PhD students & Postdocs

At SweDeliver's absolute core, an international group of PhD students and postdocs are working with access to technology and supervision from prominent researchers in both academia and industry.

Julia Parlow, PhD student

Researcher bio Julia Parlow graduated from the master program in Pharmacy at Uppsala University in the spring of 2017. After that she worked at a pharmacy and since autumn 2018 she is a PhD student in the Pharmaceutical Physical Chemistry resarch group at Uppsala University

Project Novel In Vitro Models for Subcutaneous Administration of Drugs: Transport Properties

Project aim To develop methods to study the transport of drug molecules in biorelevant synthetic models of human SC extracellular matrix, and to use the methods to clarify the key factors governing the transport with respect to interaction with the constituents of the matrix and the interstitial fluid.

Ellen Brunzell, PhD student

Researcher bio Ellen Brunzell received her master of science degree in pharmacy from Uppsala University summer of 2020. She wrote her master thesis at Uppsala University in the pharmaceutical physical chemistry research group, and in autumn 2020, Ellen joined the same group as a PhD student

Project Self-Assembly of therapeutic peptides

Project aim To characterize the structure of self-assembled peptides by using small-angle scattering measurements, mainly X-ray and neutron scattering. By comparing our results with in vivo methods, the structure of peptide aggregates and its correlation with biological effects can be investigated.

Anton Norberg, PhD Student

Researcher bio Anton Norberg is a licensed pharmacist after graduating from Uppsala University in 2023. In the summer of 2021, Anton completed the SweDeliver summer research internship at APL. After graduation, he worked at the Cytiva R&D department as a research engineer. In autumn 2023, Anton was recruited to a PhD student position at Per Hansson's research group at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Project Subcutaneous administration of biotherapeutics: In vitro properties and bioavailability and absorption rate in vivo

Project aim Increased knowledge of factors affecting the subcutaneous tissue interactions of peptide and protein drugs and to evaluate the predictive capacity of in vitro methods regarding absorption and bioavailability of subcutaneously administered drugs.

Rojita Jadhari, PhD student

Researcher bio Rojita Jadhari graduated with a master of Pharmaceutical Science, focusing on Drug Discovery and Development from Uppsala University in 2025. She did her master's thesis at the Translational PKPD group and worked as a Research Assistant in the same group . In the summer of 2025, she worked with the formulation team at Meribel Pharma Solutions as part of the SweDeliver Summer Research Internship. At the end of 2025, Rojita joined the Pharmaceutical Physical Chemistry group as a PhD student at Uppsala University's Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Project Transport of conjugated delivery system from the subcutaneous injection site to the lymphatic system

Project aim To investigate the physicochemical properties, interactions, partitioning, and transport behavior of drug-carrier conjugates at the subcutaneous injection site and their uptake into the lymphatic system, using an in vitro extracellular matrix (ECM) mimetic hydrogel model based on passive targeting mechanisms. The study will further establish in vitro-in vivo correlations and identify key model parameters to enable predictive and AI-based tools for estimating subcutaneous bioavailability in clinical settings.

Giorgia Preti, PhD student

Researcher bio Giorgia Preti holds a Master’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (2024). After graduation, she worked at a pharmacy in Rome, and in December 2025, she joined the Pharmaceutical Physical Chemistry research group at Uppsala University as a PhD student.

Project Novel formulation principles for macromolecular drugs based on coacervates and other polyelectrolyte stabilized phases and complexes

Project aim To investigate the release of macromolecular drugs from liquid coacervates and polyelectrolyte complexes, and to understand the mechanisms governing their uptake by and transport through the subcutaneous tissue extracellular matrix (ECM).

Shahina Akter, PhD student

Researcher Bio: Shahina Akter graduated in Pharmacy from Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf (HHU) in Germany. She received her Master's degree in Industrial Pharmacy, focusing her master’s thesis on Molecular simulations of membrane permeability. After finishing her masters Shahina Akter joined the Uppsala University Drug Delivery group as a PhD student.

Research Project: Influence of intestinal colloidal structures and self-assembly on lipid-based formulations for enhancing peptide drug bioavailability.

Aim: To develop a hybrid of the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and the simulation methods to analyse complex intestinal colloidal structures and lipid-rich water-based formulations.

Prosper Emeh, PhD student

Researcher Bio: Prosper Emeh holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nigeria and has practiced Clinical Pharmacy for two years. He then earned a Master of Science in Nanomedicine for drug delivery from Université Paris Cité. He developed his master’s thesis at Université Catholiqué du Louvain, where he explored the use of permeation enhancers to improve oral peptide absorption in an inflammatory bowel disease context.

Research project: Effects of molecular characteristics of macromolecular drugs and selection of permeation enhancer on oral absorption.

Project aim: To study the impact of the physicochemical characteristics of beyond-the-rule-of-5 (bRo5) drugs and that of permeation enhancers, elucidating their interactions and the interplay with gastrointestinal barriers towards improving oral bioavailability and reducing variability.

Rebekkah Hammar, PhD student

Researcher bio Rebekkah Hammar studied Pharmaceutical Sciences and the German State Examination in Pharmacy programs at LMU Munich. Her bachelor thesis (2017) focused on theranostic inorganic nanoparticles. During her exchange semester in Umeå (2018), she studied microbial impacts on climate change and photocatalyzed synthesis of novel antibiotics. She then moved on to work with photoswitchable tubulin inhibitors in her master thesis (2020). As part of her licensing as a pharmacist, she interned at Roche in Regulatory Affairs (2021) before starting her PhD in Drug Delivery focusing on intracellular drug bioavailability in the colon.

Research project Influence of intra- and extracellular free drug concentrations in the human colon on local and systemic drug exposure

Project aim To create a PBPK model of drug bioavailability in the colonic environment by determining drug distribution in a) colonoids and b) microbiota models.

Lingxiao Li, PhD Student

Researcher bio Lingxiao Li holds a bachelor degree in chemical engineering from Zhejiang University and a master degree in pharmaceutical science from Uppsala University. After working as a lab assistant in Enphasys, he joined molecular pharmaceutics group as a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Christel Bergström.

Research Project Improved small scale models of the gastrointestinal tract for profiling of advanced drug delivery systems and theranostics

Project aim To develop small scale in vitro models that can access the performance of medicines based on advanced drug delivery systems (ADDS), and to use the established models to rank formulations on the lab bench.

Jonas Autenrieth, PhD student

Researcher bio Jonas Autenrieth holds a master’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Tübingen, Germany. After gathering work experience in the pharmaceutical industry as well as public pharmacies, he started his PhD project in 2023. He is part of the Molecular Pharmaceutics research group at Uppsala University.

Research project 3D printing strategies for delivery of poorly soluble drugs as well as microneedles for the oral administration of peptides.

Project aim To develop additive manufacturing strategies for personalized dosing of poorly soluble drugs and increasing the oral bioavailability of peptide drugs using microneedle-based carriers.

Lidia Habtemikael, PhD student

Researcher bio Lidia Habtemikael is a registered pharmacist and graduated from Uppsala University in the summer of 2019. She then worked as a chemist at the Swedish National Veterinary Institute and later as a process chemist at PolyPeptide, before starting her PhD studies in the Molecular Pharmaceutics research group at Uppsala University in December 2021.

Research project 3D printing of personalized dosage forms for severely sick children

Project aim To develop personalized 3D-printed dosage forms for children, with a focus on formulation of poorly water-soluble substances, and oral dosage forms suitable for feeding tube administration.

Hanna Lavén, PhD student

Researcher bio: Hanna Lavén is a licensed pharmacist who graduated from the University of Gothenburg in the summer of 2022. After her studies, she spent two years at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg as part of their graduate program. In September 2024, she began her doctoral studies in the Molecular Pharmaceutics research group at Uppsala University

Research project: Targeted colonic delivery for local treatment of gastrointestinal diseases

Project aim: The overall objective of this PhD project is to develop effective and sustainable personalized treatments for patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by specifically delivering drugs to molecular targets of diseased areas in the colon.

Mingjun Wu, PhD student

Researcher bio: Mingjun Wu received her BSc in Pharmacy from Sun Yat-sen University, followed by a MSc in Pharmaceutical Science at Uppsala University in the summer of 2022. She conducted her master’s project which focused on quality control attributes of 3D printed oral dosage forms in the Drug Delivery group. In autumn, Mingjun joined the same group as a PhD student.

Research project: In vivo dissolution in colon of poorly soluble drug substances

Project aim: The project aims to improve the understanding of the colonic dissolution of poorly water-soluble compounds. The acquired knowledge will be used to develop physically relevant in silico and in vitro models of drug absorption.

Anna Simonsson, PhD student

Researcher bio Anna is a pharmacist and got her Master of Science in Pharmacy from Uppsala in 2015. Anna wrote her master thesis in pharmacognosy at the School of pharmacy in London, and has been working as a pharmacy manager in both Norway and Sweden. In October 2020 Anna joined the Pharmaceutics research group at Uppsala University, as a PhD student.

Research project. Blend state-blend property relationships of adhesive mixtures for inhalation powders.

Aim. The aim of the project is to investigate effect of carrier morphology on blend state-blend dispersibility relationships. The aim is further to investigate the role of the mixing process for blend state and blend state-blend dispersibility relationships. Finally, the possibility to develop screening methods for assessing dispersibility and segregation will be explored.

Lin Liu, PhD student

Researcher bio Lin Liu received his MSc degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Copenhagen in 2024. Following his graduation, he worked as a Research Assistant in the same research group. In March 2026, Lin joined Uppsala University's Pharmaceutical Technology Research Group as a PhD student.

Research project Spray-Dried Drug-Loaded Human Serum Albumin Nanocarriers for Advanced Aerosol Delivery

Project aim To develop a formulation platform of engineered human serum albumin (HSA)-based nanoparticles as advanced carriers for aerosol drug delivery, leveraging albumin's natural transport capabilities for a variety of therapeutic indications.

Marilena Marinaki, PhD student

Researcher bio Marilena Marinaki has a Diploma in Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Crete. After her studies, she was working as a research assistant in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of Uppsala University. In December 2020, she joined the Pharmaceutics research group at Uppsala University, as a PhD student.

Research project Understanding the compression–decompression cycle for pressure shaping of agglomerates.

Project aim The aim of the project is to provide an understanding at the particle scale of the processes that control the structure and properties of granules formed by application and subsequent removal of pressure. The goal is to first develop protocols for analytical powder compression focusing on the unloading stage and secondly to develop contact models and modelling procedures that enable the full loading–unloading cycle to be simulated at the particle scale.

Saaransh Saxena, PhD student

Research bio: Saaransh Saxena holds a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Modelling from Uppsala University and a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California. His academic work focuses on mechanistic and data-driven modelling approaches in pharmaceutical sciences, particularly in understanding the relationship between particle properties and powder performance. Prior to starting his PhD, he gained industrial experience in process development and manufacturing in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Most recently, he worked as a Research Assistant at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg, where he investigated powder flow behaviour and material properties in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. In 2026, Saaransh joined the Pharmaceutical Physics research group at Uppsala University as a PhD student under the supervision of Göran Frenning and Göran Alderborn.

Research project: Multiscale Modelling and AI-Driven Prediction of Particle Formation and Interactions Governing Inhalation Powder Performance

Project aim: To develop a mechanistic and predictive understanding of the factors governing flowability and dispersibility of inhalation powders used in dry powder inhalers. The research will investigate how molecular structure, surface composition, and particle formation during spray drying influence interparticle interactions, particle morphology, and bulk powder behaviour. By combining mechanistic modelling, experimental characterization, and AI/ML approaches, the project seeks to establish predictive relationships that enable the rational design of inhalation powders with improved manufacturability and aerosol performance.

Nicklas Bunta Sundin, PhD student

Research bio: Nicklas Bunta Sundin completed his master's thesis in Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics in 2018 and thus obtained his master's degree in drug development. After his studies, he worked as a lecturer in social pharmacy at the same university until March 2024 when he started his doctoral studies

Research project: Using novel excipients to improve stability and performance of inhalations powders prepared by spray drying

Project aim: To investigate new excipients and optimize formulation possibilities with a focus on spray drying. The project will primarily focus on creating stable formulations containing biomolecules (e.g. proteins, enzymes, peptides, etc.) as it would sometimes be beneficial from a formulation perspective to be able to administer biomolecules via the lungs.