Johanna Walther was awarded Dr. Saal Van Zwanenberg Prize
"This master thesis is a true masterpiece"
PhD student Johanna Walther was awarded the Dr. Saal van Zwanenberg Research Prize on 15 November. This prize is awarded annually to master students who write a thesis in the field of pharmaceutical or medical sciences, in which the drug is central.
“This master thesis is a true masterpiece”, says Enrico Mastrobattista, who supervised Johanna Walther as masterstudent Drug Innovation, writing her thesis “Cellular Delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein via Biomimetic Lipid Nanoparticles”. “It contains very original work: she demonstrated for the first time that Cas9 protein can be encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles and can be functionally delivered into cells.”
The shear amount of work Johanna has performed is unique and something I have never witnessed before from a master student.
"The shear amount of work Johanna has performed is unique and something I have never witnessed before from a master student. In 9 months, she performed half the work I had in mind for a PhD project!”, Mastrobattista continues. “With her outstanding academic skills, here exceptional talent to perform the right experiments, her creativity and perseverance as well as her excellent social skills, Johanna is one of the best master students that I have supervised so far.”
“I am very thrilled to be awarded with the Dr. Saal Van Zwanenberg Prize. I was called to be told I won and even though it was a great way to hear the news, I caught myself thinking that I need this information black on white to really grasp and believe it”, says Johanna Walther, who is now a PhD-student in the field of delivery of the Crispr/cas system for gene therapy.
“My masters project confirmed to me already that I have found a field of research – drug delivery for therapeutic approaches – I truly enjoy. I see this prize as a great recognition of that: a project performed with interest, passion, and with the help of a supportive supervisor and department. It is also a great motivation to continue in research and to hopefully contribute someday to new discoveries in pharmaceutical and medical sciences.”