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.

Vahid Forooqi Motlaq, PhD student

Researcher bio Vahid Forooqi Motlaq completed his Bachelor’s program at Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education in applied chemistry. His Master’s degree was in polymer and colloid science at the department of chemistry, University of Oslo. In 2018, Vahid started his PhD studies at Uppsala University’s pharmaceutical physical chemistry group.

Research project Amphiphilic properties of drug molecules and their self-assembly in presence of phospholipids

Project aim To investigate the self-assembly properties of amphiphilic drugs in presence of cell membrane components e.g. phospholipids, receptor proteins, cholesterol etc., and finding the correlation between the chemical structure of drug molecules and their aggregates properties.

Determining the influence of the presence of the amphiphilic drug on the structural deformation of the bilayer membrane is another part of my PhD project.

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.

Yassir Al-Tikriti, Postdoctoral position

Researcher bio Yassir Al-Tikriti is a pharmacist with a B.Sc. degree in pharmacy from Baghdad University. In 2012, Yassir earned a Master's degree in pharmaceutical science from Uppsala University, with the main field of the study being in drug discovery and development. He received his PhD in 2022 at SweDeliver and the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Project In Vitro Methods for Enhanced Understanding of Peptide Transport in Subcutaneous Tissue

Project aim To Generate data that aids in modeling drug absorption after in vivo administration. The focus is on identifying specific molecular properties that influence the diffusion and transport of peptide drugs within subcutaneous tissue.

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.

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.

Xiguo He, PhD Student

Researcher bio Xiguo He holds her master of science degree in pharmaceutical modelling from Uppsala University, 2021. After graduating from the in vitro, in vivo and in silico modelling background, she returned to the Drug Delivery group as a PhD student to begin the journey of engineering nanoparticles for antibiotics. The project is performed in collaboration with Uppsala Antibiotic Center.

Research project A nanosized drug delivery platform for optimal intestinal absorption of poorly permeables with focus on oral antibiotics

Project aim To improve the oral bioavailability of antibiotics using nanoparticles that are stable in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), efficient solubilizers of poorly soluble antibiotics and highly membrane-permeable, with the purpose to increase the drug delivery to the systemic circulation.

Rosita Kneiszl, PhD student

Researcher bio Rosita Kneiszl holds her master of science degree in pharmacy from Uppsala University, 2016. Rosita performed her Master's degree project at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's hospital, Boston, US, autumn 2015. After graduating, she was a leadership trainee in one of Sweden's largest retail pharmacies, and worked as a quality control pharmacist. In January, 2019, Rosita returned to academia and became a PhD student at Uppsala University.

Research project Mechanistic modeling of peptide drug permeability

Project aim Studying the interactions between oral peptide drugs, permeation enhancers, and biological model membranes with the use of computational tools, the aim is to quantify and characterize binding and transport of peptide drugs across lipid bilayers.

Benyamin Naranjani, PhD student

Researcher bio Benyamin Naranjani is a PhD student in the Drug Delivery group at Uppsala University, Sweden. With an engineering background, his research interest focuses on numerical simulations of fluid flow.

Research project Combined computational modeling at different scales to understand peptide drug and excipient co-localization

Project aim To develop a model for multiscale analysis of intestinal motility-driven fluid transport. This method will be implemented to scrutinise improvement of biologics absorption through colocalisation with permeation enhancers.

Marco Tjakra, PhD Student

Researcher Bio Marco Tjakra has studied Biomedical Engineering in Chongqing University, China and graduated with Master of Engineering degree in 2020. His previous research involves signalling pathway in the neurovascular unit with relation of hemodynamic force and toxicology. During bachelor study in Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, he was investigating antimicrobial compound from essential oil to combat oral biofilm forming bacteria. He was graduated in 2016 with Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology.

Research Project Diffusion, dissolution, and release mechanisms for dosage forms delivering drugs to the colon: Importance of colonic mucus as a barrier to drug absorption (Project performed within COLOTAN).

Project Aim To improve the understanding of drug dissolution, diffusion, and absorption from the human colon with a focus on the role of the colonic mucus layer. The obtained results will be used to design drug delivery decision trees for colonic drug delivery as well as improved in silico models for drug absorption from 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.

Maryam Tofiq, PhD student

Researcher bio Maryam Tofiq received her Master of Science degree in Pharmacy at Uppsala University with a degree project in Pharmacokinetics. She started her doctoral studies at Uppsala University in September 2018.

Research project Microstructure-property relationships of agglomerates formed by dry granulation

Project aim With focus on how the microstructure and mechanical properties of agglomerates formed by dry granulation can be controlled by formulation measures, a central part of Maryam’s project is the assessment of the compression mechanics of agglomerates and if such compression parameters can be used to predict the tabletability of the granules.

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.

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.

Mayura Talwelkar Shimpi, Postdoctoral position

Researcher bio Mayura Talwelkar Shimpi is a researcher with experience in crystal engineering of various organic molecules, using experimental and computational approach. She conducted her PhD studies at Luleå University of Technology in the field of applied physics, before being recruited to a postdoctoral position at Prof. Anja-Verena Mudring's research group. In October 2022, Mayura Talwelkar Shimpi joined SweDeliver and Prof. Göran Frenning’s research group in Pharmaceutical physics.

Research project Enhanced spray-dried formulations of inhaled drugs.

Project aim Spray drying is a flexible singe-step technique for the preparation of micron-sized particles suitable for inhalation. With adequate processing parameters and excipients, spray drying is gentle enough to retain the biological activity of peptides, oligonucleotides and other biologics. Spray-dried particles can be used in carrier-free formulations, potentially enabling higher doses of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to be delivered to the lung.

Our overall aim is to provide a solid scientific understanding of important aspects of spray-dried formulations of inhaled drugs that ultimately will enable enhanced spray-dried formulations to be developed. Of particular interest is to investigate the potential of “novel” excipients for achieving physiochemical stability of a range of API modalities, including small molecules and large biologic molecules.

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.