معرفی
Dr Taavi Lehto is an Associate Professor of Nanobiotechnology at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Technology and a part-time Lecturer of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Pharmacy. He also holds a 20 % Senior Research Fellow position at the Karolinska Institutet, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Stockholm. His work centres on developing advanced drug-delivery systems—especially cell-penetrating peptides, lipid nanoparticles and extracellular vesicles—for RNA-based therapeutics, CRISPR/Cas9 and antisense oligonucleotides.
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy (Biomedical Technology), University of Tartu, 2011
- Master of Pharmacy, University of Tartu, 2008
- Jakob Westholm Gymnasium, 2002
Research Interests
Lehto’s research integrates nanomedicine, molecular biotechnology and pharmaceutical sciences to create cell-specific delivery platforms for gene-modulating therapeutics. Key themes include:
- Design of next-generation cell-penetrating peptides for cytosolic delivery of siRNA, mRNA and antisense oligonucleotides
- Engineering of lipid nanoparticles and extracellular vesicles to enable tissue-targeted gene editing
- Chemical optimisation of oligonucleotide cargoes (phosphorothioate, 2′-O-methyl, PMO) for enhanced stability and specificity
- Pre-clinical validation of splice-switching therapies in models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, X-linked agammaglobulinemia and fibrosis
His current 810 k€ Estonian Research Council project (2023-2027) focuses on scalable formulation technologies for RNA therapeutics and CRISPR/Cas9 systems.
Scientific Awards & Recognition
- Swedish Institute Visby Programme Post-doc Scholarship (2016, 2015)
- Letter of thanks from Estonian Ministry of Science & Education for supervising an award-winning MSc thesis (2013)
Supervision & Funding
Lehto leads a vibrant research group comprising one post-doctoral researcher and three ongoing PhD projects. He has successfully graduated four doctoral students and one post-doc, and his projects have received >1.5 M€ in competitive funding from the Estonian Research Council, Evox Therapeutics and the Swedish Institute.
Laboratory & Team
He heads the Drug Delivery and RNA Therapeutics group at the University of Tartu Institute of Technology and collaborates extensively with the Karolinska Institutet, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and international COST Actions CA17103 and BM1207.
