Sunna Jóhannsdóttir, doctoral student at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
"My research focuses on developing a so-called cyclodextrin drug delivery platform for peptides and proteins which can be used to treat eye conditions. Cyclodextrins are excipients used in drug delivery to increase the solubility of lipophilic drugs in water. I use them to increase the solubility of drugs in aqueous solutions and form nanoparticles from cyclodextrin complexes that let the drug adhere to the eye's surface for a longer period of time, which also enhances drug delivery into the eye."
That's what Sunna Jóhannsdóttir says, a doctoral student in Pharmacy, who is part of a dynamic group of doctoral students focussing on cyclodextrins and their potential, under the supervision of Professor Þorsteinn Loftsson.
Sunna Jóhannsdóttir
This research is of great importance for the treatment of diseases in the back of the eye, which are one of the main causes of blindness.
According to Sunna, the project is a continuation of her Master's thesis, which also focussed on the formation of cyclodextrin complexes. "Þorsteinn had previously researched and created ophthalmic drugs using a cyclodextrin drug delivery platform for smaller drug molecules, but I was interested in researching larger molecules such as proteins and peptides. Considering our shared interest in this topic, I decided in collaboration with Þorsteinn to begin my research," Sunna remarks, who received a grant from the Bergþóra and Pharmacist Þorsteinn Scheving Thorsteinsson Award Fund for her doctoral thesis.
This research is of great importance for the treatment of diseases in the back of the eye, which are one of the main causes of blindness. "The drugs most commonly used in these cases are proteins or peptides. It is difficult to get these drugs from the surface of the eye to the back of the eye in a high enough concentration to be effective. That is why these drugs are usually directly injected into the eye or administered via surgery. If we can replace needles with eye drops, it would mean a less drastic intervention for the patient, which also leads to better results in the treatment of diseases," Sunna explains.
She has already made significant progress in her research. "Using this technology, I have created so-called cyclosporine A eye drops. Cyclosporine A is a peptide used to treat chronic dry eye conditions caused by inflammation. The eye drops are effective and have been tested on rabbits, which have tolerated them well. There is really nothing to suggest that we should not be able to begin research on human subjects within a year," Sunna says.
Supervisor: Þorsteinn Loftsson, Professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.