Lord Sam Liston, an alumnus of the USC Department of Pharmacy and a Master’s degree student at the School of Pharmacy, Walailak University, won the Platinum Award (see photo below) for his oral presentation at the 8th International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology (PST2025) held on June 12-13, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. 

The annual event, with this year’s theme, “Advancing pharmaceutical frontiers: Collaboration, innovation, and patient-centric solutions,” was jointly organized by more than 21 pharmaceutical organizations and faculties of pharmacy in Thailand. 

Out of 164 researchers in pharmaceutical sciences, Liston was among the selected participants to deliver an oral presentation and was honored with the top award in the graduate student category, besting more than 58 masters and doctoral students.

His research, “The potential of liposome and cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) combination for skin penetration enhancement of topical Lidocaine formulation,” focuses on a innovative strategy utilizing cold atmospheric plasma in combination with liposomes to enhance the transdermal delivery of topical lidocaine. 

The study also explored how cold atmospheric plasma affects skin properties that could influence the permeation efficiency of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and its liposomal delivery system.

This research was supervised by Asst. Prof. Dr. Pajaree Sakdiset as the main thesis advisor, with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Somchai Sawatdee from the Walailak School of Pharmacy and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mudtorlep Nisoa from the School of Science as co-advisors.

The USC Department of Pharmacy and the Walailak School of Pharmacy have maintained a long-term collaboration involving joint research initiatives as well as student and faculty exchange programs since 2023.

With reporting from the USC Department of Pharmacy