Špela Zupančič has finished high school in Kočevje and enrolled in the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana in 2008. In 2013 she attended Erasmus exchange program at the School of Pharmacy, University College London, UK, where she performed research work in 4.5 months and graduated under supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petra Kocbek and Dr. Satyanarayana Somavarapu, senior lecturer. The same year, she entered postgraduate study of Biomedicine, scientific field of pharmacy and in 2017 she received her PhD from UL-Faculty of Pharmacy (supervisor Prof. Dr. Julijana Kristl). During her PhD, she visited Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, where she worked under Distinguish. Prof. Dr. Alexander L. Yarin for 6.5 months. Since 2013 she works at the UL-Faculty of Pharmacy; firstly as a young researcher and then as an assistant habilitated in the field of Pharmaceutical nanotechnology. She participates in teaching in the Uniform master’s study programme Pharmacy (subjects Pharmaceutical Technology I), the University study programme Cosmetology (subjects Nanotechnology in Cosmetology) and in the master’s programme Industrial pharmacy (subjects Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology I). Her research expertise includes formulation and characterization of nanofibers, liposomes, polymeric, and solid lipid nanoparticles, design of nanodelivery systems for controlled drug release, incorporation of bacteria into delivery systems, mathematical modelling of drug release, and development of characterization methods for new dosage forms. Awards: 2018 – Krka Grand Prizes for Research; 2017 – the national award For Women in Science from L'Oréal and Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO; ·2016 – 3rd place at Slovenian Science Slam; ·2014 – Dean award for outstanding research achievements at UL-Faculty of Pharmacy and Krka Prize for Special Achievements in Research; 2013 – Faculty award for average grade above 8.75; Membership: Slovenian pharmaceutical society. |