Göran Alderborn: "I have had a fantastic time at the Faculty of Pharmacy"

When Göran Alderborn, Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology, closes the laboratory door and leaves Uppsala's Biomedical Centre this evening, it not only marks the end of a long and successful scientific career. Throughout his many years at Uppsala University, the new emeritus has played a significant part in a series of initiatives that have contributed to advancing the positions of both his own Faculty and the entire Swedish pharmaceutical sector in the world of pharmacy.

“In merely every aspect, I have had a fantastic time at the Faculty of Pharmacy. When I look back at all the inspiring tasks I have been engaged in, and above all the many and highly competent colleagues I have had the privilege to work with, I see that I have experienced a professional life that I could not even imagine on the day I enrolled as student at Uppsala University and the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy,” says Göran Alderborn.

He initially set sail for a career in the industry, but when a doctoral position with a focus on particle technology appeared, Göran accepted to remain in academia for a few more years. Somewhere around the time for dissertation, the Alderborn family took shape, and when the Faculty needed to recruit a lecturer in Galenic pharmacy, Göran decided to make Uppsala his permanent base. During the 1990s, he led a renewal of the subject while in parallel establishing it in course catalogs in both Stockholm and Gothenburg.

“Among many things, we introduced new course literature which is still in use today and that I am currently revising a chapter for in preparation for the 7’th edition. My years as Director of studies was continuously rewarding, but when Pharmacia in 1997, aiming to create a center of excellence in tablet development, allocated funding for a Professorship in Pharmaceutical Technology, I felt the time was right to take the next step. I began to research particle agglomeration and the optimisation of particle properties for tableting, which has since remained my main focus.”

For many Swedish pharmaceutical experts, Göran Alderborn is just as known for his important achievements during his academic positions of trust: As Head of department, he in 2001 led the reorganised Department of Pharmacy. As Deputy Vice-Rector, he led the work to create incentives for promising junior researchers. As Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Göran laid the foundation for today's Testa Center and SciLifeLab’s Drug Discovery and Development Platform. The biggest impression, however, originated in a phone call to AstraZeneca in Mölndal.

“Vinnova was preparing a call for collaboration between academia and industry, and my discussion with AstraZeneca became the starting point for a research center with a focus on drug delivery. My colleague Hans Lennernäs did a fantastic job in building the necessary industrial network. We received funding for three years and I assumed the role of leader of what became the Swedish Drug Delivery Forum. Three years later, we had established the dynamic platform we envisioned, and today the initiative lives on as SweDeliver, a competence center well on its way to becoming a world leader in its field of science.”

As part of the Swedish Drug Delivery Forum, Uppsala University established new research environments for pulmonary and parenteral drug delivery. Göran Alderborn assumed leadership of the pulmonary work and was shortly thereafter contacted by researchers in southern Sweden wanting to discuss a possible collaboration. In 2019, the Swedish Inhalation Network was formed, a constellation that today unites more than a hundred experts in academia and industry, and which recently launched a much appreciated premiere of the course Pharmaceutical Aerosols.

“Research in pulmonary drug delivery is facing a forthcoming generational change, which makes a structured transfer of skills necessary. Therefore, I will continue my work in the Swedish Inhalation Network as well as my involvement in a number of ongoing PhD projects at SweDeliver. But doing this as emeritus and granted the space to combine it with spending quality time with my family and grandchildren gives the future an almost inspirational shimmer, so it is without a any hesitation that I will turn off the office light this evening.”

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt