Maša Bošnjak

Research associate Maša Bošnjak, MPharm, PhD, is a finalist in the field of Pharmacy. She works as a researcher in the Department of Experimental Oncology at the Institute of Oncology in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For her, it is a great honour to be a finalist. Not only for her, but for the whole team working on the research over the last three years.

After graduating from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Ljubljana, she worked as a young researcher with a main interest in electroporation-based treatments, such as electrochemotherapy and electroporation-mediated gene therapy (Genelectro-Transfer). This passion continued in her research work in the nominated paper. As she explains:

Electrochemotherapy is a local cancer therapy used to treat different types of tumours. We determined the concentrations of bleomycin, the cytotoxic drug used in electrochemotherapy, in plasma and tumour samples from treated patients. The pharmacokinetic parameters of bleomycin in the plasma of younger patients differed significantly from those of older patients. Therefore, it is not recommended to reduce the dose of bleomycin in younger patients. However, the shorter therapeutic window for electrochemotherapy should be considered. Research is very important for the clinical use of electrochemotherapy to provide the best therapeutic response for each patient with negligible side effects.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking and skiing.