and academic environments, I have been involved in a diverse range of projects ranging from looking at the binding of metal ions to proteins to discovering new drugs in rat urine to preparative separation of enantiomers of novel psychoactive substances.
While I retain an interest in the isolation of active constituents from medical plants and related topics, my current research focus is on the application of modern LC to the routine QC lab and the development of extreme selectivity to enhance modern LC.
Publications
Article
Odumosu, Patricia, Lough, John, Yakubu, Davis, Thomas, Keith, Williamson, Gemma and Haroune, Nicolas (2016) Anti-mycobacterial assessment and characterization of 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid methyl ester and rutin from Pavetta crassipes. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, 6 (10). 001-007. ISSN 2231-3354
Lough, John (2014) Classification of LC chiral stationary phases: Wainer Types I–V revisited. Journal of Chromatography B, 968. pp. 1-7. ISSN 15700232
Perera, R. Wimal H. and Lough, John (2013) Selectivity, efficiency and speed in UPLC of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies, 36 (3). pp. 349-362. ISSN 1082-6076
Perera, Wimal and Lough, John (2011) Assessment of chiral stationary phases for suitability for combined enantiomeric impurity/ related substances assays. Journal of Chromatography A, 1218 (48). pp. 8655-8663. ISSN 0021-9673
Singh, Nagendra, Day, P, Katta, V R, Mohammed, G P and Lough, John (2010) LC Purity and Related Substances Screening for Mephedrone. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 62 (10). pp. 1209-1210. ISSN 2042-7158
Imrie, G A, Noctor, T A G and Lough, John (2009) Drug Bioanalysis by LC-MS: some pragmatic solutions to commonly occurring problems. Chromatography Today, 2 (2). pp. 27-30. ISSN 1752-8070
Whiteley, P, Waring, R, Williams, Lee, Klovrza, L, Nolan, F, Smith, S, Farrow, M, Dodou, Kalliopi, Lough, John and Shattock, Paul (2006) Spot urinary creatinine excretion in pervasive developmental disorders. Pediatrics International, 48 (3). 292-297.. ISSN 1442-200X
Lough, John, Shabir, G A, Arain, S A and Shar, G Q (2006) Method development and validation of preservatives (Phenylformic acid, 2,4-hexadienoic acid, methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate and propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate) by HPLC. Journal of Liquid Chromatography, 29 (9). pp. 1233-1333. ISSN 01483919
Lough, John, Simmonds, E L and Gray, Martin R (2006) Evaluation of LC-MS for the analysis of cleaning verification samples. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 40 (3). pp. 631-638. ISSN 07317085
Groundwater, Paul, Dodou, Kalliopi, Anderson, Rosaleen and Lough, John (2005) Synthesis of gossypol atropisomers and derivatives and evaluation of their anti-proliferative and anti-oxidant activity. Bioorg. Med. Chem., 13 (13). pp. 4228-4237. ISSN 09680896
Lough, John, Imrie, G A and Noctor, T A G (2004) Validation of an analytical method for the determination of indoyl-3-acryloylglycine in human urine using LC-MS-MS. Chromatographia, 59 (2). ISSN 00095893
Lough, John, Simmonds, E L and Gray, Martin R (2003) Evaluation of the use of LC-MS in supporting stability studies for preclinical study. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 32 (6). pp. 1113-1122. ISSN 07317085
Anderson, Rosaleen, Bendell, David, Garnett, Ian, Groundwater, Paul, Lough, John and Shattock, Paul (2002) Identification of Indolyl-3-acryloylglycine (IAcrGly) in the Urine of People with Autism. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 54 (2). pp. 295-298. ISSN 00223573
Soo, E.C., Altria, K.D. and Lough, John (2000) Generic Analytical Methodology for Steroids using Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography (MEKC). Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 52 (S1). p. 247. ISSN 0022-3573
Totah, S., Hambleton, Paul, Beaney, A. and Lough, John (2000) LC Assay for Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (THAM) Injection. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 52 (S1). p. 252. ISSN 2042-7158
Soo, E.C., Lough, John and de Biasi, V. (1999) Current Frontiers in Chiral Separations by Capillary Electrophoresis. Pharmaceutical Science & Technology Today, 2 (10). pp. 422-426. ISSN 1461-5347
Soo, E.C., Salmon, A.B. and Lough, John (1999) Separate Ways for Chiral Molecules. Chemistry & Industry, 6. pp. 220-224. ISSN 0009-3068
Cram, M. and Lough, John (1998) Critical Appraisal of Achiral HPLC with Polarimetric Detection for the Determination of Drug Enantiomers. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 50 (S9). p. 242. ISSN 0022-3573
Frame, L.A., Robinson, M.L. and Lough, John (1998) Evaluation of Capillary Electrochromatography (CEC) for Pharmaceutical Analysis. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 50 (S9). p. 94. ISSN 0022-3573
Lough, John (1998) Chiral Resolution for Pharmaceutical R&D - Beyond the Final Frontiers? European Pharmaceutical Review, 3. pp. 48-55. ISSN 1360-8606
Prangle, A.S., Hughes, S., Noctor, T.A.G. and Lough, John (1998) Chiral Drug Bioanalysis with On-Column Sample-Focussing. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 50 (S9). p. 93. ISSN 0022-3573
Prangle, A.S., Noctor, T.A.G. and Lough, John (1998) Chiral Bioanalysis of Warfarin Using Microbore LC with Peak Compression. Journal of Pharmaceutical Biomedical Analysis, 16 (7). pp. 1205-1212. ISSN 0731-7085
Frame, L.A., Robinson, M.L. and Lough, John (1998) Simplification of Capillary Electrochromatography (CEC) Procedures. Journal of Chromatography A, 798 (1-2). pp. 243-249. ISSN 0021-9673
Mills, M.J., Maltas, J. and Lough, John (1997) Assessment of Injection Volume Limits When Using On-Column Focusing with Microbore Liquid Chromatography. Journal of Chromatography, 759 (1-2). pp. 1-11. ISSN S00219673
Mills, M.J., Maltas, J. and Lough, John (1997) Automated Microbore LC with Peak Compression for the Assay of GR138950 and its Active Metabolite in Human Serum. Chromatographia, 45 (1). pp. 275-283. ISSN 1612-1112
Booth, T.D., Lough, John, Saeed, M., Noctor, T.A.G. and Wainer, I.W. (1997) Enantioselective separation of enantiomeric amides on three amylose-based chiral stationary phases: Effects of backbone and carbamate side chain chiralities Authors. Chirality, 9 (2). pp. 173-177. ISSN 1520-636X
Lough, John (1997) John H. Knox - 70 Years Old. Chromatographia, 46. pp. 467-469. ISSN 0009-5893
Lough, John, Mills, M.J. and Maltas, J. (1996) Analyte Adsorption in LC Valve Injectors for Samples in Non-Eluting Solvents. Journal of Chromatography, 726 (1-2). pp. 67-75. ISSN 0021-9673
Frame, L.A., Lough, John and Robinson, M.L. (1996) Capillary Electrochromatography - What's All the Fuss About. Chromatographic Society Bulletin, 43. pp. 13-19.
Lough, John, Groves, S.J., Law, B., Maltas, J., Mills, M.J. and Saeed, M. (1996) Drug Bioanalysis Made Easy?" Methodological Surveys in Bioanalysis Made Easy? Methodological Surveys in Bioanalysis of Drugs, 24. pp. 142-146.
Pullen, Robert, Schofield, M., Markham, Anthony, Lough, John and Menton, K. (1996) Selenium Homeostasis in the Central-Nervous-System of the Rat. Life Sciences, 58 (23). pp. 2125-2135.
Hambleton, Paul, Lough, John, Mills, M.J. and Maltas, J. (1995) Unusual Adsorption Effects on Inert HPLC Components. Journal of Liquid Chromatography, 18 (16). pp. 3205-3217. ISSN 10826079508010445
Pullen, Robert, Schofield, M., Markham, Anthony, Lough, John and Menton, K. (1995) Uptake of 75-Selenium into the Central Nervous System of the Rat. Neurochemical Research, 20 (10). pp. 1141-1146. ISSN BF00995376
Hawley, A.R., Rowley, G., Lough, John and Chatham, S.M. (1992) Physical and chemical characterisation of thermosoftened bases for molten filled hard gelatin capsule formulations. Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 18 (1719). pp. 1719-1739. ISSN 0363-9045
Hawley, A.R., Rowley, G., Lough, John and Chatham, S.M. (1991) Chromatographic Analysis of Novel Pharmaceutical Excipients for Liquid Filled Capsules. Analytical Proceedings, 28. pp. 289-292.
Matlin, S.A., Stacey, V.E. and Lough, John (1988) Hexahelicine chiral stationary phase: part 1. Phase synthesis and use in HPLC resolution of enantiomers. Journal of Chromatography, 450 (2). pp. 157-162. ISSN 0021-9673
de Biasi, V., Evans, M.B. and Lough, John (1987) Low dispersion liquid chromatography in routine pharmaceutical analysis. Analytical Proceedings, 24. pp. 72-76.
de Biasi, V., Evans, M.B. and Lough, John (1986) Study of the lipophilicity of organic bases by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with alkaline eluents. Journal of Chromatography, 353. pp. 279-284.
Matlin, S.A., Lough, John, Chan, L., Abram, D.M.H. and Zhou, Z. (1984) Assymmetric induction in cyclopropanation with homogeneous and immobilised chiral metal -diketonate catalyst. Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications, 1038 (15). pp. 1038-1040. ISSN C39840001039
Matlin, S.A., Tito-Lloret, A., Lough, John, Bryan, D.G., Browne, T. and Mehani, S. (1981) H.P.L.C. with chemically bonded stationary phases. 4 amide, carbamate and chiral-aminoamide phases. Journal of High Resolution Chromatography (Journal of Separation Science), 4 (2). pp. 81-83. ISSN 1240040208
Davidson, R.S., Lough, John, Matlin, S.A. and Morrison, C.L. (1981) Photo-acoustic spectroscopic evidence for site-site interactions in a bifunctional surface-bonded phase. Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications (11). pp. 517-518. ISSN C39810000517
Matlin, S.A., Lough, John and Bryan, D.G. (1980) H.P.L.C. with chemically bonded stationary phases. 2. picramidopropyl silica. Journal of High Resolution Chromatography, 3 (1). pp. 33-34. ISSN 1240030112
Matlin, S.A., Tinker, J.S., Tito-Lloret, A., Lough, John, Chan, L. and Bryan, D. (1979) Synthesis and applications of new, chemically bonded stationary phases for H.P.L.C. Proceedings of the Analytical Division of the Chemical Society, 16 (354).
Book Section
Lough, John and Carlile, Mark (2019) Chromatography: Separation Techniques in Biology. In: Biomolecular and Bioanalytical Techniques. Wiley, pp. 123-152. ISBN 9781119483960
Lough, John (2000) Pharmaceuticals/Chiral Separations: Liquid Chromatography. In: Encyclopaedia of Separation Science. Academic Press, London, pp. 3714-3719. ISBN 9780122267703
Lough, John (2000) Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography. In: Encyclopaedia of Analytical Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, pp. 11442-11450. ISBN 9780470027318
Lough, John and Wainer, I.W. (1995) Food, Organic and Pharmaceutical Applications of HPLC. In: HPLC. Fundamental Principles and Practice. Chapman, Hall and Blackie, Glasgow.
Lough, John and Wainer, I.W. (1995) Introduction - HPLC in Perspective. In: High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Fundamental Principles and Practice. Chapman Hall and Blackie, Glasgow. ISBN 0751400769
Lough, John (1995) Method Selection and Quantitation in HPLC. In: HPLC. Fundamental Principles and Practices. Chapman, Hall and Blackie, Glasgow.
Lough, John (1995) Pharmaceutical Compounds: Chiroptical Properties. In: Encyclopaedia of Analytical Chemistry. Academic Press, London.
Lough, John and Noctor, T.A.G. (1994) Multi-column approaches to chiral bioanalysis by liquid chromatography. In: Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Applications of Liquid Chromatography. Pergamon Press, Oxford. ISBN 008041009X
de Biasi, V., Evans, M.B. and Lough, John (1990) Chiral Ion-Pair Chromatography of Basic Novel Anti-Hypertensive Agents. In: Recent Advances in Chiral Separations. Plenum Publishing Corporation.
Lough, John (1989) Direct Chiral Resolution methods. Other direct chiral resolution methods. In: Chiral Liquid Chromatography. Blackie Publishing Group.
Lough, John and Matlin, S.A. (1989) Strategy for Development of LC Enantiomeric Determination Methods. Consideration of other techniques. In: Chiral Liquid Chromatography. Blackie Publishing Group.
Lough, John and Wainer, I.W. (1989) Strategy for Development of LC Enantiomeric Determination Methods. Choice of Chiral LC Systems. In: Chiral Liquid Chromatography. Blackie Publishing Group.
Lough, John (1985) Trends in the use of LC in the pharmaceutical industry,. In: Liquid Chromatography in Pharmaceutical Development: An Introduction. Aster Publishing Corporation.
Conference or Workshop Item
Dewan, N, Lough, John and Dodou, Kalliopi (2017) Development of a versatile uHPLC method for the analysis of doxycycline. In: Skin Metabolism Meeting, November 2017, University Of Sunderland.
Lough, John (2016) Introducing Modern LC Column Technology into a Research-Led Pharmaceutical Teaching Environment. In: Pittcon 2016, 6-10 Mar 2016, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. (Unpublished)
Clark, E.L., Lough, John and Gray, M.R. (2001) Evaluation of the Use of LC-MS in Supporting Stability Studies for Preclinical Study Formulations. In: 138th British Pharmaceutical Conference, 23-26 Sep 2001, Glasgow, UK.
Utting, A., Rowley, G., Kassem, N. and Lough, John (1996) Thermal Analysis of Selected NSAID/Poloxamer Solid Dispersion Formulations with Respect to Liquid Filling into Hard Gelatin Capsules. In: PharmTech Conference, 1996, UK.
Utting, A., Rowley, G., Kassem, N. and Lough, John (1995) Thermal Analysis of NSAID/Poloxamer Formulations for Use in Liquid Fill Hard Gelatin Capsules. In: PharmTech Conference, 1995, Barcelona, Spain.
Hawley, A.R., Rowley, G., Lough, John and Chatham, S.M. (1992) A Study of Dissolution Medium Penetration into Fusion-formed Solid Dispersion Formulations. In: PharmTech Conference, 1992, Manchester, UK.
Hawley, A.R., Rowley, G., Lough, John and Chatham, S.M. (1991) Physical and chemical characterisation of thermosoftened bases for molten filled hard gelatin capsule formulations. In: PharmTech Conference 1991, 1991, Bologna, Italy.
Lough, John, Foster, H.E., Thompson, M., Tomlinson, B., Matlin, S.A. and Stacey, V.A. (1989) Approaches to the Analysis of Racemic Drugs in Biological Fluids. In: 2nd International Bioanalytical Forum, 1989, Kansas, USA.
Book
Lough, John (1989) Chiral Liquid Chromatography. Blackie Publishing Group.
My teaching and research activities reflect my areas of expertise. However, my principal interest is in the application of modern liquid chromatography to the analysis of drugs. Within this, chiral separations have always been a continuing interest.
Over and above my extensive teaching and associated administrative duties, I have found time for >80 research publications, >100 invited external presentations, 31 successful PhD supervision, and editing or co-editing 5 books (“Chiral Liquid Chromatography”, Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Applications of Liquid Chromatography”, HPLC: Fundamental Principles and Practices”, “Chirality in the Natural and Applied Sciences” and “Drug Stereochemistry (3rd edition)”).
I have obtained £750K in external research funding and made contributions to successful departmental funding bids in excess of £2 million. I am a longstanding member of The Chromatographic Society (President, 2007–2009) and the British Pharmacopoeia Expert Advisory Group (MC1).
I have delivered short courses nationally and internationally (Canada, USA, Brazil, India), consulted widely in the UK and on chiral patent cases in North America, chaired the 8th International Symposium on Chiral Discrimination, and served on seven other international symposium committees (also Secretary, Permanent Scientific Committee, International Symposium on Chromatography (2010–2016). I have served on editorial advisory boards for four international journals and currently referee for ten journals.