On the 6th of March 2023, Santino Regilme presented his work-in-progress titled 'Global Drug Wars: Contested Normative Orders of Peace, Security, and Human Rights'. If the battle against illegal drugs is construed as a war, how is victory in such a war defined and constructed? If the oppositional…

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

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.

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…

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…

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.

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

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

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…

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…

The LED3 hub, consisting of researchers from the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) and the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), is very excited to organize the “LED3 Lectures”. This lecture series brings world-leading researchers in the field of…

Science, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR)

An overview of research themes and projects at ABS.

International pharmaceuticals company Grünenthal is to open an innovation hub on the Leiden Bio Science Park. The hub will make it easier for scientists and drug developers to work together.

Can chemical safety assessment be improved with zebrafish embryo-based reporter assays?

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

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson

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

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…

In this project, we aim to develop mathematical models to mechanistically and quantitatively predict the dynamics of cellular stress pathway activation and its relation with toxic effects when cells are exposed to various toxicants.

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

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…

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

Can drug screening for tuberculosis treatment be made more efficient?

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer characterized by limited treatment options and unfavorable clinical outcomes. Therefore, the research described in this thesis focused on the exploration of novel targeted therapies for TNBC.

The Cognitive Psychology Unit has two main research lines, which focus on basic cognitive (neuro)science and applied cognitive psychology.

The mission in this division, headed by Laura Heitman, is to design and synthesize novel and better ligands for drug targets. Drug discovery is a lengthy but inspiring adventure. It is often an interplay between academic institutes and pharmaceutical industry, in which scientists at university develop…

How can we implement the technique of pharmacological resting-state fMRI to improve the diagnosis of dementia?

The Centre for Computational Life Sciences

The Faculty of Science is housed in various buildings situated in the Bio Science Park Leiden.

In the future, physicians may be able to identify dementia much earlier than they can today because a computer algorithm will be able to predict from brain scans how our memory is going to develop.

Promotor: B. van de Water

Enabling volume-restricted metabolomics using next-generation microscale analytical tools.

What distinguishes a tumour cell from a healthy cell? Researchers are trying to answer this question as precisely as possible. Certain differences could eventually lead to new therapies.

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.

More and more medicines are becoming available that target a tumour’s specific traits. The use of chemotherapy is continually undergoing improvement.

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

Physics and Engineering Approaches to Biomedicine and Pharmacology

What are the biological effects of Chinese herbal medicine in regulation of cancer cell metastasis?

In this research group, headed by Laura Heitman, novel receptor concepts in drug discovery are studied, aiming to increase the effectivity of medicines. Many drugs act via so-called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and therefore our research is mainly focused on understanding and improving drug-receptor…

Metal-containing molecules combine geometrical features and a reactivity that are inherently different from that of organic molecules. My research focuses on light-activatable metal-based anticancer drugs and metal-functionalized liposomes. Light is a very selective way to activate photosensitive drugs…

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?