Hello there Johan Engblom!

Can you briefly introduce yourself?

"I started my research career in Food Technology at LTH in 1989 and defended my thesis in 1996. The primary focus was initially lipid crystallography with X-ray diffraction as the main technique, but soon I got into its applications in skin research, a result of close collaboration with Prof. Bo Forslind (dermatologist at KI). After more than a decade in the pharmaceutical industry focusing on the development of products for topical drug delivery, I returned to academia as the director of Biofilms - Research Center for Biointerfaces and am now Professor and Prefect for the Department of Biomedical Science at Malmö University (MaU). My current research focus is to link physical and pharmaceutical science across biology with clinical reality. The ambition is to adopt a holistic perspective and utilize the power of interdisciplinary research to generate new knowledge that facilitates the development of new and competitive products aimed at health, diseases, and healing of biological barriers."

What is the significance of participating in a competence center like NextBioForm for MAU?

"At MaU, collaboration is an integrated part of both research and education. Our vision is to shape new solutions for improved health through outstanding science in interaction between the public, academia, and business. Competence centers like NextBioForm offer good opportunities to identify relevant issues that can generate mutual added value for the university, participating parties, and ultimately benefit the surrounding society."

What is MaU’s research focus in NBF?

"MaU’s main focus in NBF lies in solid phase formulations of biological drugs and especially proteins where we are currently working with lysozyme and palifermin. Of particular interest to study is how dehydration and potentially remaining water can affect product stability and performance and whether specific excipients, such as carbohydrates (sucrose, trehalose) can be expected to have beneficial effects in these respects."