Announcements

We are honored to recognize the 2024 MDPI Top 1000 Reviewers—scholars whose exemplary commitment to rigorous and constructive peer review is vital in upholding the highest standards of academic publishing.

Selected from a distinguished pool of 215,000 reviewers from 65 countries and regions worldwide, these honorees stand out for their exceptional expertise, diligence, and dedication to advancing research through timely and thoughtful reviews. Their constructive and impartial feedback ensures the publication of high-quality, impactful research, while their timely reviews facilitate swift revisions and faster publication of innovative work.

Peer review is the invisible foundation of academic progress. With gratitude and respect, we celebrate these 1000 scholars who made that foundation stronger in 2024. We respected all privacy preferences, with part of nominees opting for limited attribution.

The names of these reviewers are listed below in alphabetical order by first name:

Editor’s choice articles are selected based on suggestions from the Academic Editors of Pharmaceutics (ISSN: 1999-4923). The Editors select a small number of published articles that they consider to be particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. You are therefore invited to read the editor’s choice articles, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Pharmaceutics in February. The full list of editor’s choice articles can be viewed via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/pharmaceutics/editors_choice.

1. “A Step Towards Real-Time Release Testing of Pharmaceutical Tablets: Utilization of CIELAB Color Space”
by René Brands, Trieu Nam Le, Jens Bartsch and Markus Thommes
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(3), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17030311
Editor’s highlight: Authors developed a promising UV/Vis spectroscopy tool for real-time release in tableting, based entirely on mechanical models and capturing both the chemical composition and physical properties of the tablets such as porosity and tensile strength. This development can help to optimize the ejection position of a rotary tablet press. Interestingly, this system uses the in-line monitoring of physical tablet properties. Specifically, tablet porosity and tablet hardness are investigated in terms of tensile strength. Also, the system described by Brands and co-authors characterizes the tablet’s surface roughness by using a laser profilometer.

2. “C24 Ceramide Lipid Nanoparticles for Skin Wound Healing”
by Ji-Hye Lee, Jin-Hyun Kim, Tong-Il Hyeon, Khee-Tae Min, Se-Young Lee, Han-Chul Ko, Hong-Seok Choi, Kuk-Youn Ju, Young-Seok Cho and Tae-Jong Yoon
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(2), 242; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17020242
Editor’s highlight: C24 ceramide was successfully encapsulated into lipid nanoparticles (C24-LNPs), significantly enhancing its water solubility and bioavailability, thereby offering a new strategy for skin wound healing. It is demonstrated through systematic in vitro and in vivo experiments that a C24-LNP effectively promotes keratinocyte proliferation and migration, activates the AKT/ERK signaling pathways, and accelerates epithelial regeneration and collagen synthesis, outperforming traditional EGF protein therapy. The research not only addresses the formulation challenges associated with the clinical application of ceramides but also sets the foundation for developing cost-effective and efficient skin regeneration therapies.

3. “Innovations in Cancer Therapy: Endogenous Stimuli-Responsive Liposomes as Advanced Nanocarriers”
by Jazmín Torres, Johanna Karina Valenzuela Oses, Antonio María Rabasco-Álvarez, María Luisa González-Rodríguez and Mónica Cristina García
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(2), 245; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17020245
Editor’s highlight: This review provides a systematic summary of the latest advances in endogenous stimuli-responsive liposomes for cancer treatment. The article is well-structured, offering detailed explorations of various smart liposomes, including pH-, enzyme-, redox-, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-, and hypoxia-responsive systems, and further elaborates on the design strategies and application advantages of dual- and multi-stimuli-responsive systems that integrate multiple triggers. A notable strength of this review lies in its focus not only on the design principles and response mechanisms of liposomes but also on their specific anti-cancer applications. It presents numerous cutting-edge research examples such as the co-delivery of multiple drugs and combination immunotherapy, demonstrating the significant potential of these nanocarriers in enhancing targeting efficiency, reducing side effects, and overcoming drug resistance. In addition, the article looks forward to emerging directions such as trackable liposomes with integrated diagnostic and therapeutic functions, reflecting the field's trend toward precision medicine. Overall, this review is comprehensive and insightful, successfully integrating fundamental design, mechanisms of action, and practical applications. It offers valuable perspectives on endogenous stimuli-responsive liposomes and serves as an important reference for researchers involved in cancer nanomedicine development.

4. “Hydrogels and Nanogels: Pioneering the Future of Advanced Drug Delivery Systems”
by Ernesto J. Delgado-Pujol, Guillermo Martínez, David Casado-Jurado, Juan Vázquez, Jesús León-Barberena, David Rodríguez-Lucena, Yadir Torres, Ana Alcudia and Belén Begines
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(2), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17020215
Editor’s highlight: This is a comprehensive review of the usefulness of hydrogels and nanogels in developing smart drug delivery systems, updated to include the latest research.
These emerging materials are used for controlled and targeted drug release, making treatments smarter, more precise, and tailored to each patient. This interesting and thorough review explores their evolution, production methods, release mechanisms, and pharmaceutical applications, demonstrating their potential to transform personalised medicine. Although challenges in manufacturing and regulation remain, the future looks promising for smarter, more precise, and patient-centred therapies.

5. ”AI-Driven Innovation in Skin Kinetics for Transdermal Drug Delivery: Overcoming Barriers and Enhancing Precision”
by Nubul Albayati, Sesha Rajeswari Talluri, Nirali Dholaria and Bozena Michniak-Kohn
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(2), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17020188
Editor’s highlight: This review explores how is AI changing transdermal drug delivery. Recent breakthroughs have deepened our understanding of how the skin acts as a barrier—and how to overcome it for more effective therapies. But developing truly personalized TDDS means considering factors like skin type, body area, age, and hydration. The review explores how advanced models—like neural networks and machine learning algorithms—are making it easier to predict skin permeability and select the best TDDS for each situation.

6. “Emerging Trends in Snake Venom-Loaded Nanobiosystems for Advanced Medical Applications: A Comprehensive Overview”
by Álisson E. F. Alves,  Anne B. C. Barros, Lindomara C. F. Silva, Lucas M. M. Carvalho, Graziela M. A. Pereira, Ana F. C. Uchôa, José M. Barbosa-Filho, Marcelo S. Silva, Karla P. O. Luna, Karla S. R. Soares et al.
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(2), 204; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17020204
Editor’s highlight: In the 16th century, Paracelsus said, “All substances are poisons; there is none that is not a poison. It is the dose that differentiates a poison from a remedy.” This interesting and original review explores how dangerous poisons can be transformed into potential therapies for treating certain diseases using nanotechnology. The main composition of snake venom, its utility, and the associated challenges are discussed in the text. It also discusses the most commonly used nanosystems for immobilising snake venom and how nanoparticles can reduce toxicity and improve treatment precision. The review demonstrates the great potential of nanosystems in developing safer and more effective therapies based on these substances.

7. “Development of an Innovative Dual Construct for Targeted Drug Delivery in the Oral Cavity”
by Elena Mazzinelli, Ilaria Favuzzi, Marianna Messina, Giorgia Fratocchi, Federica Vincenzoni, Eleonora Santo Stefano, Francesco Cecconi, Carlo Lajolo, Alessia Basco, Raffaella Castagnola et al.
Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(2), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17020272
Editor’s highlight: The research article, entitled 'Development of an Innovative Dual Construct for Targeted Drug Delivery in the Oral Cavity', investigates new approaches to treating oral lichen planus based on innovative buccal drug delivery systems. Current oral treatments are often limited in effectiveness by natural barriers such as mucus layers and constant saliva flow, which is especially challenging for chronic conditions such as oral lichen planus, where patient compliance and drug permanence in the oral cavity are critical. In this study, the authors present an innovative dual drug delivery system designed to address these challenges and control drug delivery, thereby improving residence time. They propose using PLGA nanoparticles loaded with dexamethasone to enable controlled drug release and effective cellular uptake, and chitosan-coated PLA fibres to provide strong mucoadhesion and ensure that the formulation stays in place, even under simulated saliva flow.

Nine new journals covering a range of subjects launched their inaugural issues in September 2025. We are excited to be able to share with you the newest research rooted in the value of open access.

We extend our sincere thanks to all Editorial Board Members for their commitment and expertise. Each journal is dedicated to upholding strong editorial standards through a thorough peer review process, ensuring impactful open access scholarship.

Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. If you would like to create more new journals, you are welcome to send an application here, or contact the New Journal Committee (newjournal-committee@mdpi.com).

Conference: 5th Alpine Winter Conference on Medicinal and Synthetic Chemistry
Date: 25–29 January 2026
Location: St. Anton, Austria

The Alpine Winter Conference on Medicinal and Synthetic Chemistry presents attending scientists with cutting-edge synthetic and medicinal chemistry, as well as the latest developments in technologies that foster innovation in drug discovery. The main target audience for this highly interdisciplinary meeting includes medicinal and synthetic chemists, as well as participants in related drug discovery disciplines from both industry and academia, including graduate/undergraduate students and postdocs.

For more information about this conference, please visit our website via the following link: https://www.alpinewinterconference.org/.

Nobel Prizes are the world’s most prestigious recognition of scientific breakthroughs, honoring discoveries that push the boundaries of knowledge and reshape entire fields. They bring into the public eye researchers whose work might otherwise remain known only within specialized circles.

For many, winning a Nobel Prize is a surreal experience. Laureates often describe a mix of joy, humility, reflection, and gratitude for the teams and collaborators whose contributions made the achievement possible. Behind every Nobel-winning idea lies years of careful, incremental work—a process that often goes unseen.

When Prof. Steven Weinberg won the Nobel Prize in Physics in October 1979, his wife Louise, a legal scholar, reminded him to keep doing the ordinary hard work of science, joking: “Now you have to write some unimportant papers.” True to form, Weinberg continued to push the boundaries of our understanding of the Universe, showing that curiosity and dedication extend far beyond the moment of recognition (Hofmann 2025: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/17/6/840).

Discover the science behind the world’s most transformative ideas

Over the years, dozens of Nobel laureates have published their work with MDPI, entrusting our open access journals to disseminate their findings to a global audience. As of 2024, more than 40 laureates have contributed over 115 articles across 35 journals, ranging from pioneering research on microRNAs and mRNA therapeutics, to fundamental insights in theoretical physics, and advances in structural biology.

We regularly spotlight how Nobel Prize–winning research intersects with the contributions of our authors. This not only celebrates the achievements of the laureates, but also underscores the role of open access in ensuring that transformative science reaches the widest possible audience.

On this page, we invite you to explore selected works by Nobel laureates within the MDPI portfolio, and to join us in celebrating the global impact of their ideas.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 has been awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. MDPI sincerely invites you to explore research in a related field.

The Science Behind the Prize: 2025 Nobel Physiology or Medicine Roundtable
6 October 2025, 03:30 pm (CEST)
You are welcome to watch the recording here!

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit. MDPI sincerely invites you to explore research in a related field.

The Science Behind the Prize: 2025 Nobel Physics Roundtable
7 October 2025, 02:30 pm (CEST)
You are welcome to watch the recording here!

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal-organic frameworks. MDPI sincerely invites you to explore research in a related field.

We are pleased to share with you a recent interview conducted with Dr. Po-Han Chao, the winner of the Pharmaceutics 2024 Best PhD Thesis Award.

The following is an interview with Dr. Po-Han Chao:

1. Could you introduce your research work during your PhD studies and the main objectives of your doctoral dissertation?
My PhD centered on nanomedicine for cancer immunotherapy. Specifically, I worked on using liposomes to deliver resiquimod, a TLR7/8 agonist, into the tumor microenvironment. My dissertation, entitled “Resiquimod-Loaded Cationic Liposomes Cure Mice with Peritoneal Carcinomatosis and Induce Specific Anti-Tumor Immunity”, showed that this approach not only eradicated tumors in mice via cationic liposomes but also triggered long-lasting, tumor-specific immune memory. The bigger goal was to bring drug delivery and immunotherapy together, finding ways to make the immune system itself fight back against aggressive cancers.

2. Did you encounter any difficulties in carrying out this research? If yes, how did you overcome them and what strategies did you use to stay focused and motivated?
Yes, definitely. Technically, optimizing the liposomes to produce stable formulations with good drug loading took many rounds of trial and error. On top of that, the COVID-19 lockdowns made things harder because lab access was restricted for long stretches of time. That slowed down experiments and added a lot of uncertainty about timelines. What helped me was breaking the work into smaller milestones and focusing on what I could do outside the lab, like analyzing data or planning the next set of experiments. Talking with my supervisor and lab mates kept me grounded, and celebrating small wins along the way helped me stay motivated. Ultimately, I reminded myself of the bigger picture—that this research could contribute to new treatment options for patients who really need them.

3. In your opinion, what key qualities should an excellent PhD graduate possess? Do you have some advice for doctoral students who have not yet graduated?
I would say resilience, curiosity, and clear communication. Resilience because experiments will fail more often than they succeed, curiosity because that is what keeps you digging deeper, and communication because good science needs to be shared in a way that others can understand and use. For students still on their journey, do not measure your progress only by papers or data points. The PhD is about developing how you think, troubleshoot, and collaborate. Those skills stay with you much longer than a single publication.

4. What are your future research plans and what are your long-term career goals?
I want to keep working at the intersection of nanomedicine and cancer immunotherapy, with a focus on translating preclinical findings into clinically viable treatments. Long term, my goal is to bridge academia and industry to help move innovative therapies from the lab into clinical trials, where they can make a real difference for patients with advanced cancers.

5. As an author, what factors do you consider most important when choosing a journal for publication? Pharmaceutics is an open access journal—what are your thoughts on the open access publishing model?
When I choose a journal, I look for the right audience, a fair and constructive review process, and good visibility. The whole point is to make sure the research reaches the people who can use it and build on it. For open access, I think it is really valuable. It removes barriers and makes science accessible not only to researchers but also clinicians and even patients. Fees can be challenging, but overall, I see open access as the right direction for science as it makes knowledge more inclusive and accelerates collaboration.

Conference: 2025 Chinese Biomaterials Congress (CSBM 2025)
Date: 9–12 October 2025
Location: Shaoxing, China

MDPI will be attending the 2025 Chinese Biomaterials Congress as an exhibitor. We welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The Chinese Biomaterials Congress is the most comprehensive, largest, and highest-level comprehensive academic exchange platform in its field. The 2025 Chinese Biomaterials Congress ence and Exhibition of New Technologies, Products, and Instruments (CSBM 2025), hosted by the Chinese Society for Biomaterials and organized by the Zhejiang University Shaoxing Research Institute, will be held at the Zhejiang Shaoxing International Convention and Exhibition Center from 9 to 12 October 2025. Driven by the new quality productivity policy, biomaterials, as a key area of strategic emerging industries, are experiencing unprecedented development opportunities.

The conference will focus on cutting-edge biomaterials science, technological innovation, application of research findings, and regulatory science, sharing the latest research findings and practical experiences and discussing the future direction of the biomaterials field. Experts, scholars, researchers, physicians, and entrepreneurs from renowned research institutions, medical institutions, businesses, and regulatory agencies, engaged in the research, development, production, testing, regulation, and clinical practice of biomaterials and medical devices, will attend.

Here is a list of just a few of the cutting-edge topics for all:
1. Innovative bone regeneration biomaterials and bone health;
2. Cardiovascular and peripheral vascular materials and devices;
3. Advanced manufacturing cutting-edge technologies;
4. Tissue and organ regenerative medicine materials;
5. Biomedical metal materials;
6. Nanobiomaterials and pharmaceutical development;

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Bioengineering;
• JFB;
• CIMB;
• Biomedicines;
• Materials;
• Marine Drugs;
• Pharmaceutics.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://2025.csbm.org.cn/.

Date: 23 September 2025
Time: 11:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m
Location: The Chelsea Hotel, 33 Gerrard Street West, Toronto

MDPI is thrilled to announce our participation in the University of Toronto’s largest career fair, taking place at the St. George Downtown Campus. This exciting event brings together thousands of students, graduates, and professionals looking to connect with top employers and explore career opportunities.

We invite all attendees to visit the MDPI booth to discover how you can be part of one of the world’s leading open access academic publishers. Whether you are passionate about scientific research, editorial work, marketing, or supporting global innovation in publishing, we want to meet YOU!

What to expect at our booth:

• Learn more about MDPI’s mission and global impact;
• Explore exciting career opportunities in publishing, editorial, communications, and more;
• Network with our team and ask questions about working at MDPI.

Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to take the next step, don’t miss this opportunity to connect with MDPI. Bring your resume, your curiosity, and your questions—we look forward to seeing you there!

For additional information on the Career Fair and Open MDPI positions, please visit the following links:

• Learn more about the U of T Career Fair;
• Explore Careers with MDPI Canada.