Kawthar Bouchemal

Kawthar Bouchemal is a Professor of Polymer Physical Chemistry and Formulation at Chimie ParisTech – PSL University located in Paris. She conducts her research activities at the Chemistry Research Institute of Paris (UMR CNRS PSL 8247). After a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) diploma, she completed a master's degree in Medical and Biological Engineering and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology at the University of Lyon in the group of Professor Hatem Fessi. After a postdoctoral stay at the University of Geneva, she joined the University of Paris-Saclay as an Associate Professor of pharmaceutical technology. During her career, she has been appointed to the Institut Universitaire de France, an elite French institution that recognizes the teaching and research achievements of the awardees. Her research activities focus on conceiving, characterizing, and evaluating the biological behavior of formulations composed of polymers. These formulations aim to improve efficacy and decrease the side effects of biologically active substances. Her research on biopolymers and cyclodextrins led to a new family of particles with nonspherical morphology. She serendipitously discovered that a simple mixing of an amphiphilic biopolymer with α-cyclodextrin in water resulted in particles with a typical hexagonal shape, flat surfaces, and sharp edges. These particles exhibited intrinsic antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. Other research work deals with process engineering applied to the formulation of polymer nanoparticles. She demonstrated a power-law relationship between particle size and turbulences created by the solvent diffusion process. She was awarded the Best Innovative Company award by the French Minister of Higher Education and Research in 2013 (Emergence) and 2016 (i-Lab). Based on her experience in technology transfer and entrepreneurship, she founded a Master's degree program focused on the Protection and Management of Innovation in Health. She served on the editorial board of the Pharmaceutical Research journal and was a guest editor for the International Journal of Pharmaceutics. She was chair and member of the organizing and scientific committee of national and international meetings on Pharmaceutics & Biopharmaceutics