Chemical molecules create entirely new properties in synthetic and human cells. This is what Ane Bretschneider Søgaard, PhD in Nanoscience, demonstrates with her research. And it has not gone unnoticed. That’s why she is receiving Aarhus University Research Foundation’s PhD Award 2025 – an award given to exceptional talents.

It was almost unbelievable for this year’s awardee from the Faculty of Natural Sciences when she got the news, she says. With trembling hands, she ran into her supervisor’s office and shared the good news.

“The prize means a great deal. It’s a pat on the back, and it gives me extra confidence in my work – that it makes sense and is worth continuing,” she says.

Designed molecules can hinder disease

Ane Bretschneider Søgaard works with cell modification. This can be done genetically or chemically, and although she holds a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics, it was the chemical approach she applied in Professor Alexander Zelikin’s laboratory for medicinal chemistry.

“I had a problem-solving role where my biological perspective could be used. Among other things, I established a protocol for creating synthetic cells, and what was special about our approach was designing chemical receptor molecules and inserting them into the synthetic cells, where they can detect the presence of natural enzymes outside the cell and activate a response inside,” she explains.

This means that Ane Bretschneider Søgaard uses non-natural building blocks to mimic nature and thus aims to create entirely new functions in cells:

“Another design of chemical surface receptors can be used in human cells and enables the uptake of specific proteins with the goal of delivering drugs specifically to the modified cells or potentially removing disease-related proteins in the future,” says Ane.

Working tirelessly to help people

Ane Bretschneider Søgaard defended her PhD in 2024 but continues her research on the remarkable project – now as a postdoc in Professor Alexander Zelikin’s group.

“The hope is to continue working on the project and develop it into something more applicable, which can hopefully be used to help people, whether in the lab or as a future biomedical treatment,” says Ane Bretschneider Søgaard.

Each year, Aarhus University Research Foundation awards five PhD Awards to exceptional talents, and this year the foundation honors Ane Bretschneider Søgaard among others. As recognition of her efforts, she will receive the PhD Prize and DKK 40,000 from the foundation. The award ceremony will take place on May 28, 2025, and you can read more about the event here (in Danish only).