Research News

22.4.2015

Dr. Dongfei Liu, post-doc in our research group, was awarded with the outstanding best doctoral thesis of the University of Helsinki in 2014, for its highest and outstanding research quality.

The monetary award was given in hand by the vice-rector of the University of Helsinki by occasion of at The Annual Celebration of The University of Helsinki Funds.

This is one the rare times such awarded is given to a doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Pharmacy. This is again an excellent achievement by our research group, and a prize for the high quality work!

It was a fantastic pleasure to have been Liu's main supervisor of his thesis together with Prof. Dean Jouni Hirvonen.

We are all extremely proud of Dongfei and his academic accomplishments. Outstanding job and the greatest congratulations to you.

Terrific work and enjoy this great moment!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Chang-Fang Wang (M.Sc. Chem.) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 2.3.2015.

The thesis entitle "". I am very proud to have been the main supervisor of Wang's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Wang's PhD thesis was Dr. Luca de Stefano from the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems Unit of Naples-National Research Council (Italy), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi (M.Sc. Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 13.2.2015.

The thesis entitle "" is now the fastest doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Pharmay, finalized in less than 3 years (2 years and 7 months). I am extremely proud to have been the main supervisor of Shahbazi's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Shahbazi's PhD thesis was Prof. Ijeoma Uchegbu from the University College London (UK), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed with honors/distinction

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our group is very proud to be part of this fantastic project and awesome collaborative consortium - !

Check what we awesome research will do in within this project in !

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am extremely proud and happy to endorse our many congratulations to our student Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi for receiving on 14th of January 2015 The Best Young Researcher of Pharmaceutical Sciences worth of 3000 EUR in The 20th Razi Medical Sciences Research Festival, in Tehran, Iran.

This event celebrates the country's leading scholars and researchers inside and outside the region and ISESCO Member States to introduce the premier medical research, with emphasis on aspects of innovation.

This award is a result of Ali's great research work in our lab.

We are all very proud and happy for your fantastic achievement!

On behalf of all members of Santos' Lab, very many congrats!

2014

December - Over the past years Dr. Santos has contributed tremendously for the promotion and increase of the Portuguese Scientific community working at and visiting the University of Helsinki, Finland.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Dongfei Liu (M.Med Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 29.8.2014.

The thesis entitle "" is now the fastest doctoral thesis at the faculty of Pharmay, finalized in less than 3 years (2 years and 10 months). I am extremely proud to have been the main supervisor of Liu's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Liu's PhD thesis was Prof. Bruno Sarmento from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (INEB), University of Porto (Portugal), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed with honors/distinction

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REWARD BY THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY (UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI) FOR THE EXCEPTIONALLY PRODUCTIVE RESEARCH WORK OF Dr. SANTOS AND HIS RESEARCH GROUP

November - The Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, has decided to reward Dr. Santos for his exceptionally productive research work in 2014. "Dr. Santos' publications (> 29) have significant impacted the outcome of the Faculty of Pharmacy in 2014", the Dean wrote!

Many congratulations to all in Santos' lab!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

GRANT AWARD - Dr. HONGBO ZHANG

October - Many congratulations to Dr. Zhang for this fantastic grant!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTSTANDING ORAL DRUG DELIVERY PAPER AWARD

July -

Many congratulations to Zhang et al. for this fantastic award!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participation in interview in written and web media (in English)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participation in interview in written and web media (in English)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10.4 - Dongfei Liu (PhD student in my group) received a Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad.

The scholarship is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and the award recognizes the academic excellence of self-financed Chinese students studying overseas and is granted across all fields of study.

Many Congrats to Dongfei!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9.4 - Michela Mori and Michela Cola (former Erasmus exchange students in our research group), have received the degree of Dr. and M.Sc., respectively, at the University of Pavia (Italy).

Dr. Hélder A. Santos was the supervisor of both Master's thesis at the University of Helsinki.

Many congrats to both Michelas!

We are very happy and proud of your achievements and wish you all the best for your future endeavors.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.4 (PBP2014, Lisbon) - APV Award to Luis M. Bimbo (former PhD student in my research group) for one of the Most Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in the Pharmaceutical Sciences attributed by the International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology (APV), which was supervised by Adj. Prof. Hélder A. Santos and co-supervised by Prof. Jouni Hirvonen.

Once again porous silicon research was awarded internationally. In addition, this also demonstrates that the supervision in our research group is at the very high level in Europe and in the world and keeps getting prizes internationally!

I am very proud of all our research group!

Congrats to all and let's continue in this direction in the future!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17.3 - Congratulations to Mónica Ferreira and Dongfei Liu, Both PhD students in my group, awarded with a travel grant from the , University of Helsinki. Congrats and Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.2 - Congratulations to Patrick V. Almeida, PhD student in my group, awarded with a personal research Grant from the . Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TEKES CONSORTIUM PROJECT (2014-2016)

A strategic research consortium coordinated by Professor Heikki Ruskoaho receives a € 4.8 million grant for three years (2014-2016) to find out new means to cure heart and brain diseases. The vision is to enhance the functions of the patient's own heart or brain stem cells to help to repair the damages.

Our research team is very proud to be part of this exciting project!

2013

ERC STARTING GRANT (2013-2017)

Other related news:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

YOUNG RESEARCHER'S AWARD 2013 - 11.9.2013

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dissertation for Master Degree in Pharmacy of Giulia Anselmi (Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pavia, Italy, on 25.7.2013.

Master thesis: "Surface modification of porous silicon materials for wound healing applications". I am extremely proud to have been the supervisor of this thesis during Giulia's Erasmus exchange visit to our Division from 1.9.2012 - 31.1.2013! The supervisor at Univeristy of Pavia was Prof. Carla Caramella.

Final grade: Accepted with Excellent

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dissertation for Master Degree in Pharmacy of Heleen Vande Capelle (Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium, on 27.6.2013.

Master thesis: "Characterisation of drug loaded porous silica using different analytical techniques". I am extremely proud to have been the co-supervisor/promoter of this thesis during Heleen's Erasmus exchange visit to our Division from 11.2 - 24.5.2013! The supervisor/promoter at Ghent Univeristy was Prof. Chris Vervaet.

Final grade: Accepted

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dissertation for Doctoral Degree in Chemistry of José Ribeiro (M.Sc. Chem.) took place at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal, on 12.4.2013.

Doctoral thesis: Characterization and Optimization of Electrochemical Sensors for Biogenic Amines" (in portuguese). The supervisors of the thesis were Prof. Eng. António Fernando Silva and Prof. Carlos M. Melo.

I was very delighted to have been one of the opponents of this thesis at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal.

Final grade: Accepted with honors

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dissertation for Doctoral Degree in Radiochemistry of Mirkka Sarparanta (M.Sc. Chem.) took place at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 11.1.2013.

Doctoral thesis: ". The supervisor of the thesis was .

I was very delighted to have been a collaborator to Mirkka's work.

The Opponent of Mirkka's thesis was from King's College London (UK).

Final grade: Accepted with honors

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10.9.2013 - Seminar by Professor CARLA CARAMELLA, Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy.

Lecture: ""

9.00 am, room 2063, Viikin Biocenter 2, Viikinkaari 5

Host: Dr. Hélder A. Santos

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6.9.2013 - Seminar by Distinguished Professor ERKKI RUOSLAHTI, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, USA

Lecture: ""

9.30 am, INFO SALI 1 (AUD), Viikin infokeskus Korona, Viikinkaari 11

Host: Dr. Hélder A. Santos

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.9.2013 - BEST POSTER AWARD - INTERNATIONAL AUTUMN SCHOOL, Turku, 2013

The BEST POSTER at the INTERNATIONAL AUTUMN SCHOOL "Nanostructured Materials in Biomedical Applications" (2nd to 6th of September, Turku, Finland) was the poster of our group entitled:

"THE MECHANISMS OF SURFACE CHEMISTRY EFFECTS OF MESOPOROUS SILICON NANOPARTICLES ON IMMUNOTOXICITY AND BIOCOMPATIBILITY"

by Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi, Mehrdad Hamidi, Ermei Mäkilä, Hongbo Zhang, Patrick Almeida, Martti Kaasalainen, Jarno Salonen, Jouni Hirvonen, Hélder A. Santos

Many congratulations to Ali et al. for this fantastic award!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13.6 - Today we had the great honor and pleasure to had the official visit of the Portuguese Ambassador in Finland, Your Excellency Dr. Fátima Prestrello; Prof. Dr. José Pereira Miguel and Prof. José Calheiros, respectively, President and Vice-preseident of the ; and Dr. Eva Falcão, . During this meeting it was present besides myself, also Prof. Dean Jouni Hirvonen, and the Portuguese community working/studying at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14.5 - Congratulations to Chang-Fang Wang, PhD student in my group, awarded with a travel grant from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, to the . Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participation in interview for written and web media (in Portuguese)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.4 - Congratulations to Mohammed-Ali Shahbazi, PhD student in my group, awarded with a travel grant from the , University of Helsinki. Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7.3 - Congratulations to Dongfei Liu, PhD student in my group, awarded with a travel grant from the . Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

27.2 - Congratulations to Patrick Almeida, PhD student in my group, awarded with a research grant from the . Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

27.11 - Congratulations to Dr. Hongbo Zhang, post-doc in my group, awarded with a personal post-doc Pooli research grant from the . Well done!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19.11 - Congratulations to Mónica Ferreira, PhD student in my group, awarded with a personal research Grant from the , Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki. Well done!

2012

The dissertation for Master Degree in Molecular Therapies of Ana Francisca Araújo (Pharmacy) took place at the Instituto Superior de Ciências de Saúde - Norte, Gandra, Portugal, on 17.12.2012.

Master thesis: "Understanding the mechanism of protein intestinal permeation by using enterocyte-based in vitro co-culture cells". The supervisor of the thesis was Prof. Bruno Sarmento from Univerity of Porto/INEB/Instituto Superior de Ciências de Saúde - Norte, Portugal.

I was very delighted to have been the opponent of this thesis at the Instituto Superior de Ciências de Saúde - Norte, Gandra, Portugal.

Final grade: Accepted with 19 points out of 20!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dissertation for Master Degree in Pharmacy of Francesca Villanova (Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pavia, Italy, on 26.10.2012.

Master thesis: "Characterization and In Vitro Evaluation of Dual Drug Loaded Porous Si Particles". I am extremely proud to have been the supervisor of this thesis during Francesca's Erasmus exchange visit to our Division from 1.9.2012 - 31.1.2013! The supervisor at Univeristy of Pavia was Prof. Carla Caramella.

I was very delighted to have been the opponent of the thesis and to be part of the evaluation thesis commission at the University of Pavia.

Final grade: Accepted with Excellent!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Luis M. Bimbo (M.Sc. Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 4.2.2012.

The thesis entitle "" is the first thesis on biomedical applications of Porous Silicon in Finland. I am extremely proud to have been the main supervisor of Luis' thesis!

The Opponent of Luis' thesis was from The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (USA), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Accepted with honors

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In collaboration with we have introduced in our lab a microfludic-based technique for the development of advanced drug delivery systems.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participation in interview for written and web media (in Finnish)

December 2012 - (in Finnish), in magazine, Finland.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participation in interview for written and web media (in Portuguese)

26.11.2012 - (in Portuguese), in newspaper, Portugal.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HOSTS: and

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. (Finland's most prestigious Pharmaceutical Award bestowed by the Finnish Pharmaceutical Society worth of 4000 EUR) and the Best Doctoral Thesis by the Viikki Research Group Organization was to Dr. Luis M. Bimbo, Division of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, was given to a member of our research group as a result of his high-level PhD thesis, which was supervised by Adj. Prof. Hélder A. Santos and Prof. Jouni Hirvonen.

Congratulations to Luis!

2. Special Seminar in Pharmaceutical Technology, Prof. BRUNO SARMENTO, CICS, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde – Gandra, Portugal; & INEB- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal - Lecture: "".

Host: Dr. Hélder A. Santos

3. Special Seminar in Pharmaceutical Technology, Prof. ANTÓNIO J. RIBEIRO, Center for Pharmaceutical Studies, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Portugal - Lecture: "".

Host: Dr. Hélder A. Santos

4. Special Seminar in Pharmaceutical Technology, Prof. CLIVE PRESTIDGE, Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Australia - Lecture: "".

Host: Dr. Hélder A. Santos

3. Hélder A. Santos*, “”, 2012, Issue 24, 19–22.

5. took place last 26.4.2012 and as a member of the organizing committee I am very proud to say that the event was a great success! I look forward for the next event.

6. 9.2.2011 - Visit of H.E. Mr. Anibal Cavaco Silva, the to Aalto University, Finland. had the honor to be present in such event, met H.E. Mr. President, and gave a short overview on his research in Pharmaceeutical Nanotechnology.

2011-2007

2011

The doctoral dissertation of PhD Tarja Limnell (M.Sc. Health Biosciences) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 15.10.2011.

The thesis entitle "" is the first thesis in Finland on this subject. I am proud to have been co-supervisor of Tarja's thesis!

The Opponent of Tarja's thesis was Prof. Carla Caramella from University of Pavia (Italy), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Accepted!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1) 1.10.2011 - The 4BBBB Young Researcher Award poster was attributted to my PhD Student Luis M. Bimbo. Poster: L.M. Bimbo*, M. Sarparanta, E. Mäkilä, T. Laaksonen, L. Peltonen, V.-P. Lehto, A.J. Airaksinen, J. Salonen, J. Hirvonen, H. A. Santos, "", 4th BBBB – Bled International Conference on Pharmaceutical Sciences, 29th September–1st October 2011, Bled, Slovenia. *Presenter.

2) 13.9.2011 - Appointed , Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki.

3) 17.8.2011 - Funding granted for (1.9.2011-31.12.2014), Research Council for Health, .

4) 8.7.2011 - , Therapeutics Daily News, USA.

5) 8.6.2011 - Project granted for position (1.9.2011-31.8.2016), Research Council for Health, .

6) 21.1.2011 - , Semanário Grande Porto (Regional Newspaper), (in Portuguese).

7) January 2011 - Top Reviewer in Pharmaceutical Sciences 2010:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2010

1) 28.9.2010 - (in English) / (in Finnish), University of Helsinki News.

2) 29.7.2010 - , 29th of July 2010, Tarouca, Portugal.

Others related:

a) ; b) ; c) ; d)

(in portuguese)

Local newspapers:

a) ; b) ; c) ; d)

(in portuguese)

3) 23.7.2010 - , Attributed by the Portuguese Government, Ministry of Foreigner Affairs, State Secretary of the Portuguese Communities, 23rd of July 2010, Lisbon, Portugal:

(in Portuguese)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) September 2010 - . Special Issue: "".

5) May 2010 - September 2011 - . Special Issue: "".

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2007-2009

1) 16.12.2009 - , Aamulehti Newspaper, p. B22 (Section: Science Today) (in Finnish).

2) 2.12.2009 - , Academy of Finland (in English).

3) 25.11.2009 - , Academy of Finland (in Finnish).

4) 12.12.2008 - Project granted for 3-years research (1.1.2009-31.12.2011), University of Helsinki Research Funds .

5) 18.9.2008 - Project granted for (1.1.2009-31.12.2011), Research Council for Health, .

6) 9.8.2007 - .