Maria Teresa Bezem

Current position is as project manager to coordinate projects that survey climate change in the Arctic region. The global warming is extremely appearant in the Arctic where the temperature rise is large and the ice melts. Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) is a researcher-driven initiative that map important parameters in the Arctic Ocean to establish a baseline for climate change investigations. This requires a coordination of nationally financed cruises and expeditions, well organized planning and good communication and a system for sharing of scientific data. It is also important to promote SAS in front of stakeholders (including indigenous people and environmental organizations) and decision makers. Arctic PASSION is a EU Horizon 2020 project that seeks to develop and implement an observation sytem in the Arctic to use by the local population, academia, industry and policy makers. The observation system is developed as a set of pilot services that are easy accessible web portals to report on the amount of pollution, extent of permafrost and ice, risk of wild fires etc.

My previous research was conducted as a Ph.D. candidate in nanomedicine. My Ph.D. project focusses on the functionalization of biodegradable nanoparticles with an enzyme called tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). This enzyme catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the dopamine synthesis. Dopamine is a signaling molecule used by neurons to control digestion, mood and motion.  Parkinson's disease or genetic diseases can lead to lack of TH and dopamine. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop an enzyme replacement therapy using nanoparticles loaded with TH. Nanoparticles can in general be used to deliver drugs to specific tissues in the body at the same that they protect the drug from degradation.