In focus: Maryam Tofiq keeps all professional possibilities open
“Being a SweDeliver junior researcher, you often interact with companies in different sizes, countries and focus areas. To me, this is providing many important opportunities to develop my skills in scientific communication and project management, says PhD student Maryam Tofiq.
(Image removed) Maryam Tofiq in the laboratory at Uppsala Biomedical Center
“With one year to go before I defend my doctoral thesis, I am happy to conduct my PhD studies within the framework of SweDeliver. Being a research at a competence center that brings together academia and industry means that I receive important feedback on my work from numerous different perspectives, and that I have gained a better view of the many spheres of the pharmaceutical world," says Maryam Tofiq, PhD student at Uppsala University's Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences.
In the spring of 2022, Maryam published the first results of her PhD project in scientific journal Powder Technology. In the study, she examines the effect of a systematically varied excipient ratio of a plastic and a brittle material on the compression properties of dry granulated particles. Her next manuscript is already submitted for review. Thus, the goal is in sight for the work she began in 2018 in what was then known as the Swedish Drug Delivery Forum, SDDF.
(Image removed) Maryam Tofiq, PhD Student, SweDeliver
“I received my Master of Science degree in Pharmacy at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy and some time later learned about SDDF. The close collaboration between companies and university aroused my interest, and when the forum's scientific leader, Professor Göran Alderborn, announced a doctoral project with the aim of developing a formulation technology platform for rational design of the manufacturing properties of dry granulated particles, I applied right away."
Barely four years later, two projects remain with a focus on validating the observations and conclusions made in the studies already completed. Facing scientific challenges that were from the start defined in dialogue with SweDeliver's industrial partners and followed by continuous talks regarding results and goals, expectations concerning the project's future industrial benefits are high. For her own part, however, Maryam Tofiq prefers to keep all professional possibilities open.
“Being a junior researcher at SweDeliver, you often interact with companies in different sizes, countries and focus areas. To me, this has provided many important opportunities to develop my abilities in scientific communication and project management, as well as gaining a wide understanding of the industry and the conditions they face. Within a year, I will bring with me the experiences and networks I have built and look forward to utilize them throughtout my future career, but where it will lead remains to be seen."
FACTS
- SweDeliver is a world-leading research and competence center in drug delivery with academic hub at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy.
- SweDeliver research performed in the pulmonary work package revolves around controlled release, dissolution and absorption of drugs in the lungs, and powder mechanics of adhesive mixtures.
- The work draws on the strong scientific expertise on particle performance within the pharmaceutical technology and pharmaceutical physics groups at Uppsala University.
LEARN MORE
- SweDeliver online
- The SweDeliver Pulmonary Drug Delivery Work package
- Maryam Tofiq, Josefina Nordström, Ann-Sofie Persson and Göran Alderborn. Effect of excipient properties and blend ratio on the compression properties of dry granulated particles prepared from microcrystalline cellulose and lactose. Powder Technology, 399, 117207, 2022.
CONTACT
(Image removed) Maryam Tofiq, PhD student
Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences
maryam.tofiq@farmbio.uu.se
text: Magnus Alsne, foto: Mikael Wallerstedt