The evaluation committee, including opponents Dag Erlend Olberg and Nina Kann, newly minted philosophiae doctor Louise Bergsjø Sand, and main supervisor Bengt Erik Haug were all pleased and happy about Louise’s performance today! Our congratulations to Louise and thanks to all contributors with assigned roles as well as all those showing up in the lecture room!
This week, the TV2 News at 9 pm offered a treat: a great presentation of the research collaboration within pharmacognosy – from botany and natural products chemistry, to compounds with promising biological activity of relevance to cancer treatment and antiviral therapy. Once again, Dorentina (Tina) Osmani and Torgils Fossen did a great job at explaining and demonstrating! The «Once again» part is a pointer to the effort made at the Opplev Marineholmen science fair by the same two researchers!
Missed the news story? Do not despair – visit TV2 news archive!
On Thursday May 25, at 10.30–13.00 in Auditorium 2, Science Bldg, MSc Louise Bergsjø Sand will defend her thesis «Synthetic studies toward [18F]-fluorination of solid-supported silyl ethers». In this work, the foundations have been laid for a new method for 18F radiolabelling of peptides and other biologically relevant molecules. In addition, peptide-based tracers for PET imaging have been prepared. 
A number of different silyl ethers have been prepared to investigate fluorine-initiated breaking of silicon-oxygen bonds for radiolabeling of biologically relevant molecules. Synthesis of silanes and chlorosilanes with different substitution patterns has laid the foundation for further stability studies and exploration of fluorination conditions. The preparation of Si-O bonds was challenging for the sterically hindered di-tert-butyl analogues, while for the diisopropyl analogues silyl ethers with varied functionality on the aromatic ring (azide, aldehyde, ethers) were made. One silyl ether analogue was immobilized on the solid phase and fluorinations of both non-immobilized and immobilized precursor were successful. Testing of [18F]-fluorination of the solid-phase precursor at the PET center at Haukeland University Hospital gave promising results. Further studies of reaction conditions are necessary to be able to illuminate the full potential of the method.
Three peptide-based tracers suitable for studying activation of the immune system have also been prepared. These contain various chelators that can be coordinated to metallic radioisotopes. The three precursors will be radiolabeled with [68Ga], and potentially [64Cu], and will be studied further by our partners in Tromsø.
Personnel
Louise Bergsjø Sand (b. 1992) holds a master’s degree in chemistry (UiB, 2016). The doctoral work has been financed by UiB and the Trond Mohn Foundation, and the project has been carried out at both the Department of Chemistry at UiB and at the PET center at Haukeland Hospital (HUS). The main supervisor has been Prof. Bengt Erik Haug (Department of Chemistry, UiB) and co-supervisors have been Ole Heine Kvernenes (PET center, HUS) and Emmet Mc Cormack (K2, HUS).
For those who reads Norwegian: Les dekanens blog denne veka (temaet ser du i utklippet under)!
For those who prefers English, please continue below the picture!
Important steps toward a fully modernized campus – the Nygårdshøyden South project
(the Dean’s blog, google translated and slightly revised:)
This week we have received good news from the Ministry of Education (KD)! KD has given us a written order for Assignment For Project (OFP), which means that we are allowed a less industrious path than what is usual in this type of large construction project.
This decision has been taken by KD and the Ministry of Finance on the basis of the analysis note Nygårdshøyden sør (NGHS) – Science building and Fysikkbygget – need for total rehabilitation, which was sent to KD last spring. MatNat at all levels, the Real Estate Department (EIA) and the management at UiB have done extensive and thorough work, and the ministries agree that rehabilitation of the Science and Physics building is a good framework for our project. Thank you all for your efforts thus far!
This also means that we avoid the task of generating (unrealistic) alternatives for relocating MatNat with subsequent extensive documentation. We at MatNat almost take it for granted that the faculty should be part of the knowledge environment at Høyden, and that we should have a close collaboration with the city’s other players. It is the premise that has led us to invest heavily in the rehabilitation and reuse of buildings, which is also the only sensible thing to do in light of the green shift.
We will take the good work that has already been done with us further into the process. In OFP, in collaboration with EIA, we will, among other things, work further with goals and results, infrastructure needs, cost estimates, implementation plan and organisation. We will investigate two different concepts for rehabilitation. The completed OFP will then undergo external evaluation, and our aim is to get the go-ahead to start the preliminary project as soon as possible.
We are now working in parallel with Allégaten 64. Since January this year, EIA and the UiB management have had frequent and ongoing dialogue with KD. Here, too, there are several points that need to be clarified, but we hope for good news on that front before the summer holidays.
For us, it feels as if we are escaping a penalty round, others might say that we have found a shortcut. No matter how you describe it, there is no doubt that the solid, thorough work that has been done so far has been absolutely crucial for NGHS to have taken an important step forward this week.
Alexey Nesterenko is our new Postdoctoral Fellow who has joined the Department to contribute in simulating lipid membranes and carbohydrates, and to do biomacromolecular force field validation, under supervision of Markus Miettinen. Most days, you will find him at CBU@Marineholmen. 
Alexey got his PhD in a field between computational chemistry and electrochemistry in 2014 at the Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, whereupon he held positions at various research institutes in Moscow and at the Moscow State University. At Frumkin, Alexey studied lipid membranes with experimental, theoretical and computational methods. His PhD was focused on investigating the structure of electrical double layer at the lipid–water interface, which was done by assembling results of MD simulation and experimental results of cation adsorption measurements. He demonstrated how to compute accurately an adsorption constant and binding site density from MD simulation. Further he continued working with this lab analyzing lipid monolayer molecular structure and polycation adsorption on anionic lipid membranes.
In 2014–2022, Alexey worked in Laboratory of Molecular Basis of Embryogenesis, where they studied and simulated pattern formation in early amphibian embryo using mathematical modeling with partial differential equations. He demonstrated there both experimentally and theoretically how difference in adsorption of growth factors onto heparin extracellular matrix could play role in pattern formation. Until very recently, he worked on advanced data analysis of mass-spectrometry data, including metabolomics and proteomics data in different experiments with rodent stroke and oxidative stress in eukaryotic cell lines.
Hello everyone!
I am Pushkaraj Wagh, a Bachelor of Pharmacy graduate from MVP School of Pharmacy, Nasik, India. The conventional path led me to the California to pursue my master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Western University of Health Sciences. My thesis was “Preparation and in vitro evaluation of PEGylated silk-fibroin nanoparticles for the delivery of celastrol.”
I am starting my doctoral research on formulation of lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of oligonucleotides with focus on – the internalization of nanoparticles inside a cell along with the delivery of specific oligonucleotide under the tutelage of Prof. Wei Wang.
My personal interests include photography, exploring places and nature around me. You can find me in Room 3010!
Feiring og markering for farmasigrunnlegger Svein Haavik
Torsdag 30. mars var venner og nære kolleger samlet for markering i forbindelse med at grunnlegger av Senter for Farmasi, Svein Haavik, pensjonerer seg. Svein ble Cand. Pharm. i 1980 ved UiO og tok doktorgrad i farmakognosi samme sted (1986). Svein sitt opprinnelige fagfelt var allergener, spesielt fra timotei med fokus på glykoproteinene og karbohydratene sin betydning for allergenaktiviteten. Han arbeidet som førsteamanuensis ved Farmasøytisk institutt ved UiO etter dette. På denne tiden arbeidet han blant annet med glykoproteinet Epiglycanin, et viktig protein i noen krefttyper, som kan spille en viktig rolle i om kreften er malign eller ikke. I 1988-89 hadde han utenlandsopphold som forsker ved Harvard Medical School, Boston.
I 1995 flyttet han tilbake til Vestlandet for å overta stillingen som apoteker ved Sykehusapoteket i Bergen. I tiden som fulgte ble han den viktigste pådriveren for og initiativtageren til å få opprettet farmasiutdanningen ved Universitetet i Bergen. Etter iherdig innsats ble Senter for Farmasi ved Universitetet i Bergen etablert og første kull med masterstudenter begynte på studiet i 2003. Allerede i juni 2007 ble Silje Søviknes den første farmasistudenten med mastergrad uteksaminert fra Universitetet i Bergen, med Svein, Anne Gerd Granås og Tone Morken som veiledere. Siden 2008 har 15 kull med farmasistudenter fullført mastergradsutdannelsen ved UIB. Svein ble leder for Senter for farmasi fra og med grunnleggelsen og i 16 år fremover. Senter for farmasi var de første årene et selvstendig senter med deltagelse fra Det Matematisk-Naturvitenskapelige fakultet og Det Medisinsk-Odontologiske fakultet. Farmasistudiet er senere omorganisert og hører nå administrativt til under Det medisinske fakultet. Svein ble forfremmet til professor i 2011. I løpet av de 20 årene Svein har forsket ved UiB, har han publisert flittig og med stor bredde, både innen farmakognosi, farmakologi og samfunnsfarmasi.
Markeringen var preget av god stemning – her er Svein flankert av Lone og Ruth.
Senter for farmasi er kjennetegnet av godt samarbeid, både når det gjelder undervisning og forskning og har helt siden etableringen bidratt signifikant til å fremme tverrvitenskapelig forskning og bidratt vesentlig for å etablere produktive multidisiplinære tverrfakultære forskningsgrupperinger.
Fra Kjemisk Institutt, Institutt for Global Helse og Samfunnsmedisin, Institutt for Biomedisin og Klinisk Institutt 2, i tillegg til representanter for de deltagende fakultetene og fra apotekene, møtte kolleger like før påske til en trivelig samling for å markere og sette lys på en del av de mange bidragene som Svein har vært en sentral drivkraft for. En rekke talere uttrykte takknemlighet for Svein sin imponerende mangeårige innsats for det farmasøytiske fagmiljøet, både internasjonalt, nasjonalt og regionalt.
Markeringen ble innledet av leder for Senter for Farmasi Reidun Lisbeth Skeide Kjome. Bengt Erik fremført hilsener fra Kjemisk institutt og dekanen ved MNF. Leif, som har vært sentral ved etableringen av farmasistudiene både ved UiT og UiB, takket Svein for hans formidable innsats.
Tekst og foto: Torgils Fossen.
My name is Fahimeh Khorsand and I will be working as a researcher with Prof. Haug and Prof. Reuter on an early drug discovery project for COPD (norsk: KOLS) treatment. I am a biochemist and interested in protein biochemistry, enzymes and developing bioassays. I received my PhD degree in Biochemistry from University College Dublin in 2016 and my PhD thesis was about the application of enzymes in production of some pharmaceutically important intermediates. 
I have been working at the University of Bergen since 2018, first as a researcher in the Department of Biological sciences and later as a postdoc in the Department of Biomedicine and have been involved in collaborative projects (BIOTEK2021, RESPOND3, TILD) in the groups of Profs. Reuter, Haug and Brenk.
Today gave the first in an annual series of UiB conferences on equality and diversity, with a great string of inspiring and enlightening talks by UiB and external contributors, as well as discussions and shared outlooks (cf the photo). Chemistry-student Oscar very nicely presented student perspectives of diversity. 
This year’s conference also represented the conclusion of GenderAct as a Research Council (co-)funded project within the Balanse program, which implies that gender equality and a balanced gender representation were recurrent topics throughout the day. A deliverable of the project is each department developing its own local action plan toward improved gender balance, equality and diversity, and our’s may be found here.
«L. Meltzers Høyskolefonds gave til UiB, 2023» skal brukes til UiBs vitenskapelige forskningsvirksomhet med erverv av ny grunnleggende innsikt som siktemål.
Maleri av Lauritz Meltzer, Malt av Ansgar Larsen
Pascal Dietzel er tildelt 60 kkr til dekning av kostnader til Materials for efficient electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid as hydrogen energy carrier. Vidar Jensen er tildelt 100 kkr til dekning av kostnader i forbindelse med arrangementet – International Symposium on Olefin Metathesis and Related Chemistry (ISOM XXIV). Vi gratulerer begge to!
Det noteres at ingen fra Kjemisk institutt har søkt om og fått tildelt reisemidler for 2023.
Meltzer-fondet deler hvert år ut betydelige midler, og alle vitenskapelig ansatte ved Kjemisk institutt oppfordres herved til å vurdere muligheten for å søke støtte til prosjekter, reiser og arrangment fra Meltzer-fondet (frist 1. desember).