Aukje Beers combined theory and practice, as well as chemistry, biology, and computer models. In this way, she discovered two protein inhibitors during her master’s project that could contribute to the development of a new cancer drug. For her research, Beers received the Unilever Research Prize on…

A breakthrough from the PhD research of medical chemist Elmer Maurits may help patients with autoimmune diseases and blood cancer in the future. But bringing a discovery from the lab to the clinic is not so easily done. Thanks to NWO's Venture Challenge, Maurits and his team will receive ten weeks of…

How can zebrafish models be used to gain a better understanding of host-pathogen interaction mechanisms and to screen new drugs for infectious disease treatment?

In dermatology, there should be a high level of multidisciplinary collaboration among institutes and specialists, Professor of Translational Dermatology, Robert Rissmann, will say in his inaugural lecture on 8 July. He is building an infrastructure that will put pre-clinical and clinical skin research…

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely prescribed as anti-inflammatory drugs due to their well-established immunosuppressive effects.

He is occupied with the home stretch of his promotion. But in between, there is another challenge: Michael Meijer is going through to the finals of ‘The Smartest Chemist of the Netherlands’. On Tuesday 9 October, he and five others fight for this title during the Evening of Chemistry. ‘I was dragged…

The zebrafish is a promising vertebrate model organism in early drug discovery and development.

PhD defence

This volume sheds light on the role played by progeny in maintaining dynasties in early modern royal courts as well as the horizontal and vertical interplay between the actors. It attempts to break through the narrative of older research that saw dynasties as a series of male rulers. Instead, these…

Astronomer and Marxist Anton Pannekoek was a remarkable figure. This book aims to study the connections between his life as a socialist theorist and as a pioneering scientist through the prism of Pannekoek's biography.

The Liverpool care pathway for the dying patient (LCP) is a multidisciplinary tool developed for the dying phase for use in palliative care settings. The literature reports divergent experiences with its application in a nursing home setting related to its implementation and staff competencies. The…

How to identify patients at risk of developing devastating, metastatic disease and facilitate the development of personalised treatment for prostate cancer patients?

PhD research recently completed by pharmacologist Margreke Brill shows that morbidly obese patients should be given a different dosage of the drugs Cefazolin and Midazolam. This could also apply to other drugs such as anti-cancer drugs as well as antibiotics and Margreke Brill is advocating a change…

In this thesis, mathematical modeling and simulation was applied as a tool to inform quantitative decision making in oncology drug discovery and development.

Streptomyces bacteria are a valuable source of natural products, many of which are used in the clinic or in biotechnology.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

Metal complexes and 2D materials like graphene were combined to produce structures that can function as sensors.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-promotor: D. Claessen

The adenosine receptors are proteins that reside in the extracellular membranes of cells. Activation of adenosine receptors plays a role in many physiological and pathological processes, such as immune responses and cancers.

The disease acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by fast progression and low survival rates.

Glycosidases are important enzymes in the turnover of polysaccharides and glycoconjugates, and are involved in a range of human pathologies including genetic disorders such as Gaucher and Pompe disease, but also in various cancers.

In this thesis, a system pharmacology approach, integrating metabolomics, pharmacology and chemical biology, was applied to understand and modulate the endocannabinoid system across different model systems (cells, zebrafish, mice and humans).

Cardiovascular diseases are among the most frequent causes of death in the world. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is the development of atherosclerosis in the medium and large-sized arteries.

With a €1.5 million European grant, industrial ecologist Stefano Cucurachi will work on more sustainable production methods for the pharmaceutical industry. The Italian company Angelini Pharma intends to use the resulting knowledge to make its production process more sustainable.

How can you ensure that more experimental drugs reach the finish line? At the moment, only one in twenty cancer drugs that are tested on humans makes it to the market. This is an enormous loss for patients and society. With a grant from the National Growth Fund, Oncode-PACT aims to efficiently select…

Lecture, Tuesday Talks: Science Insights

Inaugural lecture

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of elasticity on the skin permeation of ketoprofen from surfactant-based vesicular formulations and elastic liposomes.

Pharmaceutical research should make more use of data science, says Gerard van Westen, postdoctoral fellow at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR). ‘If we want to have better drugs, we should start with data.’

A team of five PhD students from Leiden University is in the running for first prize in the Pharmacometrics Skills Competition. In a drug development simulation, they apply their mathematical pharmacological skills to solve clinical problems. On 24 March they will compete in the finals in Orlando, F…

This project sets out to map, document and analyze instances of squatting in Leiden from 1970 to 1990, in order to set up an online Digital Archive of Squatting in Leiden. This archive will function as an online resource for academic research, as well as a starting point for public activities such as…

Professor of Clinical Pharmacology Adam Cohen from Leiden University received the prestigious Dr. Saal van Zwanenberg Honorary Prize on 12 November. The prize honours a scientist who has distinguished themselves in the field of research that has directly or indirectly led to the development of new medicines…

Four university medical centres, including the LUMC, are joining forces to increase pandemic preparedness in the Netherlands.

Drug development is a time- and resource-consuming process that starts with the discovery and validation of a (protein) target that contributes to pathogenesis or disease progression.

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

'It gave our team a big boost to hear that our work was valuable,' says medical chemist Elmer Maurits about the moment they won the Venture Challenge. With their company Iprotics, they want to develop a drug that can better treat patients with autoimmune diseases and blood cancers. 25,000 euros of prize…

Who benefits from CXCR/CXCL chemokine signaling during infection: host or pathogen?

How citizens and professionals are the key to successful collaboration in the delivery of public services. How do individual characteristics of citizens and professionals influence citizen-professional collaboration in the co-production of public services?

This article presents a systematic review aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of cybersecurity training methods and assess their effectiveness.

The research group Cyber Security Governance will provide cutting-edge academic research in the domain of cyber, where modern technology interacts with traditional concepts such as governance, sovereignty, law-enforcement, international relations and conflict.

This article provides a list of the concepts and key elements that should be considered when creating effective communication messages.

On 7 December 2021, Georgina Kuipers defended the thesis 'Beschadigd vertrouwen'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. W. den Ouden and Prof. M.A. van der Steen (EUR).

This study explores public leaders’ organizational learning orientation in the wake of a crisis. More precisely, we study the association between public leaders’ public service motivation and their learning orientation (instrumental versus political).

Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships (Key Action 2) are transnational projects designed to develop and share innovative practices and promote cooperation, peer learning, and exchanges of experiences in the fields of education, training, and youth. There are two kinds of Strategic Partnership; those supporting…