People

Heidi is a co-principal investigator in the Drug Transport and Dispostition Lab. She studied biochemistry at Åbo Akademi, obtaining a Master’s degree in 2002 and a PhD in 2006, studying protein structure both computationally and experimentally. In 2009, she moved to the Faculty of Pharmacy in the University of Helsinki as a post-doctoral researcher focusing on drug transporter proteins and computational models of drug permeation. In 2012 she received an Academy Research Fellowship and became a principal investigator and set up a research group focused on drug transporter research. From 2017 she has been a university researcher/senior researcher, also teaching in biopharmaceutics. Currently she is head of the biopharmaceutics discipline at the Faculty of Pharmacy and a PI in the Pharmacy node of Drug Discovery and Chemical Biology consortium, which is part of Biocenter Finland, where she is responsible for the analytics and ADME studies in the core service. 

Noora is a co-principal investigator at the Drug Transport and Disposition research group at the Faculty of Pharmacy. She has a Master’s degree in pharmacy (2011) and obtained her PhD (Pharmacy) in 2017 from the University of Helsinki. Her PhD focused on using in vitro methods to study inhibition the intestinal drug efflux by natural products and food additives and on elucidating the effects of genetic variants on breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) activity. During her postdoctoral period at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2018-2019), she combined cell-based methods with computational modeling to understand variability in hepatic disposition. Her current research interests include understanding individual variability in drug disposition related to drug transport and the gut microbiota as well as the application of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling to predict consequences of altered transport or metabolism. 

Wilma received her MSc. (Pharm.) degree from the University of Helsinki in 2013. She started pursuing her doctoral degree in 2017, completing her dissertation titled "Is the door closed? : In vitro studies on the pharmacokinetic effects of OATP1B1 gene-drug and drug-drug interactions." on 2023. She now works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Drug Transport and Disposition research group in the  Faculty of Pharmacy and at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine. Her research focuses on the OATP1B1 transporter protein, individualisation of statin therapy and lysosomal drug transport.

Arttu earned his master’s degree in pharmacy in 2021 and defended his doctoral thesis in 2026. His doctoral research explored the interplay between drug transporters and the gut microbiota in the disposition of conjugated drug metabolites. Working now as a postdoctoral researcher, he continues to investigate how the gut microbiota contributes to individual variability in drug disposition. 

Khalfa started his doctoral studies in 2024. His research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms and physiological roles of lipoproteins. Particularly, Khalfa aims to advance the development of HDL-mimetic systems with potential therapeutic applications in cardiovascular diseases.

Kia is a doctoral researcher in the Drug Transport and Disposition research group at the Faculty of Pharmacy. She received her MPhil in Drug Development and Medical Technology from Åbo Akademi University in 2022, followed by an MSc in Pharmacy from the University of Helsinki in 2025. She began her doctoral work in late 2024, focusing on how lysosomal transporters influence intracellular drug distribution. 

Hatam received his PharmD degree from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in Iran and is currently a PhD student at the University of Helsinki. His research focuses on the ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein) drug transporter, with particular interest in the effects of genetic variation and drugs on its activity, as well as drug delivery strategies to inhibit this protein for tumours that overexpress it.

Emilia completed her Master’s degree in pharmacy in 2023 and began her doctoral studies in 2024. Her research focuses on intestinal transporters and food–drug interactions, particularly how dietary compounds impact the absorption of oral medications. 

Mohsin Ali completed his master's degree in pharmacy from University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan in 2019. He started working as a doctoral research in the Drug Transporter Group at the Faculty of Pharmacy since 2024. His research area focuses on in-vitro evaluation of commonly marketed drugs for potential inhibition of intestinal transporters (OATP2B1, OATP1A2) and predicting potential drug-drug interaction risks.