2025

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. 

Pharmacy student Josef Saleh defended his MSc thesis on the 2nd June 2025. The thesis was entitled "Establishment of cell assays to evaluate toxicity and immune responses of Yersinia rocker mutant and their derived membrane vesicles" from the MicroPath group. The thesis evaluators were Gustav Vaaje-Kolstad from Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Grete Hasvold from Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo. 

MicroPath summer student Milena Milojic and PI Hanne Winther-Larsen present a poster with the title "Recombinant extracellular vesicles as vaccines within animal health" at the NordicPOP pharmaceutical conference 21 - 22 August, Copenhagen, Denmark. 

MicroPath PhD student Rebekka Rolfsnes Hovd presents at the NordicPOP pharmaceutical conference in Copenhagen, August 2025. She presented a poster entitled "APC24-7, a Covalent Combination of Boronic Acid and Chelator Moieties Restores B-lactam Efficiency Against Metallo-B-lactamase-Producers". 

MicroPath attend the Standford Drug Discovery Symposium (SDDS) at Standford University, California, 28-29 April 2025. MicroPath PI Winther-Larsen presented the SPARK supported project Novel vaccine platform in animal health. SPARK Norway teamed up with SPARK Denmark and SPARK Finland. 

Photo (from left): Morten Egeberg, Nicola Pietro Montaldo, Jutta Heix, Adam Filipczyk, Henry Hoyle, Torunn Vistnes Espe 

MicroPath associated PhD student Helene Liepelt Nysted defended her thesis: "Green antimicrobials: Investigation of natural deep eutectic solvents and their potential application in antimicrobial topical preparations" at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, 26th June 2025. 

The supervisors were: 

Professor Hanne Hjorth Tønnesen, Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo

Senior Scientist PhD Mona Elisabeth Pedersen, NOFIMA

Professor Ole Andreas Løchen Økstad, Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo

and Micropath PI Professor Hanne Cecilie Winther-Larsen, Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo

MicroPath attend TENKAs conference on the topic of aquaculture: Havbrukskonferansen in Trondheim 21 - 22 May 2025. This years conference topic discussed the importance of fish welfare. 

MicroPath welcomes the University of Oslo Life Science summer student Milena Milojic. During the summer of 2025 Milena worked on the SPARK Norway project: Novel vaccine platform for animal health. She was supervised in the laboratory by head engineer Sarah Finke. During her internship Milena attended the PhD defense of MicroPath associated PhD student Helene Liepelt Nystedt, took part in project planning with the University of Oslo Technology transfer office INVEN2 and travelled with us to the NordicPOP pharmaceutical conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in August 2025.

MicroPath attends and present at the FEMS Micro conference in Milan 14th - 17th July 2025. MicroPath PI Hanne Winther-Larsen gave a talk on the bioengineering of extracellular vesicles for vaccine design within One health.  

Our very good and fruitful collaboration with associate professor Javiera Ortiz-Severin, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, continues. MicroPath celebrate a new publication on the zebrafish model to study host-pathogen interaction of the fish pathogen P. salmonis. 

Check out the publication at: In vivo host-pathogen dynamics and immune responses to Piscirickettsia salmonis using the zebrafish model - ScienceDirect

Sarah Finke pitches MicroPath SPARK project Novel vaccine platform for animal health at SPARK Europe Showcase in Birmingham, UK, 13-14 March, 2025.

Photo: Torunn Vistnes Espe

The tools and databases for mycobiome shot-gun genome studies are not good enough: MicroPath co-publication with Omics research group at Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, in BMC Microbiome.

Have a read at the original publication at Challenges in capturing the mycobiome from shotgun metagenome data: lack of software and databases | Microbiome | Full Text, or in a shorter version at Forskning.no: Sopp i tarmen kan gje varsel om tarmkreft – men dagens verktøy er ikkje gode nok

MicroPath attended the yearly Precision Medicine Forum on the use of Extracellular vesicles in precision medicine. In 2024 the meeting was held in October at Magdalena college at Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK. MicroPath presented a poster entitled "Recombinant extracellular vesicles within animal health". The participations was sponsored by the SPARK Norway program at the University of Oslo where the MicroPath group is a member. 

The MicroPath group co-published an article entitled "Differential Transcriptomic Profile of Piscirickettsia salmonis LF-89 and EM-90 During an In Vivo Spatial Separation Co-Culture in Atlantic Salmon" in the MDPI journal Microorganisms. The main author was Dr. Gabriela Garril at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. The work is part of Dr. Garrils PhD thesis that she defended 17th December 2024. 

Please have a look at the publication!

On the 17th of December 2024, Gabriela Garril Leiva defended her PhD thesis with the title "Cohabitation of Piscirickettsia salmonis LF-89 and EM-90: Effects on growth dynamics and SRS infection development in Atlantic salmon" at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Gabriela was supervised by Prof Henning Sørum (NMBU), Prof. Hanne C. Winther-Larsen (University of Oslo) and Marie Løvoll (VESO). After defending her PhD Gabriela started working for the fish feed company BioMar. 

Follow Gabriela on LinkedIn.

Pharmacy student Paula Mollehauer from University of Münster is performing her master project in the MicroPath lab through the ERASMUS+ program. Paula is working on a project using bacterial extracellular vesicles as a vaccine vector plattform within animal sciences. Paula is staying with us for from November 2024 until April 2025. She is supervised by Prof. Hanne C. Winther-Larsen and by PhD student Sarah Finke, and is taking part in the SPARK Norway program at the University of Oslo.