Miranda van Eck new Scientific Director of the LACDR institute
As of 1 September Miranda van Eck will be the new Scientific Director of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research. She succeeds Hubertus Irth, who led the institute since 2016. Van Eck has been appointed for a period of four years.
Miranda van Eck is professor of Cardiovascular and metabolic therapeutics. She studied and obtained her PhD in Leiden and for the past years she was Director of Education of the master Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences. She has received several awards for her research on atherosclerosis. She also founded RISE, the women’s network of science researchers in the Faculty of Science.
'Miranda is well known in the faculty'
Dean Jasper Knoester is pleased with the appointment. ‘Miranda knows the LACDR very well, enjoys broad support within the institute and has a lot of executive and organisational experience. In addition, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to the faculty community and in issues such as diversity and inclusion. As one of the founders of the RISE network for female staff, Miranda is well known, even beyond the LACDR.’
‘The director who had time for everyone’
Jasper also praises the enormous achievements of outgoing director Hubertus Irth. ‘Within the institute, Hubertus is revered as the director who made time for everyone and had an eye for all. He has calmly navigated the institute through numerous challenges for eight years. Hubertus has also made major contributions outside the LACDR: including serving as interim dean in 2019 and playing a key role in shaping the University's Knowledge Exchange Office, Luris. We are very grateful to him for all this. Hubertus is not retiring yet, and I expect that he will continue to contribute greatly to our faculty in the years to come.’