Toxys, Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center have agreed immediately to commercialise and also develop further the ToxProfiler technology invented at the two institutions. ToxProfiler allows for rapid toxicity hazard identification of novel and existing drugs, chemicals, and other substances.…

How can we prevent drug-induced liver and kidney damage? PhD candidates Marije Niemeijer and Lukas Wijaya investigated what happens in the cells during the onset of this damage: a stress response. Both focused on a different subtopic and made some interesting discoveries.

An overview of research themes and projects at MAC

An overview of research themes and projects at ABS.

Our educational programmes span the entire spectrum of pharmaceutical education, from training of the next generation drug researchers in the areas of drug design, drug action, and drug use to educating the pharmacists of the future.

Developing computational algorithms for structural biology -A high resolution, three dimensional view of a molecule provides detailed information that help elucidate its function: by knowing the exact arrangement of atoms in a molecule, we can understand disease, develop drugs to combat them and improve…

Microneedle-based vaccination has several advantages over vaccination by using conventional hypodermic needles.

The master’s specialisation BioTherapeutics at Leiden University is a two-year programme which trains students in research in specific drug delivery techniques. The programme also examines the development of new therapeutic approaches to treat immune-based disorders, such as atherosclerosis, metabolic…

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.

There are eight institutes at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences:

PhD candidate Dennis Wander searches for the best of both worlds. That is to say: a cancer drug that is effective and also has minimal side effects. To this end, he makes new molecules inspired by two existing medicines. And not without result: ‘We have created a new variant that is very promising.’…

LED3 is the combined effort of three excellent institutes of Leiden University. Through joined hands, we are able to give rise to a more effective early drug discovery pipeline. Let us briefly introduce the three institutes.

We are committed to provide you with meaningful, rigorous and quality graduate experiences in a personalized environment with a cutting edge research infrastructure and internationally renowned supervisors.

Light can be used to apply forces on single cells. Focused lasers have been used by physicists to tweeze particles and to manipulate them. These so called “optical tweezers” can be used as mechanical phenotyping tools for characterising the mechanics of materials and living objects.

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?

The IBL represents the core of modern biological research at Leiden and we interact closely with the other life science Partner Institutes in the faculty:

From black holes to artificial intelligence and from drug research to data science: welcome to the fascinating world of the Faculty of Science. Our researchers, students and guests regularly give public lectures about their work. You are welcome to attend.

Promotor: Prof.dr. A.P. IJzerman, Co-Promotor: L.H. Heitman

Research at the SBC group is comprised of the following research themes:

The need for novel drugs as well as innovations in their development and application is as urgent as ever. Below we present our vision , mission, and our key research areas.

Drugs-related violence in Mexico is similar in terms of dynamics and strategy to the IS hybrid war in the West. This is the claim made by Teun Voeten. PhD defence 20 September.

Global healthcare is on the verge of an antibiotic availability crisis as bacteria have evolved resistance to nearly all known antibacterials. Identifying new antibiotics that operate via novel modes-of-action is therefore of high priority.

In health care, artificial intelligence is quite normal: it is used, for example, as an aid in making diagnoses. However, artificial intelligence is not yet used as much in drug development. A new prestigious partnership is therefore going to investigate how artificial intelligence can contribute to…

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

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson

The aim of this project is to explore the use of statistical interaction models to quantify cross-omics and omics-drug interactions in large-scale clinical and experimental datasets

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

The LACDR represents the core of bio-pharmaceutical research at Leiden University, and we interact closely with our partners:

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

Promotores: A.P. IJzerman, H.W.T. van Vlijmen

According to the LUMC, patients experience 30% fewer serious side effects when medication doses are tailored to their DNA.

The two-years master’s specialisation System Biomedicine and Pharmacology at Leiden university focuses on predicting drug response with computational modelling, developing individualised therapies, and developing innovative analytical tools for personalised health strategies.

Physics and Engineering Approaches to Biomedicine and Pharmacology

The CIGR brings together a diverse range of unique expertise in genome research rooted in biology, chemistry and physics. Members of the CIGR investigate genome folding and genome transactions. An important aspect is direct as well as long term relevance for medicine.

An important hormone excreting gland in the human body is the pituitary

Do medicines arrive in the right amount at the right spot in our brain? By making a model that depicts our brain in small 'brain blocks', Esmée Vendel tries to find an answer to this question. Her new, mathematical model predicts the concentration of medicines in the brain over time and space. Vendel…

LACDR, the Leiden Institute for Drug Research, developed better tolerated excipients to prevent adverse effects related to the surface of nanosized drugs such as vaccines. LADCR professor of Biopharmacy Matthias Barz and Polypeptide Therapeutic Solutions (PTS) are collaborating to develop processes…

Promotor: M. Danhof, Co-promotores: J. Freijer, A. Yassen

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…

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. A. Bouwstra, Prof.dr. W. Jiskoot

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

The Department of Medical Microbiology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is researching antiviral drugs that could treat and prevent SARS-CoV-2 in various projects. One part of the PanCoroNed project is being led by Martijn van Hemert and involves lab tests into the antiviral effect of molecules…

Prof. Elizabeth de Lange is concerned with the allocation of resources for the conduct of science towards the goal of best serving the public interest. Also, while she underscores that there is still the need for using animals in drug research, she is concerned about this use, and advocates the use…

Chemist Tobias Bauer discovered ways to improve drugs by encapsulating them. Packages with iron nanoparticles, for example, can stimulate immune cells. Bauer will receive his PhD on 9 June.

Science, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR)

With cancer, a person’s body cells grow uncontrollably. Putting together a detailed picture of how this comes about makes it possible to develop efficient therapies. Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and Leiden University are working together to gain a better understanding…