ACADEMIC DEGREES

May 2015: PhD in Pharmaceutics, University of Copenhagen

May 2010: MSc in Biochemistry, University of Copenhagen

APPOINTMENTS

2022-: Associate Professor, CNS Drug Delivery & Barrier Modelling , Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen (group leader as of October 2021)

2016-2021: Tenure Track Assistant Professor, CNS Drug Delivery & Barrier Modelling, Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen (group leader: Professor Birger Brodin)

2015-2016: Postdoc, Peptide and Protein Drug Delivery, Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen (mentor: Professor Hanne Mørck Nielsen)

2011-2015: PhD student, Biologics, Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen (8 months maternity leave) (Supervisor: Professor Hanne Mørck Nielsen)

2011-2013: Visiting PhD student, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Copenhagen (Supervisor: Associate Professor Jens Berthelsen)

2010-2011: Scientific Assistant, Developmental Neurobiology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin (mentor: Fritz G. Rathjen)

TEACHING

2020-present: Farmaci I. 2019-present: Drug Delivery to the Central Nervous System. 2018-present: Pharmaceutics & Drug Delivery. 2017-present: Farmaci II. 2017-present: Research Project in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery. 2016: Biopharmaceuticals: Formulation of Peptides and Proteins. 2016: Lægemiddelformulering. 2012: In vitro techniques in biochemistry and pharmacology. 2012: Basic Pharmaceutics. 

Various biological barriers act as gatekeepers for successful drug delivery to the brain; e.g. the blood-brain barrier, the nose-to-brain barrier, and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier.

I study strategies to overcome these barriers for brain drug delivery purposes using state-of-the-art cell culture models, to improve understanding of cellular pathways involved, as well as animals for pharmacokinetic- and pharmacodynamics profiling. Ultimately, this knowledge will be beneficial in the making of new drugs for the treatment of brain diseases.   

Running projects include:

• Drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier using shuttle peptides. The shuttle peptides include cell-penetrating- and tight junction-modulating peptides. Subprojects count i) studies on the mechanism of barrier permeation at the cellular level, ii) effects of applying various labels to the shuttle peptide for detection and visualization purposes, and iii) pharmacokinetic evaluation in rodents including safety assessment.
• Nose-to-brain as pathway for pharmacological treatment of stroke-triggered brain tissue damage. Subprojects count i) setting up and characterization of a state-of-the-art primary nasal epithelial cell culture model, ii) evaluate the potential of shuttle peptides to improve brain drug delivery in vitro and in vivo, and iii) understand the mechanism of barrier permeation.