Shahina Akter

I was born and raised in Bangladesh. In 2014 and 2015, I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy and a master's degree in Pharmaceutical technology from the University of Asia Pacific in Bangladesh. Following that, I relocated to Germany in 2018 and enrolled at Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf to pursue a master's degree in Industrial Pharmacy. I wrote my master's thesis on "Molecular simulations of the membrane permeability of protein-protein interaction inhibitors" during my master's studies in Industrial Pharmacy. My thesis focused on computing the membrane permeability of small molecules that will be used to treat Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I graduated with the M.Sc. Industrial Pharmacy program in early 2021 and joined the SwedNess project as a PhD student at Uppsala University.

I am studying lipid-based formulations (LBF) for enhancing peptide drug bioavailability in my PhD project. My project aims to develop a hybrid of the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and the simulation methods to analyze complex intestinal colloidal structures and lipid-rich water-based formulations. Using this hybrid method, it will be possible to understand the many essential intestinal processes, allowing for a complete understanding of the constraints and variability associated with the use of permeability enhancers for peptide therapeutics.