ALBERT WUOKKO AWARD
Dr. Elle Koivunotko, University of Helsinki, 4000 €
Dr. Koivunotko completed her dissertation very rapidly (in 3 years and 1 month) at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, within Prof. Marjo Yliperttula’s research group, from February 2021 to March 2024. Her dissertation, titled Nanofibrillated Cellulose for Skin Substitutes, investigates the use of plant-based nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) to support wound healing and angiogenesis.
The dissertation, graded with the highest distinction, comprises an excellent literature review and four high-quality publications, in which Dr. Koivunotko is the first author of three and the second author of one. These articles were published in highly respected journals, including the Journal of Controlled Release and ACS Applied Biomaterials.
The dissertation demonstrated that NFC hydrogel is a biocompatible, biodegradable, and effective material that accelerates blood vessel formation while avoiding the risks associated with animal-based products. Consequently, NFC shows promising potential for various applications in pharmaceutical treatment. The work uniquely employed a diverse array of research methods and extensive collaborative networks. Furthermore, corporate collaboration played a central role in Elle Koivunotko’s dissertation work, evidenced by three patent applications submitted alongside other research efforts.
RESEARCH GRANTS
Laura Suominen, University of Helsinki, 12 000 €, Decreased transport function of ABCG2, ABCB1 and SLCO2B1 by single nucleotide variants and food additives
Rathna Mathiyalagan, Åbo Akademi University, 12 000 €, Formulation Development and Optimization of Semi-Solid Extrusion 3D Printed Tablets for Tailored Drug Delivery Systems
Jarno Ruotsalainen, University of Eastern Finland, 4 000 €, Burden of multiple myeloma in Finland
Salvatore Russo, University of Helsinki, 10 000 €, Improving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer immunogenicity via viral-mediated epigenetic remodeling
OUTSTANDING ARTICLE AWARD AND HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Most Outstanding Article Award
Vassilis Stratoulias , Rocío Ruiz, Shigeaki Kanatani, Ahmed M Osman, Lily Keane, Jose A Armengol, Antonio Rodríguez-Moreno, Adriana, Natalia Murgoci, Irene García-Domínguez, Isabel Alonso-Bellido, Fernando González Ibáñez, Katherine Picard, Guillermo VázquezCabrera, Mercedes Posada-Pérez, Nathalie Vernoux, Dario Tejera, Kathleen Grabert, Mathilde Cheray, Patricia González-Rodríguez, Eva M Pérez-Villegas, Irene Martínez-Gallego, Alejandro Lastra-Romero, David Brodin, Javier Avila-Cariño, Yang Cao, Mikko Airavaara, Per Uhlén, Michael T Heneka, Marie-Ève Tremblay, Klas Blomgren, Jose L Venero & Bertrand Joseph.
ARG1-expressing microglia show a distinct molecular signature and modulate postnatal development and function of the mouse brain Published in Nature Neuroscience, volume 26, issue 6, 2023
Honorable Mentions
Henri Pätsi, Tommi Kilpeläinen, Mikael Jumppanen, Johanna Uhari-Väänänen, Pieter Van Wielendaele, Francesca De Lorenzo, Hengjing Cui, Samuli Auno, Janne Saharinen, Erin Seppälä, Nina Sipari, Juha Savinainen, Ingrid De Meester, AnneMarie Lambeir, Maija Lahtela-Kakkonen, Timo Myöhänen, Erik Wallén
5-Aminothiazoles Reveal a New Ligand-Binding Site on Prolyl Oligopeptidase Which is Important for Modulation of Its Protein–Protein Interaction-Derived Functions Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry volume 67, issue 7 2024
Jiaqi Yan, Xiaodong Ma, Danna Liang, Meixin Ran, Dongdong Zheng, Xiaodong Chen, Shichong Zhou, Weijian Sun, Xian Shen & Hongbo Zhang
An autocatalytic multicomponent DNAzyme nanomachine for tumor-specific photothermal therapy sensitization in pancreatic cancer Published in Nature Communications, volume 14, issue 1, 2023
MASTER OF PHARMACY STUDY AWARDS
Daniela Wollsten, Åbo Akademi University
Elina Huhtanen, University of Helsinki
Saara Päätalo, University of Eastern Finland
TRAVEL GRANTS
Olesya Shpironok, University of Helsinki, Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE, 800 €: 10th BBB International Conference on Pharmaceutical Sciences, September 12th -14th Tartu, Estonia.
Janne Tampio, University of Eastern Finland, 1000 €: EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC), Rome, Italy
Jyoti Verma, Åbo Akademi University, 800 €: 10th BBBB International Conference on Pharmaceutical Sciences, September 12th -14th Tartu, Estonia
Alba Maria Arbiol Enguita, University of Helsinki, 600 €: Pharmaceutical Solid State Research Cluster (PSSRC) 18th Annual Symposium Dortmund, Germany
Heidi Mikkola, University of Eastern Finland, 1450 €: 9th PCNE Working Symposium 2024. University of Basel, Switzerland, 20-22 June 2024
Suvi Heinonen, University of Helsinki, 1300 €: Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting and Expo 2024, Bologna, Italy
David Blanco, University of Helsinki, 1200 €: 14th World Meeting on Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, 18 - 21 March 2024, Vienna, Austria
Paria Mojarrad, University of Helsinki, 2000 €: The 9th Thesinge biofilm meeting on biomaterial-associated infections, Thesinge, Netherlands.