Thelma Leifsdotter Ilbäcken winner of the Per Manell Award 2025
The Faculty of Pharmacy congratulates Thelma Leifsdotter Ilbäcken, student at the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy, on receiving the Per Manell Award for Best presentation of degree project 2025. Honorable mentions go to Sara Bakhaya and Isabella Mattsson.
At the Faculty of Pharmacy's traditional Project Symposium, the students at Uppsala University's Pharmacy Program present their scientific in-depth projects. In connection with the symposium, the Swedish Medical Council's Per Manell Prize for best thesis is awarded, an award that this year goes to Thelma Leifsdotter Ilbäcken for her project carried out at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry's research environment in Preparative medicinal chemistry.
“The outcome of my work shows that the combination of computer modeling and laboratory experiments is a winning strategy with potential to contribute to increased resource efficiency in the development of new drugs. Next, I will carry out my Work placement training at DOZ Pharmacy in Uppsala, but already this summer my plan is to return to BMC to participate in the work to develop our results further,” says Thelma Leifsdotter Ilbäcken, who can also look forward to a study trip to EFPIAS headquarters in Brussels as part of the Per Manell Award.
Per Manell (1948-2022)
The Per Manell Award is, in addition to providing important inspiration to Uppsala's pharmacy students, an important factor for the strong ties between the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Alumni Association Farmis. On site at the Project Symposium to participate in the jury's work was chair Dag Larsson, who also presented well-deserved honorable mentions to Sara Bakhaya and Isabella Mattsson.
“Today's presentations are characterized by energy, enthusiasm and very high quality. It was a tough race, but in the end we can only conclude that Thelma Leifsdotter Ilbäcken has truly found her field. In a limited time, she has carried out advanced work that, with elements of both data analysis and organic chemistry, is in the same domain as this year's Nobel Prize. Thelma's presentation absolutely shone and she is a very worthy winner of the Per Manell Award, states Dag Larsson.
For the students of the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy, a semester of Work placement training awaits before returning to Uppsala and the Faculty of Pharmacy's graduation ceremony in the university Main auditorium.
Per Manell (1948-2022)
Per Manell enrolled at Uppsala University in the 1960s when he began his studies as a pharmacist. After graduating, Per continued his career at the Faculty of Pharmacy as a teacher in social pharmacy before being recruited to the National Board of Health and Welfare's pharmaceutical department, where he eventually was appointed Medical officer of health.
During his long and successful career, Per Manell made many essential pioneering efforts to implement IT in the field of pharmacy, achievements for which he received, among other things, the Pharmacist of the Year award in 1985 and the Rune Lönngren Prize in 2008.
Contact
Jörgen Bengtsson, Chair
Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy
Jorgen.Bengtsson@farmaci.uu.se
Lisa Fredriksson Carreras, Coordinator
Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy
Lisa.Fredriksson@farmbio.uu.se
Anja Sandström, Deputy Dean
First and second cycle education
anja.sandstrom@ilk.uu.se
Text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Magnus Alsne a o