We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Anni Lepland and Kristina Kiisholts for their successful defense of their PhD theses, showcasing significant contributions to the field of precision nanomedicine.

Kristina Kiisholts defended her thesis, titled "Peptide-based drug carriers and preclinical nanomedicine applications for endometriosis treatment," on April 28, 2023. This collaborative and interdisciplinary study, cosupervised by Professors Kaido Kurrikoff, Andres Salumets, Tambet Teesalu, and Ülo Langel, explored peptide-based nanomedical applications for endometriosis treatment. The opponent for the defense was Professor Pirjo Laakkonen from the University of Helsinki (Finland). The findings from Kiisholts' thesis propose promising peptide-based approaches for endometriosis treatment with potential translational relevance. Link to more details and Link to Thesis.

Anni Lepland's thesis, "Precision targeting of tumor-associated macrophages in triple negative breast cancer," focused on peptide-guided targeting of tumor macrophages in breast cancer. Supervised by Professors Pablo D Scodeller and Tambet Teesalu, the thesis defense took place with Assistant Professor Maija Hollmén from the University of Turku (Finland) as the opponent. Notably, Lepland's thesis was honored with the Best Doctoral Thesis Award for 2023 in Biomedicine in December 2023. Link to Thesis and More details on the award.

We wish both Anni Lepland and Kristina Kiisholts continued success in their future careers, confident that their research will leave a lasting impact on the field of nanomedicine.