Monday, 17 February 2025 Students Visit Novartis as Part of the ImmBIO Project

As part of the ImmBIO project, students from UP FAMNIT and UL FMF, along with their academic mentors, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Karla Ferjančič (project leader at UP FAMNIT) and Prof. Dr. Emil Žagar (UL FMF), recently visited Novartis in Mengeš.

During their visit, they were welcomed by work mentors Dr. Andrej Pohar and Ms. Andreja Pirnat, who, along with their colleagues, guided the students through the laboratories of the "upstream" department. This is where the initial phase of development—planning and cultivating microorganisms or cells that produce desired biological substances—occurs. They also toured the "downstream" department, where medicinal biological ingredients' development, planning, testing, and purification occur.

As part of the project, the students are tackling current challenges at the company to develop and test mathematical models of bioreactors. In addition to their regular weekly remote meetings, this visit provided an excellent opportunity for the students to gain better insight into the development process and a more comprehensive understanding of Novartis's work in developing biological medicines.