Research in this group, headed by Gerard van Westen, focusses on computational methods integrated in different parts of the drug discovery process. More specifically, topics include innovative treatments for cancer, selectivity modeling, translational research, allosteric modulation, drug resistance…

In the research programme Drug Discovery & Safety, we are interested in the efficacy and safety of new drugs and novel means to decipher these aspects. Hence, we employ advanced imaging and high-throughput screening techniques next to computational approaches such as chem- and bioinformatics.

We cover the entire spectrum from target identification to the evaluation of the efficacy and safety of novel medicines in clinical practice.

We are interested in the efficacy and safety of new drugs and novel means to decipher these aspects. Hence, we employ advanced imaging and high-throughput screening techniques next to computational approaches such as chem- and bioinformatics.

The master's specialisation Drug Discovery and Safety at Leiden University provides students with research-oriented education into the discovery of new drug targets and new lead molecules, particularly in the field of cancer, through a combination of advanced imaging techniques (‘systems microscopy’),…

In this research group, headed by Prof. Erik Danen, the aim is to unravel cellular signaling mechanisms in normal and diseased cells, with a long-standing interest in cell adhesion signaling. In complex multicellular organisms such as ourselves, a division of labor emerges where different tissues and…

We focus on a better understanding of the mechanisms of cancer drug resistance and metastasis.

In the last decades, activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) has emerged as a powerful chemical tool that may aid the ever-challenging drug discovery process.

The Data-Driven Drug Discovery Network (D4N) is an initiative by researchers from Leiden University and collaborators to join efforts in applying and developing novel techniques from data science to drug discovery and related topics from bioinformatics. The network is embedded in the Leiden Centre of…

Supervisor: Indira Nederpelt

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

Source: ChemMedChem (2015)

Data analysis with Python and R are rapidly becoming essential skills for modern scientists. Therefore, we are offering courses to develop your scientific computing skills. Those courses are optional for LACDR PhD candidates.

Supervisor: Lizi Xia

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

Chemical biology research at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry is aimed at understanding biological processes at the molecular level to strengthen the knowledge base of human health and disease. The approach to achieve this goal is a fundamental chemical one; with the aid of chemical probes biological…

Promotor: Prof.dr. R. Verpoorte, , Co-Promotor: Young Hae Choi

In the research programme Microbial Sciences we perform state-of-the-art research in the field of biotechnology and microbial sciences.

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

Can zebrafish provide a fast, sensitive in vivo vertebrate model for identifying novel mechanisms of Ewing sarcoma progression and for development of new anticancer compounds in a time- and cost-effective manner?

How do macrophages and neutrophils contribute to metastatic onset?

During the course of drug discovery translational steps are made.

The cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2R) is associated with several inflammatory diseases with an unmet medical need (e.g. Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, reumatoid arthritis). Development of new chemical biology strategies to study this protein is essential to aid future development of drugs for these…

Can drugs that target host signaling pathways be used to eradicate antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

The main aim of this thesis was to unravel the signaling and regulatory networks that drive tumor cell migration during breast cancer metastasis.

Establishing human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) CRISPR-Cas9-based fluorescent reporter cell lines for NF-kB signalling. We will use this to enable studying the dynamic activation and downstream signalling of Toll-like receptor and cytokine signalling in iPSC-derived differentiated cells in a…

How can data science be used to discover new medicines? This was the central question of the LCDS meeting on data driven drug discovery on Friday, 10 June 2016.

Can drug screening for tuberculosis treatment be made more efficient?

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

A combination of two potential drugs gives hope of a 'super blockage' of an over-active immune system, Leiden researchers report in Nature. The breakthrough came from the crystallisation of a membrane protein.

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

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

Laura Heitman has been awarded a VIDI grant for her innovative drug research. Heitman strives to optimize a drug’s binding kinetics at its target in order to ultimately fight diseases effectively. She even pleads for a paradigm shift in drug discovery.

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.

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

In this thesis, the discovery and optimization is described of chemical tools to study the N-acylethanolamine (NAE) biosynthetic pathway.

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?

Rob van Wijk gave an interview on the role of zebrafish in drug discovery and development, published in FIGON’s journal Medicines as a preview of LACDR’s representation at the PhD competition during the Dutch Medicines Days (DMD). The entire interview can be read below.

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 18, pages 82–84 (2019). The implications of target saturation for the use of drug–target residence time Wilbert de Witte, Meindert Danhof, Piet van der Graaf, and Elizabeth de Lange

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.

On Wednesday the 4th of September, Queen Máxima opened the renovated tropical greenhouse complex of the Leiden Hortus Botanicus. At the occasion Máxima met with IBL-PhD student Mahin Ghorbani from Iran and talked with her about her work on drug discovery from Iranian medicinal plants using zebrafish…

Discovery of metastasis promoting candidate drug targets

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

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.’