Promotor: M. Ubbink, Co-promotor: G. Siegal

Fungal infections pose a significant threat to individuals with compromised immune systems and despite advancements in diagnosis and treatment, they continue to jeopardize patient’s health.

Inactivating mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes predispose to several types of cancer.

Chemical-induced organ toxicity is a major concern in the development and use of chemicals, including drugs, pesticides, industrial chemicals and cosmetics. In the last decades, the onset and progression of chemical-induced organ toxicity has been linked amongst others to perturbation of mitochondri…

Particles are omnipresent in biopharmaceutical products. In protein-based therapeutics such particles are generally associated with impurities, either derived from the drug product itself (e.g. protein aggregates), or from extrinsic contaminations (e.g. cellulose fibers).

Growth and development affect the metabolism of drugs administered to neonates, infants, and children.

This thesis investigates a pharmacological challenge model induced by Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) activation, focusing on skin inflammation and its implications for early drug development.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body, makes treatments less effective. It is important to unravel the mechanism of metastasis.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is one of the main reasons for drug attrition during pre-clinical and clinical phases of drug development as well as for drug withdrawal post-marketing.

LIBC PUBLIEKSDAG 'DRUGS & THE BRAIN' (in Dutch)

Accurate prediction of the unbound drug concentration-time profile at the CNS target site is crucial for the assessment of the right drug concentration-effect relationship. PBPK models have supported the PK prediction of the CNS target sites and the translation of PK data between species and between…

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.

Combinatie van twee potentiële geneesmiddelen geeft zicht op een 'superblokkade' van een overactief immuunsysteem, schrijven Leidse wetenschappers in Nature. De doorbraak was het kristalliseren van het betrokken membraaneiwit.

In this thesis, we will utilize embryonic zebrafish tumour models to understand the interaction between engrafted human cancer cells and macrophages from the host, test drug administration modalities and anti-cancer efficacies of newly-developed PDT and PACT compounds, and test a light-triggered liposomal…

Promotor: B. vd Water, T. Schmidt, Co-Promotor: E.H.J. Danen

In de dermatologie zou op grote schaal multidisciplinair moeten worden samengewerkt tussen instituten en specialisten, stelt Robert Rissmann, hoogleraar Translationele Dermatologie, in zijn oratie van 8 juli. Hij bouwt een infrastructuur om pre-klinisch en klinisch huidonderzoek prominent op de kaart…

Na tientallen jaren waarin autocratieën in de meeste internationale organisaties werden gemarginaliseerd, hebben de opkomst van China, de steeds autocratischer wordende wending in Rusland en het toenemende belang van machten als hybride regimes geleid tot een nieuwe realiteit waarin diverse niet-liberale…

Computers worden steeds krachtiger en krijgen steeds ingewikkelder taken. Het Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) doet baanbrekend wetenschappelijk onderzoek en past nieuwe vindingen toe in actuele maatschappelijke vraagstukken.

Biotechbedrijf Toxys, de Universiteit Leiden en het Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum gaan samen de door hen ontwikkelde ToxProfiler-technologie op de markt. ToxProfiles maakt het mogelijk snel de potentiële giftigheid te bepalen van nieuwe en bestaande geneesmiddelen, chemicaliën en andere stoffen.…

In this thesis, we aimed to better understand the underlying mechanisms involved in TNBC progression and metastasis formation and discover new targets to reduce breast cancer related deaths.

The CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, is widely involved in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, no drugs for this receptor have made it to the pharmaceutical market yet.

According to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, accumulation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptides initiates the pathological cascade in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Acute cardiovascular syndromes, including myocardial infarction or stroke, are the principal cause of death in the Western society. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis, which is caused by the accumulation of lipids and inflammatory cells in the vessel wall, in…

Promotores: J. Jonkers, K.E. de Visser

Promotores: Prof.dr. M. Danhof, Prof.dr. D.R. Stanski

Antimicrobial drugs constitute a fundamental part of modern medicine. The global rise in antimicrobial resistance poses a major threat to global health.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), one of the largest families of membrane proteins, are responsive to a diverse set of physiological endogenous ligands including hormones and neurotransmitters.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, it is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and with a high financial burden on global healthcare systems. Bacterial infections are the primary cause of sepsis, but the growing prevalence of antimicrobial…

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water, Co-promotores: L.T.M. van der Ven, A.S. Kienhuis

Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease resulting in the formation of an arterial plaque. Despite lipid lowering, recurrent cardiovascular events remain a risk. While atherosclerosis is primarily lipid-driven, the immune system plays a critical role in the pathophysiology.

This thesis seeks to investigate how cancer-associated mutations affect the pharmacological properties of selected GPCRs—primarily A2AAR and 5-HT2CR—through a combination of ligand binding assays, signaling readouts, kinetic profiling, and cellular functional assays.

In this thesis, we focus on novel proteins/mechanisms that regulate integrin-adhesion mediated mechano-transduction.

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

This dissertation contains four works during my PhD. Different biomaterials have been designed based on coiled-coil peptides. These biomaterials have a range of applications, inclusing drug delivery, cell sorting to cell-cell fusion.

The research presented in this thesis explores the chemotherapeutic potential of metal-based compounds as chemotherapy agents, with an initial focus on the synthesis and DNA interaction studies of platinum and palladium compounds utilizing the [Pt(bapbpy)]2+ scaffold. The study identifies intercalation…

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

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

Patients share valuable advice and experiences with their peers in online patient discussion groups.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. Danhof, Co-promotor: O.E. Della Pasqua

Metastasis is responsible for over 90% of cancer-related deaths and arises from the ability of a small subset of tumor cells to detach from the primary tumor, overcome multiple biochemical and mechanical barriers, disseminate through the body, and colonize distant organs.

Per 1 november is Laura Heitman benoemd tot hoogleraar Moleculaire farmacologie bij het Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR). Heitman draagt bij aan de ontdekking van nieuwe geneesmiddelen door onderzoek naar de interactie tussen medicijnen en hun aangrijppunt in het lichaam. ’Mijn uiteindelijke…

Bio-farmaceuten kunnen vanaf nu modelcodes en datasets uit een databank opvragen om de dosering en het effect van nieuwe medicijnen beter te kunnen voorspellen.

Laura Heitman van het Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) is genomineerd voor de Prix Galien Research Award. Deze belangrijke farmaceutische prijs bekroont jonge, vooraanstaande onderzoekers wiens wetenschappelijk onderzoek van grote betekenis is voor fundamenteel of klinisch geneesmidd…

Current therapies for patients with atherosclerosis are targeted primarily on reducing blood cholesterol, but this fails to prevent a large number of cardiovascular events.95 In order to identify new therapeutic strategies for treating atherosclerosis, it is important to study the interactions between…

In this thesis, we describe the potential of cell mechanical phenotyping for immune cell characterization, diagnosis, drug testing, as well as treatment of disease.

Het doel van het onderzoeksprogramma Systems Pharmacology ligt in de ontwikkeling van strategieën voor gepersonaliseerde geneesmiddelen en de ontwikkeling van nieuwe systeemgebaseerde benaderingen in de translationele en klinische farmacologie.

Internist- klinisch farmacoloog Teun van Gelder is per 1 december 2019 benoemd tot Leidse hoogleraar Drug Discovery & Development. Hij zal zich bezighouden met het ontwikkelen van geneesmiddelen binnen de academische wereld, ook wel Academic Pharma genoemd.