The group of Professor Wim Jiskoot from the Division of Drug Delivery Technology focuses primarily on vaccine delivery and on protein formulation and characterization with respect to immunogenicity. Nanoparticle size and count is vital to this process and it has selected the NanoSight LM20 to aid their programs.

Prof.dr. Herman van Vlijmen from the Division of Medicinal Chemistry Leiden comments on the bases of his research into HIV inhibitors in an interview for the Leiden University Faculty of Science.

Dr. Laura Heitman of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry Leiden is this year's winner of the C.J. Kok People’s Choice Award and was named Discoverer of the Year 2009!

AIMMS (Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines and Systems) joins forces in basic molecular life sciences at the VU campus to reach fundamental breakthroughs in translational molecular medicine with emphasis on the integrated understanding of biological processes, systems, and networks as well as  the development of new drugs, therapeutics and diagnostics.

25 Years ago, the Center for Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences was founded at Leiden University; one year later, in 1985, the education program of Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences started. On Friday September 18th, this was celebrated with a Symposium, an anniversary booklet, and a grand party.

Just before the holidays, researchers of the division of Medical Pharmacology published a paper in PNAS in which they reveal an important factor in the brain’s response to stress (PNAS 2009,  106(19):8038-42).

In a publication in Science, Noam Zelcer from the Division of Biopharmaceutics describes a previously unrecognized pathway to regulate LDL-cholesterol levels. He is also able to modulate this pathway. This opens the possibility for complementing and improving the efficacy of statins: A class of drugs used to remove ‘bad cholesterol’ from the bloodstream.

The synergy between LACDR and the Leiden University Medical Center, as envisioned in LCTD3, already exists with regard to teaching: the course Hormones and the Nervous System has been elected 'Best Block' of the Biomedical Science curriculum 2009.  

Prof.Dr. Herman van Vlijmen was appointed as Professor of Computational Drug Discovery at the Division of Medicinal Chemistry in Leiden on April 15th, 2008. He will give his Inaugural Lecture on May 18th, 2009.

The LACDR Spring Symposium, organized in Amsterdam on May 7th, 2009, was a great succes!

There were presentations by Professor Kevin Park (University of Liverpool), Professor Amin Rostami-Hodjegan (University of Sheffield), and 10 LACDR PhDs! There was also a poster session where all LACDR PhDs were able to present their research. 

The LACDR Progress Report 2008 is now available! At the LACDR Spring Symposium on May 7th, 2009, it was presented by Professor Meindert Danhof.