The academic staff of the Leiden University Institute for History.

Welcome to the Leiden University Centre for Islamic Thought and History. The initiatives and projects undertaken here are under the auspices of the Leiden University Centre for Intercultural Philosophy. As a centre, we aim to promote the study of Arabic and Islamic thought and history, in all its different…

Overview of Leiden publications on Central Asia. For additional publications dedicated to a single country, please go to individual pages of the researchers, which you can access through the Researchers page.

A team of three students affiliated with Leiden University is shedding new light on the lives, diets, health, and mobility of individuals buried at the historic church site in Koudekerke, Zeeland. The project, a collaboration with the Walcherse Archeologische Dienst and funded by the Municipality of…

One of the recurring points of discussion within the Criminal Justice research programme is the question of what behaviour should or should not fall within the scope of criminal law. This research theme is examined from a legal-dogmatic and social-scientific perspective.

In this project the already developed parcel based historical GIS (HISGIS) for the Dutch province of Friesland (Frisia) will be extended with a series of crucial datasets and map layers.

What does the excavated material tell us about the continuation and/or change of urban life during the transitional phrases from Antiquity to the Middle Ages on Crete and in the eastern Mediterranean more generally?

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2021, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

Studying the impact of urbanisation on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations (1200-1850 CE).

This thesis explored the molecular pharmacological mechanisms of targeting CB2R via investigation of novel drug discovery concepts such as target binding kinetics, allosteric modulation and biased signaling.

Promotores: Prof. Dr. Th.J.C. van Berkel, Prof. Dr. M. van Eck

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.F.A Kersten, Prof dr. J.A. Bouwstra

This thesis focuses on data found in the field of computational drug discovery. New insight can be obtained by applying machine learning in various ways and in a variety of domains. Two studies delved into the application of proteochemometrics (PCM), a machine learning technique that can be used to…

Light obscuration (LO) is the current standard technique for subvisible particle analysis in the quality control of parenterally administered drugs, including therapeutic proteins.

Cardiovascular diseases are still a major concern for the global health.

The effectiveness of the skin barrier underlies the outer layer of the skin: the stratum corneum (SC). However, in several skin diseases this barrier is impaired. In two inflammatory skin diseases, atopic eczema and Netherton syndrome, an increased level of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) has been…

High throughput microscopy

Drug-target binding kinetics determine the time course of the central event in pharmacotherapy: Drug-target interaction.

Oxidation is a common degradation pathway that affects therapeutic proteins and peptides during production, purification, formulation, transportation, storage and handling of solid and liquid preparations. In the present work we review the scientific literature about structural and biological consequences…

Pericytes, the mural cells of blood microvessels, are important regulators of vascular morphogenesis and function that have been postulated to mechanically control microvascular diameter through as yet unknown mechanisms.

Lipid signaling is an essential biological event/process in a plethora of pathophysiological conditions. The underlying idea of this thesis is that many of the roles and the complex interplay of the individual signaling lipids in inflammatory processes and related conditions in health and disease is…

The objective is to develop in vitro antigen degradation assays in order to mimic the fate of the antigen in vivo.

With an emphasis on developing novel miktoarm star polymers termed PeptoMiktoStars, this thesis leverages asymmetric polymeric polypept(o)ide frameworks to advance their effectiveness in delivering hydrophobic drugs and nucleic acids.

In this thesis, we aim to shed light on the diverse and often opposing roles of integrin α3β1 in cancer.

Projects within the theme ‘Computational Biology’ aim to employ mathematical or computational dynamical modelling approaches to discover novel concepts that are important for drug development.

Atopic eczema is a skin disease with increasing incidence currently affecting 25% of the paediatric population. In atopic eczema the skin barrier function is reduced. This barrier is formed by the outermost layer of the skin called the stratum corneum (SC). The SC consists of terminally differentiated…

In this thesis, we developed new ways to use a technique called electroextraction (EE) to extract charged molecules from one liquid into another using an electric field.

This thesis describes the importance of being able to control the selectivity of potential drug candidates.

The predication of the effect (efficiency and toxicity) of a drug in a patient is very important in (i) clinical decision support and (ii) the development of novel drug treatments.

Another research line is the development of a spatial CNS drug distribution model, by ultimately including the 3-dimensional anatomical organization of the CNS.

We are developing biology-driven platforms to measure metabolites based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), gas chromatography-MS (GC-MS), and capillary electrophoresis-MS (CE-MS).

The predication of the effect (efficiency and toxicity) of a drug in a patient is very important in (i) clinical decision support and (ii) the development of novel drug treatments. We apply our technology and methods to find biomarkers for key disease pathways and toxicity in clinical studies and in…

Main challenges in skin vaccination are overcoming the stratum corneum (SC) barrier and targeting the antigen presenting cells (APC) in the epidermis and the dermis.

The aim of this research area is to be able to predict human drug response on the basis of mathematical models that are developed using preclinical experiments and prior knowledge.

Appropriate animal models for intradermal vaccine delivery are scarce. Given the high similarity of their skin anatomy to that of humans, minipigs may be a suitable model for dermal vaccine delivery.

Mechanisms fro drug resistance

Promotor: Prof.dr. W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: A. Kros

Vaccination is the most effective method to prevent influenza infection. However, current influenza vaccines have several limitations. Relatively long production times, limited vaccine capacity, moderate efficacy in certain populations and lack of cross-reactivity are important issues that need to be…

The ideas underlying this thesis are that lipidomics may improve the diagnosis of liver metabolic diseases, and can provide further insights into the underlying pathophysiology of these diseases.

Promotores: Prof.dr. C.A.J. Knibbe, Prof.dr. D. Tibboel (EMC, R’dam)

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water, Co-promotor: E.H.J. Danen

The aim of current study was to develop a dried inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) formulation with minimal loss during the drying process and improved stability when compared with the conventional liquid IPV.

Aluminium-based adjuvants, such as aluminium hydroxide and aluminium phosphate, are well-known for their immune-stimulating properties.

Despite being the second largest transmembrane protein family after GPCRs, the SLC superfamily has only gained significant attention in early drug development over the past decade.

Source: J Med Chem, Volume 57, Issue 8, pp. 3213-22 (2014)

Formulation of biopharmaceuticals

Promotor: A.P.IJzerman Co-promotor: A. Bender

Explaining treatment response variability between and within patients can support treatment and dosing optimization, to improve treatment of individual patients.