Disputas – Master of science in pharmacy Alexandra Sofia Antunes De Sousa

Avhandlingen

The doctoral thesis

Auditoriet er åpent for publikum, men disputasen vil likevel bli strømmet (Opptak av disputasen vil være tilgjengelig i et døgn)

The auditorium is open to the public, but the defense will also be streamed (A recording of the defense will be available for 24 hours)

Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne holdes kl. 10:15, samme sted

“Models for Evaluating Anti-Infective Drug Delivery Systems: Advantages, Limitations, and the Shift Towards Physiological Relevance”

Prøveforelesningen vil også bli strømmet/the trial lecture will also be streamed

Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen:

Many microorganisms have the ability to form biofilms, in which they pack themselves together and produce a sticky matrix that protects them from the exterior environment. Biofilms frequently form in skin wounds and become very difficult to treat because drugs have a poor penetration into the biofilms. As a treatment strategy, antimicrobial compounds have been incorporated in nanoparticles that shield the drug from the environment and penetrate the biofilms to kill the bacteria. In this work, we study the possibility of making DNA nanoparticles as drug delivery systems against biofilms. We began by making nanoparticles without drugs and characterized their biofilm penetration and diffusion capacity. Afterwards, we added antimicrobial compounds to the particles and tested their ability to inhibit and eradicate biofilms and evaluated their potential to be applied skin-related biofilm infections.

Hovedveileder

Forsker Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Biveileder

Professor Natasa Skalko Basnet, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Professor Mona Johannessen, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Professor Annette Bayer, Institutt for kjemi, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Professor Morten Bøhmer Strøm, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Bedømmelseskomité

Professor Thomas Rades, University of Copenhagen, Department of Pharmacy – 1. Opponent

Førsteamanuensis Hagar Labouta, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto - 2. Opponent

Førsteamanuensis Kine Østnes Hansen, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité

Disputasleder:

Førsteamanuensis Kjell H Halvorsen, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet