Height and breadth when Pharmacy students presented Degree projects

Friday 31 May, the Faculty of Pharmacy invited to the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy 's annual Project Symposium, where the students present the results of their degree projects for families, friends and teachers. The event also included minute-long presentations where every student has the opportunity to pitch their research before the accompanying poster session.

“The poster pitch sessions were a much-appreciated feature already when we launched them last winter, and they visualise the impressive scientific breadth and the high quality of the students' work. It's also inspiring to see so many faculty employees and student families on site for the symposium,” say Lisa Fredriksson Carreras and Jörgen Bengtsson, coordinator and chair of the Master of Science Programme.

Throughout the semester, the students carried out their projects at universities, authorities and companies both within and outside Sweden's borders. Several have also chosen to conduct their work at the Faculty of Pharmacy's research environments. Among them is Alice Fors, who at the Department of Pharmacy studied patterns in the prescription of GLP-1 receptor agonists. A highly current topic where increased off-label prescribing outside of the approved indication for weight loss could result in diabetics not having access to medication.

“I have analyzed data in the Stockholm Region and my results show that the number of existing and new users is increasing, and that this increase mainly occurs in the groups of women, ages 18-39 and among the overweight. The figures also pinpoint an increasing number of prescriptions made to people without a diagnosis, that prescriptions in many cases lack a workplace code and possibly also that the drug subsidy system is used incorrectly. These results contain several aspects that I would like to study more deeply,” says Alice Fors, one of five students selected for a summer internship at national competence center SweDeliver.

At Uppsala University's research environment for Pharmaceutical physical chemistry, Eiva Mowis has conducted the project Structural investigations of mixtures of anionic surfactants and cationic peptides. Here, Eiva has added Sodium Decanoate to the two peptides Lanreotide and Melittin aiming to create aggregations and increased stability to enable safe delivery of drug molecules via the gastrointestinal tract to the intended target in the body.

“My results show that Sodium Decanoate combined with Lanreotide aggregates into both small and larger particles, so-called micelles. Further, the combination of Sodium Decanoate and Melittin forms larger aggregates, but above all we see that both variants are up to their task, which with continued research can add an important contribution in enabling new treatments for several common diseases,“ states Eiva Mowis, who this autumn is heading to Norrköping for Work placement training at a pharmacy.

In connection with the symposium, the Per Manell Award for the best project was also presented. The prize, a study trip to Brussels and EFPIA, was this year awarded to Dalia Abdelrahim Awadella for her project Optimization of sample preparation and separation of fatty acids in plasma, carried out at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Honorable mentions were also given to Josef Edelsvärd and Alice Fors.

“I am both proud and touched by how our students tackled their tasks, how skillfully they communicate their results, and not least the scientific maturity they show. As a researcher, I am also inspired by the breadth of the research they present, which really runs all the way from promising molecules to the use of drugs in society. For me, the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy’s Project Symposium is undoubtedly one of the year's absolute highlights,” says Anja Sandström, Deputy Dean for First and second cycle education.

Text & photo: Magnus Alsne