Self-learning machines take the step into drug discovery

With glühwein and a well deserved vacation just weeks away, the Faculty of Pharmacy strikes with the hottest event of the year: The X-mas gift competition 2020. Three lucky winners will receive an extra present in their stockings that will make them the department's most admired employees the entire 2021.

Ebba Bergman and Phil Harrison, PhD students at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, are winners of the Adipocyte Cell Imaging Challenge – AI Sweden and AstraZeneca's challenge to create a solution to avoid using staining when testing new drugs on cell cultures.

"Our ambition is to apply the method to humans in the foreseeable future," says Greta Hultqvist, researcher at Uppsala University, who with a new protein transporter has succeeded in stopping and reversing the development of Alzheimer's disease in mice.

With the task to optimise each patient's drug situation, the clinical pharmacists have in a short time become a welcome reinforcement in the Regions' care teams. At Uppsala University, Sweden's only Master's Programme in Clinical Pharmacy is offered, and the demand for the students' competence is high.

At Testa Center, researchers and students at Uppsala University have access to modern equipment for drug and bioprocess development. In this webinar, recorded during Innovation Week 2020, experiences and examples of the work performed are presented. (webinar in Swedish)

Erik Jansson, researcher at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, explains in a new film from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research his work of increasing our knowledge of the body's signaling system between brain and cells.

Sara Mangsbo, researcher at the Faculty of Pharmacy, receives the 2020 SITC Team Science Award for her work contributing to new cancer treatments.

“Our Scientific Advisory Board expressed that SweDeliver is moving in the right trajectory, providing a unique ecosystem with great potential to exceed the needs of all stakeholders,” states Christel Bergström, Center director at Sweden's new competence center for Drug delivery.

Daniel Globisch and Ola Spjuth, researchers at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy, are granted a total of SEK 6.6 million in the Swedish Research Council's call Natural and engineering sciences. The grants are to be received during 2020–2024.

Just a minute… Elin Svedin, who in the spring of 2020 graduated from Uppsala University's Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy and now takes over as chairwoman of the Alumni Association Farmis.

March 18th, Uppsala University switched to distance teaching and examination. Eight months later, the BMC seminar halls and corridors still offer desolate experiences. How does this affect teachers and students, Anja Sandström, Deputy dean for first and second cycle education at the Faculty of Pharmacy.

Over the past decade, more and more biopharmaceuticals have been developed for anti-cancer immunotherapy. Sara Mangsbo is actively contributing to their development with her research group, and has also started three companies. She was recently awarded the Uppsala University Innovation Prize, Hjärnäpplet, for her ability to combine research and entrepreneurship.

Maria Karlgren and Christine Wegler, researchers at the Faculty of Pharmacy, receive awards for their work contributing to reduce the number of animal studies and increased knowledge about drug disposition in the liver and small intestine.

Per Artursson, Olof Eriksson, Hans Lennernäs and Ola Spjuth, researchers at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy, have been granted a total of SEK 16.68 million in the Swedish Research Council's call Medicine and Health. The grants will be received during 2020–2024.

Getting patients to take their drugs correctly is one of healthcare's biggest and oldest challenges. Now experts from 39 European countries are joining forces in the ENABLE project to make a difference. "We have good conditions for success," says Björn Wettermark, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology.

With a focus on lifelong learning, SweDeliver's young researchers participate in a selection of activities within the Work package Training and Career Development. First on the schedule is a series of digital lunch seminars and a Mentoring program in collaboration with the center's industrial partners

Standing on the shoulders of giants, we will allegedly discover the way forward, so if one would ever cross our path, it would be a mistake not to try the view. Per Artursson, Professor of Dosage Form Design and Giant of Pharmaceutical Sciences, works at Uppsala Biomedical Centre, and the perspectives offered are undeniably interesting.

“The Disciplinary domain's Diversity report points at great opportunities at the Faculty of Pharmacy, but to take full advantage of them require further analysis,” says Hooshang Bazrafshan, equal opportunities specialist at Uppsala University.

With a new and more accurate computational model for how the drug rosuvastatin (Crestor ®) is taken up and eliminated in the liver, researchers at Uppsala University paves the way for more efficient drug development and future treatment methods.

"Our project is developing in a very positive direction," says Staffan Berg, PhD Student at SweDeliver that, with base at both AstraZeneca R&D and Uppsala's Faculty of Pharmacy, hopes to add new knowledge to one of pharmaceutical research's oldest challenges.

The Uppsala science festival SciFest goes digital. March 1–6, 2021, researchers from Uppsala University and curious schoolchildren and adults from all over Sweden will meet for a variety of lectures, shows and activities. As a researcher at the Faculty of Pharmacy, you can now register your participation.

Using a home-grown filamentous fungus, Mikael Hedeland, professor of analytical pharmaceutical chemistry, managed to expose four medalists guilty of doping at the Olympic Games in Athens. Now he is refining his methods further, opening a facility for mass spectrometry at the Uppsala Biomedical Center.

In the winter of 2020, a novel robotised laboratory for cell profiling will open at Uppsala's Biomedical Centre – a high-tech facility ready to deliver as the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation now invests SEK 3.1 billion in making Sweden a world leader in computer-driven life sciences.

I oktober inbjöd Uppsala universitets Forum för forskning om läkemedels- och drogberoende (U-FOLD) och Svenska Spels oberoende Forskningsråd till Öppen Forskningsdag i syfte att belysa det senaste inom forskningsområdet kring hasardspel. Experter vid flera universitet och högskolor deltar i mötet som du nu kan se online.

Christel Bergström, Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics, receives SEK 9 million from the Erling-Persson Family Foundation in continued support of the project Personalized medications for children suffering from severe diseases.

With the Nobel Prize-winning technology CRISPR-Cas9, researchers at Uppsala University are creating new components for more efficient drug development with fewer animal experiments.

To contribute to better treatment and reducing the spread of the viral disease hepatitis C is prioritized work at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy, where researchers praise the 2020 selection of Nobel laureates in physiology or medicine.

“The national competence center SweDeliver has already extended the visibility and appeal of the Faculty of Pharmacy far beyond Sweden's borders. This enhances our ability to recruit top-of-the-line PhD students and postdocs.”, states Göran Frenning, Professor of Pharmaceutical Physics and leader of the Pulmonary Drug Delivery Work Package.

On Monday 7 December, the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society and IF's foundation for pharmaceutical research invite you to a webinar with future explorations and retrospective aspects on how Sweden will regain its leading position in the world of pharmaceuticals.

Stellan Sandler, professor of medical cell biology and former Vice-rector at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, is awarded the older Gustaf Adolf Medal in gold for his significant contributions to Uppsala University.

Welcome to What’s on at the Faculty of Pharmacy? We will meet online via Zoom. The program contains current issues, our faculty’s diversity report and popular science presentations. We will end with coffee&quiz at BMC.

A new generation of pharmaceutical experts has received their diplomas and is entering their professional life. Saturday 26 September, the Faculty of Pharmacy held the 2020 graduation ceremony - which this year was four.

At Testa Center, students at Uppsala University receive training in bioprocess- and drug development, while researchers get access to modern equipment in the biotechnological process industry. In this webinar at Innovation Week 2020, students and researchers talk about their experiences at the Testa Center.

Apply no later than 15 October for the Vice-Chancellor’s travel grant for travels April–September 2021. Grants are awarded for travels that most benefit a personal scholarly exchange and is of use to Swedish research.

Eleven years after the deregulation of the pharmacy market, Sweden is facing another comprehensive reform. Now with healthcare in focus. And once again, a distinct pharmaceutical voice is missing in the debate. "It is time for the profession to make themselves heard," says Sofia Kälvemark Sporrong, Professor of Social pharmacy, returning to Sweden and Uppsala University.

At the forefront of one of science's most successful fields. Entrepreneur of the year and ready to give another company a flying start. Sara Mangsbo, researcher in immune-oncology at Uppsala University, follows her own advice and looks far beyond the comfort zone.

“Here, PhD Students and postdocs interact with leading research groups, aspiring start-ups and established companies. It is a dynamic environment that will ensure continued growth in the already dynamic Swedish life science sector.”

After nine years as deputy Vice-rector, Mats Larhed takes the next step. The To-do list is extensive and 5-6 October, he will gather the disciplinary domain staff and students for Vision: Medfarm. An initiative that will point out a mutual direction forward.

At SweDeliver's research environment for parenteral drug delivery, industry and Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy meet to develop new systems for injected drug administration. It is an arena characterized by commitment, trust and a mutual movement forward.

Wednesday 16 September, U-FOLD focused on gambling problems and addiction in relation to aggressive advertising, mental illness and Covid-19. The webseminar was attended by, among others, Minister for Social Security Ardalan Shekarabi (S).

Hundreds of thousands of Swedes caught in the web of online casinos. Children who sit glued to screens, risking their future physical and mental health. New technologies have made the path to addiction more of a maze than ever before.

Researchers at Uppsala University have identified previously unknown activity in the enzyme NAT2 affecting the body's metabolism and clearance of drugs. The study, expected to contribute to tailor-made drug treatments, is published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

In the second selection for admissions to the autumn term, 115 students were admitted to the Faculty of Pharmacy's Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy. 90 students were admitted to the Bachelor of Science Programme in Pharmacy.

On 1 July, new managements were installed at Uppsala University's faculties and disciplinary domains. The new dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy is Mathias Hallberg, professor of molecular life sciences, whose first task is to guide our operations through the ongoing reorganization.

Farmis invites to annual alumni meeting 28 September 2020. The meeting will include an exclusive lecture with researcher and entrepreneur Sara Mangsbo. Participate on site in Segerstedthuset or online via link. Please register no later than 26 September.

Just a minute… Anja Sandström, since 1 July Deputy dean for first and second cycle education at the Faculty of Pharmacy.

“I am confident that in the foreseeable future we will work in a very creative environment,” says Mathias Hallberg, dean of Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy, where seven research groups are entering a new scientific environment.

The playing field has been redrawn many times since Sweden's only Faculty of Pharmacy was established at Uppsala University, but neither political squalls nor industrial giants in exile prevent researchers at Uppsala Biomedicine Center from facing the future with optimism.

The Swedish Pharmaceutical Society announces available scholarships aimed at PhD:s for participation in conferences and courses as well as for Postdoc stays abroad. Students can apply for a travel grant to conduct a degree project abroad. Welcome with your application no later than 31 October 2020.

This summer, SweDeliver – Sweden's first national competence center in drug delivery – was inaugurated. With the hub at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy, academia and industry will cooperate to push the boundaries for the development of new pharmaceuticals.