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Robert E. SIEVERS
Office Phone: 303 492 7943, 303 492 8083
E-mail: sievers@cires.colorado.edu
FAX: 303 492 1414
Lab: Ekeley M332
Lab Phone: 303
Group Website:
Ph.D.: University of Illinois, 1960
Analytical, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Chemistry
Professor Sievers is studying analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical science, aerosols, microparticles and nanoparticles, supercritical fluids, and thin film deposition.
Fundamental and applied studies of the formation of nanoparticle and microparticle aerosols are underway. Carbon dioxide-assisted nebulization provides superior aerosols for various forms of spectroscopy, such as electro-spray ionization, mass spectrometry and atomic absorption. Sievers' students are collaborating with pharmacists and physicians in the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, to develop new methods for delivery of aerosol particles useful in direct and painless administration of therapeutic drugs by inhalation. The drugs are dissolved or suspended in supercritical fluids, and unusually small aerosol particles are formed by rapid decompression to facilitate delivery of the aerosol particles to the most distal alveoli and to allow rapid uptake by the lungs. Formation of fine aerosols is expected to become increasingly important in the treatment or vaccination against influenza, infections, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and diabetes.
The simultaneous stabilization , drying, and micronization of vaccines, antibodies, proteins, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals and other products of the biotechnology revolution are under study. Two of the fourteen “Grand Challenges” identified by the Gates Foundation and the NIH Foundation as critical to world health are being addressed by the Sievers group: needle-free administration of vaccines (by pulmonary or nasal aerosols), and vaccines that do not need refrigeration for long term storage.
Coatings of many materials can be deposited on complex surfaces and on particles from 70 nm to 30,00 nm by CAN-BD, a process patented by the Sievers group.
Selected Publications
"Fine Particle Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Using Dense Carbon Dioxide Mixed with Aqueous or Alcoholic Solutions", E.T.S. Huang, H-Y Chang, C.D. Liang, and R.E. Sievers, ACS Symp. Ser. 860, 324-338 (2003).
"Micronization of Inhalable Drugs with Liquid Carbon Dioxide at Near Ambient Conditions", R. Sievers, G. Clark, J. Villa, D. Alargov, L. Rinner, S. Cape, and E. Huang, Journal of Aerosol Medicine, 16, 213 (2003).
"Micronization of Water-Soluble or Alcohol-Soluble Pharmaceuticals with a Low Temperature Bubble Dryer®", R.E. Sievers, E.T.S. Huang, J.A. Villa, G. Engling, Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 26, 9-16 (2003).
"Characterization and Structures of 2,2,7-trimethyl-3,5-Octanedionate Chelates of Cerium (IV) and Terbium(III)", W.C. Andersen, B.C. Noll, S.P. Sellers, L.L. Whildin, and R.E. Sievers, Inorganic Chimica Acta. 105,110 (2002).
"Dry Powders of Stable Protein Formulations from Aqueous Solutions Prepared Using Supercritical CO2-Assisted Aerosolization", S.P. Sellers, G.S. Clark, R.E. Sievers, and J.F. Carpenter, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 90(6), 785-797 (2001).
"The Reach and Stimulus of Chromatography in Diverse Realms", in Chromatography – A Century of Discovery 1900 – 2000: The Bridge to the Sciences and Technology, C.W. Gehrke, R.L. Wixom and E. Bayer, Eds., Elsevier, 511-521 (2001).
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