Prof Dr Joke Bouwstra receives the “ Dr Saal van Zwanenberg Ereprijs”
Prof Dr Joke Bouwstra will receive the “ Dr Saal van Zwanenberg Ereprijs” from the “Koninklijke Hollandse Maatschappij der Wetenschappen” on November 14 in Haarlem. Joke is awarded for her innovative contributions to the field of skin delivery science and technology. She shares the price with prof Wim Hennink (Utrecht University) and Prof Erik Frijlink (Groningen University).
Joke started her research in the transdermal field in 1987. At that time she focused on the effect of penetration enhancers on the permeability of drugs across the skin. During this research she developed an interest for skin lipids, which in the 1990s led her to elucidate the lamellar lipid organization in human stratum corneum with X-ray diffraction. Subsequently, she successfully developed several lipid membrane systems closely mimicking the lipid organization and barrier properties of human skin. She started to work on inflammatory skin diseases and included clinical studies in her research. She discovered that skin lipid properties are strongly associated with skin barrier dysfunction and that inflammation affects skin lipid synthesis. This information is important for the development of therapeutic interventions.
Within the field of nanomedicine, Joke’s group pioneered in the field of nanoparticles aiming to deliver drugs across the skin. More recently, she has been using microneedle arrays primarily for dermal vaccine delivery.
Joke published more than 370 scientific papers (H-index 76), is co-inventor of 10 patents and has been elected as member of The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Joke’s reaction: “This is an enormous honor. These achievements only have been possible through stimulating collaborations with PhD students, postdocs, technicians and colleagues.”