Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
Job description
Sybil Obuobi is a senior scientist in the Drug Transport and Delivery Research Group (Department of Pharmacy) and a research group leader funded by the Tromsø Research Foundation's Start-up grant. The long term goal of the work in her lab seeks to fundamentally understand and overcome biological and microbial barriers to drug delivery. The findings from her research applies advanced technologies to treat recurrent infections and to manage skin diseases/disorders (e.g., inflammatory skin disorders, wound therapy). Her team has keen interest in microbial biofilms and in harnessing safe biomaterials (e.g., nucleic acids, lipids and peptides) as adjuvants to modulate drug tolerance and resistance.
See detailed information on current project COALITION
Senior scientist in the Drug Transport and Delivery Research Group
Alexandra Sofia Antunes De Sousa,
Rutuparna Kulkarni,
Mona Susan Johannessen,
Thorsten Wohland,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Decoding interactions between biofilms and DNA nanoparticles
Biofilm 2025 DOI
Sathi Das,
Jean-Claude Tinguely,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Kanchan Saxena,
Balpreet Singh Ahluwalia
et al.:
Plasmonic nano-bowls for monitoring intra-membrane changes in liposomes, and DNA-based nanocarriers in suspension
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Natasa Skalko Basnet
:
Understanding vaginal biofilms: The first step in harnessing antimicrobial nanomedicine
Alexandra Sofia Antunes de Sousa,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Smart delivery systems for microbial biofilm therapy: Dissecting design, drug release and toxicological features
Alexandra Sofia Antunes de Sousa,
Vegard Borøy,
Agnethe Hansen Bæverud,
Kjersti Julin,
Annette Bayer,
Morten B. Strøm
et al.:
Polymyxin B stabilized DNA micelles for sustained antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against P. aeruginosa
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Kjersti Julin,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Biofilm Responsive Zwitterionic Antimicrobial Nanoparticles to Treat Cutaneous Infection
Viveka Kalidasan,
Xin Yang,
Ze Xiong,
Renee R. Li,
Haicheng Yao,
Hareesh Godaba
et al.:
Wirelessly operated bioelectronic sutures for the monitoring of deep surgical wounds
Jian Yao Ng,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Mei Ling Chua,
Chi Zhang,
Shiqi Hong,
Yogesh Kumar
et al.:
Biomimicry of microbial polysaccharide hydrogels for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine - A review
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Kjersti Julin,
Elizabeth G. Aarag Fredheim,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Liposomal delivery of antibiotic loaded nucleic acid nanogels with enhanced
drug loading and synergistic anti-inflammatory activity against S. aureus
intracellular infections
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Nucleic acid hybrids as advanced antibacterial nanocarriers
Vanitha Selvarajan,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Rachel Ee Pui Lai
:
Silica Nanoparticles—A Versatile Tool for the Treatment of Bacterial Infections
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Venkatesh Mayandi,
Azlyn Mohd Nor Nurul,
Benedict Jiasheng Lee,
Rajamani Lakshminarayanan,
Rachel Ee Pui Lai
:
Nucleic acid peptide nanogels for the treatment of bacterial keratitis
Ali Raza,
Piarina Reginold,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Effect of Polyethylene Oxide on the Performance of Poloxamer 407-based In Situ Gel Forming Drug Delivery System
2025
Ali Raza,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Shape-memory hydrogel film for prolonged gastric retention to deliver antibiotic against H. pylori infection
2024
Alexandra Sofia Antunes de Sousa,
Jan Fredrik Frantzen,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Bacteria have a new mortal enemy: DNA
sciencenorway.no 2024 FULLTEKST
Alexandra Sofia Antunes De Sousa,
Mona Susan Johannessen,
Annette Bayer,
Morten Bøhmer Strøm,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Study of the penetration ability of DNA nanoparticles in biofilms
2024
Velentza Paraskevi,
Mats Rune Pettersen,
Øystein Grimstad,
Francesco Cilurzo,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Silvia Franzè
et al.:
Lipid nanoparticles to modulate gene delivery into dermal cells: the role of lipid and plasmid content on cellular uptake and transfection
2024
Ali Raza,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Shape-memory hydrogel film for prolonged gastric retention
to deliver antibiotic against H. pylori infection
2024
Velentza Paraskevi,
Mats Rune Pettersen,
Øystein Grimstad,
Francesco Cilurzo,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Silvia Franzè
et al.:
Lipid nanoparticles to modulate gene delivery into dermal cells: the role of lipid and plasmid content on cellular uptake and transfection.
2024
Dmytro Kravtsov,
Mona Susan Johannessen,
Mauri A Kostiainen,
Natasa Skalko Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Rational design of aptamer-based nanostructures for bacterial biofilm applications
2024
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Tailoring Drug Delivery and Antimicrobial Properties: The Role of Nucleic Acid Nanostructure Design
2024
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Bacteria sensing with drug delivery systems
2024
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Developing DNA-based hybrid carriers to control bacterial persistence and virulence in chronic skin wounds
2023
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Developing DNA-based hybrid carriers to control bacterial persistence and virulence in chronic skin wounds
2023
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Getting funded
2023
Alexandra Sofia Antunes de Sousa,
Jan Fredrik Frantzen,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Antibiotikaresistens: Fant ny måte å bekjempe biofilm på
Farmatid.no 2023
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
DNA-BASED HYBRID CARRIERS FOR BACTERIAL AND WOUND THERAPY
2023
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Advancing drug delivery via DNA nanocarrier design to treat persistent infections
2023
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Advancing drug delivery via nanocarrier design to treat biofilm infections
2023
Alexandra Sofia Antunes de Sousa,
Kjersti Julin,
Annette Bayer,
Morten Bøhmer Strøm,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
et al.:
Drug-loaded DNA nanoparticles against bioflms
2023
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
BIOHYBRID NUCLEIC ACID CARRIERS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PERSISTENT INFECTIONS
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Hybrid DNA nanoparticles for the treatment of persistent S. aureus infections
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
A personal journey beyond failure: My funding story
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Vikingen Sigurd døde da tennene til en død mann skrapte borti leggen hans
28. July 2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Biohybrid Nucleic Acid carriers for the treatment of persistent infections
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Dagen da Sigurd Viking døde av en bakterieinfeksjon
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Nanocarriers are the Trojan horses of antibiotics
sciencenorway.no 2022 FULLTEKST
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
High drug loading hybrid carriers for antimicrobial applications
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Nanocarriers are the Trojan horses of antibiotics
UiT Forskerhjørnet 2022 FULLTEKST
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
The day that Sigurd the Viking died from a bacterial infection
2022
Kjersti Julin,
Annette Bayer,
Morten Bøhmer Strøm,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet,
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
DNA Nanocarriers for improved biofilm penetration
2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi
:
Fat bubbles and DNA help sneak antibiotics into biofilms
09. May 2022
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Kjersti Julin,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Multi-responsive and Zwitterionic Nanohybrids for the Treatment of Biofilm Wound Infections
2021
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Kjersti Julin,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Zwitterionic hybrid nanoparticles for the treatment of biofilm wound infections
2021
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Kjersti Julin,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Zwitterionic Nanohybrids for the Treatment of Wound Biofilms
2021
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Kjersti Julin,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Multi-responsive and Zwitterionic Nanohybrids for the Treatment of Biofilm Wound Infections
2021
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Anna Ngoc Phung,
Kjersti Julin,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
ZWITTERIONIC NUCLEIC ACID HYBRIDS FOR THE TREATMENT OF BIOFILM INFECTIONS
2021
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Kjersti Julin,
Elizabeth G. Aarag Fredheim,
Pål Jarle Johnsen,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Liposomal delivery of antibiotic loaded DNA nanogels against intracellular infections
2020
Sybil Akua Okyerewa Obuobi,
Kjersti Julin,
Elizabeth G. Aarag Fredheim,
Mona Johannessen,
Natasa Skalko-Basnet
:
Liposomal delivery of Nucleic Acid Nanogels to Enhance Entrapment Efficiency and Sustain Release of Antibiotics against Staphylococcal intracellular infections
2020
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Research interests
The long-term goal of our research is to fundamentally understand and overcome biological and microbial barriers to drug delivery. We apply our findings to engineer advanced technologies that can be used to treat recurrent infections and to manage skin diseases/disorders (e.g., inflammatory skin disorders, wound therapy).
Our research is carried out in the Drug transport and delivery research group at UiT in Tromsø, Norway. Key research areas include the following:
- Engineering novel drug delivery systems
- Biological/microbial barriers to drug delivery
- Wound healing
PhD supervision:
- 2021 - in progress: Primary supervisor for Alexandra Sofia Antunes de Sousa (Drug transport and delivery research group - UiT). Financed: Center for New Antibacterial Strategies (CANS), UiT, Tromsø.
- 2023 - in progress: Primary supervisor for Dmytro Kravtsov (Drug transport and delivery research group - UiT). Financed: Tromsø research foundation, Tromsø.
- 2022 - in progress: Assistant supervisor for Tejas Athavale (Drug transport and delivery research group - UiT). Financed: UiT, Tromsø.
Supervision of master/exchange students:
- Since 2020, I have supervised 6 master students at UiT in the Department of Pharmacy.
Teaching
Undergraduate level:
- FAR 2402: Drug formulation and biopharmacy
Master level:
- FAR 3043: Nanomedicine
PhD level:
- FAR 8043: Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology
Other teaching activities:
- FSK 8003: Funding your research
Member of research group
CV
Academic background:
- 2014 - 2018. PhD, Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore.
- 2012 - 2013. Master in science in drug delivery, Aston University, United Kingdom.
- 2006 - 2010. Bachelor in Pharmacy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana.
Past positions:
- 2019 - 2022 - Marie curie individual fellow, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
- 2017 - 2018 - Research Fellow, Max Plank Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP), Germany.
Funding / Scholarships:
- 2021-present: Tromsø Research Foundation Start-up grant (TFS-STG)
- 2019 - 2022: Marie Curie Individual Fellowship.
- 2017 - 2018 : Otto Bayer Fellowship.
- 2014 - 2018: Singapore International Graduate Award.
- 2012 - 2013: Commonwealth Scholarship.
Prizes/Awards:
- 2021: Young Researcher of the Year (Faculty of Health Sciences), UiT, Norway.
- 2018 GPEN 2018 Abstract Award, Department of Pharmacy, NUS, Singapore.
- 2017 Best Graduate Researcher Award, Faculty of Science, Department of Pharmacy, NUS, Singapore.
- 2017 Best Postgraduate Research Project, Department of Pharmacy, NUS, Singapore.
- 2004 Academic Excellence Award, Akosombo International School, Ghana.