News

MicroPath publishes a paper in the journal Fish and Shellfish immunology together with co-authors on the cod olfactory immune system. In this story we have tested the vaccine potential in Atlantic cod of two previously published work by Elisabeth Lampe on live attenuated vaccines against francisellosis. We also hypothesize that it is possible to immunize cod through its nose. 

Please check out the publication in: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050464826006716?via%3Dihub

MicroPath co-published a paper entitled "In vitro activity of combination formulations of the novel metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) inhibitor APC148 with comparator treatments against 176 MBL-containing Enterobacterales isolates from the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program (2019-2022)" in the American Society of Microbiology journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. This is a follow up story of the antimicrobial adjuvant APC148 invented by the biotech company Adjutec Pharma AS with whom we have had a long time collaboration. 

The paper can be viewed: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/In-vitro-activity-of-combination-formulations-of-Smith-Klem/e7252792d7ed1c052b6c391d1afa2600a6883e7d

As a participant of the Research Council of Norway funded project FRANTIC, the MicroPath research group participated in a meeting hosted by Sjømat Norge with stakeholders with the aquaculture industry on Atlantic Cod. Different participants from the FRANTIC research project group talked about their lates research on the health of Atlantic cod and vaccine options against francisellosis and met with stakeholders from Havland, Sjømatbedriftene and Vesterålen Havbruk. The needs of the future of aquaculture industry on Atlantic cod was identified and discussed. 

The MicroPath was very glad to recruit MSc Karen Erstad as a new PhD student to our research group. Karen will study the effect of non-antimicrobial drugs on the vesiculom of the human bacterial microbiome and if common drugs may lead to transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes through the mechanisms of vesiculation. Karen will have MicroPath PI Hanne Winther-Larsen as main supervisor, but will be co-supervised by professor Ida Robertsen and professor Trine Rounge. 

MicroPath welcomes Jennifer Yi Tong Ruan as a new master student in Pharmacy. Jennifer will investigate the host immune responses in Atlantic salmon (Salmon salar) to a vaccine based on recombinant extracellular vesicles produced in E. coli. Jennifer work in close collaboration with the head engineer Beata Mohebi on this project. MicroPath wish Jennifer the best of luck with her master project.

Sundus Abdirahman is a new MSc student in Pharmacy at the MicroPath research group. Sundus will work on the optimization for the production of vaccines formulas based on recombinant extracellular vesicles for animal health. MicroPath is happy to have Sundus onboard in this project. 

The MicroPath research group has moved into the new Life Science building at University of Oslo. We are now enjoying brand new research laboratories, state-of-the art research infrastructure and a new office environment gathering the whole Department of Pharmacy, Chemistry, Biosciences as well at NCMBM and Oslo University Hospital research centers. 

Check out the new building and research environment: https://www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/about/building/

LIMES (Life on Metal Surfaces) kick of seminar was hosted in Ålesund, Norway. The LIMES project is funded by INTRAPART and lead by prof Håvard Haugen from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo. The kick-off gathers an international panel of scientists in the beautiful city of Ålesund and included scientific talks, seminar and discussions. 

In between the scientific program we also enjoyed what Ålesund has to offer for networking opportunities including the Aquarium in Ålesund. Here are LIMES participate Professor Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji (Edo State University, Nigeria), Assistant professor Seung Hun Lee (Dongguk University, South Korea), Professor Håvard Haugen (University of Oslo, Norway), Micropath Professor Hanne Winther-Larsen (University of Oslo, Norway) Professor Katsutoshi Hori (Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan) and Assistant Professor Shogo Yoshimoto from Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. 

MicroPath group leader Hanne Winther-Larsen presents the research group facility and competence at the first LIMES (Life on metal surface) seminar at the University of Oslo. The LIMES project is funded by INTRAPART and hosted by the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, with participant from Korea, Japan and Nigeria.

Read more about LIMES here. https://www.odont.uio.no/english/research/projects/life-on-metal-surfaces/

To initiate an up-scaled production of our outer membrane vesicle based vaccine, MicroPath PI Hanne Winther-Larsen visited our new industrial partner Jafral Biosolutions in Ljubljana, Slovenia (https://www.jafral.com). The project is a follow up both the University of Oslo SPARK Norway program and Research Council of Norway Milepæl program. On the one day program was a site visit of the Jafral R&D and GMP production facilities, and a thorough discussion of the pilot production line of the vaccine. 

Previous PhD student Rebekka Rolfsnes Hovd makes the front page of the news bulletin of the Department of Pharmacy and at Forskning.no.  Read all about it here: https://www.mn.uio.no/farmasi/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2026/nytt-liv-til-gamle-antibiotika.html and here https://www.forskning.no/antibiotika-biokjemi-medisiner/nytt-liv-til-gamle-antibiotika/2609655

MicroPath PhD student Rebekka Rolfsnes Hovd defended her PhD on 22nd January 2026. Her PhD was entitled "Antibiotic adjuvants to reverse B-lactam resistance: Mechanism of action and resistance development of chelator-based metallo-B-lactamase inhibitors". Rebekka did an industrial PhD financed through the Research Council of Norway, while she was employed in the biotech company AdjuTec Pharma. The adjudication committee for the defense was: Professor Linus Sandegren, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University; Professor Marit Otterlei, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Professor Liv Mathiesen, Section for Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo

Follow Rebekka for her future career in science: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekka-rolfsnes-hovd-714416253/

Publication on the B-lactamase inhibitor APC24-7 in mSphere with our brilliant PhD student Rebekka Rolfsnes Hovd as first author. Rebekka has an industrial PhD scholarship in the biotech company AdjuTec Pharma (https://adjutecpharma.com) which designed the molecule. University of Oslo has worked closely with AdjuTec Pharma, University of Tromsø and Kappa solutions in this study. Read all about it here https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00418-25

The MicroPath group project "Novel vaccines for animal health" graduated at 26th November 2025 form the SPARK Norway Innovation program at the University of Oslo. Front row from left: Sarah Finke, Hanne Winther-Larsen and Saranya Subramani from Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo. Back row: Aina Rengmark (INVEN2) and Mariann Dønnum (Aleap). Photo: Jarli&Jordan/UiO.

Sarah Finke presented the MicroPath SPARK Norway project "Novel vaccine for animal health" at the Nordic Life Science (NLS) days in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

After her summer internship in the MicroPath group, MSc student Milena Milojic from Department of Biosciences at UiO presented her summer project with a poster at the closing seminar October 9th 2025. MicroPath wishes Milena the best of luck with finishing her master project and her future career in science.

MicroPath PI Hanne Winther-Larsen attended MOVE the European National Societies of Extracellular Vesicles symposium 2025. The symposium was held in university city of Tartu in Estonia 7th - 10th October 2025. The MOVE symposium was organized by the Baltic Society of Extracellular Vesicle (BSEV). Work performed by the MicroPath group was presented with a poster entitled "Recombinant extracellular vesicles as vaccines within animal health".

MicroPath was invited to attend the Danish embassy collaboration symposium with Norways Oslo Science City and Healthcare Denmark about public-private partnership within healthcare.  

The symposium was opened by the Danish ambassador in Norway Louise Bang Jespersen and Christine Sørbye CEO of Oslo Science City. Other speakers were Dorte Bech Vizard, Indenrigs- og Sundhedsministeriet, Cathrine Meland, Helse- og Omsorgsdepartementet, Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth, director of Oslo University hosptial, Randi Brinckmann, Vicedirector at Rigshospitalet

The MicroPath research group is excited to soon be moving into the new Life Science building at the University of Oslo. We made a site visit in the new microbiology infection lab and are exited about the establishment of the new zebrafish infection lab. 

Read about in

https://www.mn.uio.no/farmasi/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2025/studerer-laksesjukdommar-i-sebrafisk.html?utm_campaign=fai&utm_medium=sebrafisk&utm_source=fb

and 

The Life Science Building - UiO:Life Science

Erasmus+ student Paula Mollenhauer from University of Münster defended her thesis in pharmacy August 2025. The title of the thesis was "Development of a recombinant bacterial membrane vesicle-based vaccine against Yersinia ruckeri infection in salmonids". She performed her MSc thesis laboratory work with the MicroPath group with head engineer Sarah Finke as lab supervisor. Micropath congratulate Paula with topp marks on her thesis work.