Dissertation: Andrea Benediktsdottir

Less than a century after Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, bacteria are once again a growing threat to global health. In the EU alone, 33,000 people die each year from diseases caused by resistant bacteria. The development of new antibiotics is central to address the situation.

At Uppsala University's Department of Medicinal Chemistry, ongoing research aim to develop promising antibacterial drug candidates, not least as coordinator for international platform ENABLE-2. In a PhD project, Andrea Benediktsdottir has synthesized a molecule with the capacity to attack gram-negative bacteria, which has so far not caused any undesired side effects. Benediktsdottir’s work is following a parallel track to a project at ENABLE-2 and is attributed good prospects to generate important contributions in the global search for new antibiotics.

Wednesday 22 May, Andrea Benediktsdottir will defend her thesis at Uppsala Biomedical Centre. Examinator is Professor Bengt Erik Haug, University of Bergen, Norway.

RESEARCHER BIO

Andrea Benediktsdottir received her Master of Science degree in Drug discovery and development at Uppsala University. She started her doctoral studies at Uppsala University in November 2017 when she was recruited to Professor Anja Sandström’s research group in Medicinal Chemistry.

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