Education:

B.S. in Pharmacy, 1980
M.S. in Pharmaceutics, 1983
Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics, 1985
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry and Biophysics, 1986
University of Virginia

Research Interests:

The research activities of Professor Wiedmann share the common thread of characterizing the physical chemical properties of biological systems for optimizing drug delivery. His early studies consisted of investigating lung surfactant with the goal of understanding the functional significance of the lipid-protein interactions using surface chemistry, 2D-NMR spectroscopy, and solid-state NMR. This fundamental work has led to the present applied research of the delivery of lung surfactant, chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents for the prevention/treatment of lung cancer, antifungal antibiotics, and antioxidants for use in cystic fibrosis and acute lung injury.  For these purposes, Dr. Wiedmann has developed an aerosol delivery system for testing the safety and effectiveness of drugs delivered to the respiratory tract of rodents.  He is currently exploring the use of nanotechnology for selective deposition within the respiratory tract.

Dr. Wiedmann has also investigated the structural properties of the stratum corneum lipid domain and its relationship to the permeability of the skin.  He was involved in obtaining the first high-resolution (nanometer scale) atomic force microscopic (AFM) image of the lipid packing of the stratum corneum.  More recently, AFM with nanoindentation has been used to characterize the material properties of solids that are relevant for tablet formation.

Finally, Dr. Wiedmann has studied colloidal systems, including solubilization and transport of bile salt/phospholipid micellar systems to characterize the intestinal absorption of drugs and crystallization of cholesterol as related to gallstone formation.  PFG-SE NMR spectroscopy was used to determine the concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient, and insight into the size, shape and excluded volume effects of bile salt mixed micelles in glycoprotein networks have been obtained.  For the gallstones, AFM has provided new information concerning the role of lipid colloids into the nucleation and crystal growth of cholesterol.

Selected Publications:

K.M. Picker-Freyer, X. Liao, G. Zhang and T.S. Wiedmann.  Evaluation of the compaction of sulfathiazole polymorphs.  J. Pharm. Sci. 96(8): 2111-2124 (2007).

C.J. Hitzman, L.W. Wattenberg and T.S. Wiedmann.  Pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil in the hamster following inhalation delivery of lipid-coated nanoparticles.  J. Pharm. Sci. 95(6): 1196-1211 (2006).

C.J. Hitzman; W.F. Elmquist, L.W. Wattenberg and T.S. Wiedmann.  Development of a respirable, sustained release microcarrier for 5-fluorouracil I: In vitro assessment of liposomes, microspheres, and lipid coated nanoparticles.  J. Pharm. Sci. 95(5): 1114-26 (2006). 

C.J. Hitzman, W.F. Elmquist and T.S. Wiedmann.  Development of a respirable, sustained release microcarrier for 5-fluorouracil II: In vitro and in vivo optimization of lipid coated nanoparticles.  J. Pharm. Sci. 95(5): 1127-43 (2006).

X. Liao and T.S. Wiedmann.  Measurement of process-dependent material properties of pharmaceutical solids by nanoindentation.  J. Pharm. Sci. 94: 79-82 (2005).

T.S. Wiedmann and C.J. Hitzman.  Reflux drying of aerosols.  J. Aerosol Med. 17: 344-353 (2004).

X. Liao, W. Liang, T.S. Wiedmann, L. Wattenberg and A. Dahl.  Lung distribution of the chemopreventive agent difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) following oral and inhalation delivery.  Exp. Lung Res. 30: 755-769 (2004).