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.

How can the development of constrictions in the blood vessels be reversed?

Our Division has created and maintains the Visualisation Core Facilities of the LACDR. This is a multi-user facility offering basic and advanced microscopic techniques to scientists of the LACDR.

M. Danhof, Co-promotor: O.E. Della Pasqua

Our research is aimed at a smoother and speedier transition from preclinical research to pharmacological interventions, and the delivery of drugs in the human body by use of small molecules and biologics.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the pathogen causing tuberculosis (TB), is the leader among all pathogens responsible for the most human deaths today and it is considered as one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. There is an increasing occurrence of multidrug-resistant and even totally drug-resistant…

How can you use robots and automatic recognition of microscopic images to test the effect of drugs exceptionally quickly?

What is the role of cell wall-deficiency in the persistence of tuberculosis?

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

There is an urgent need for more physiologically relevant cell culture methods to guide compound selection in pre-clinical stages of the drug development pipeline.

With the powerful electron microscopes at NeCEN we study abnormalities in cells of blood vessels in cardiovascular disease, the interaction between pathogens and hosts in infectious diseases, molecular processes that cause cancer and the interaction between drugs and target proteins. Drug development…

From nanoparticles to colliding ice planets and from biological origami to new x-ray scanner techniques: this year again, our scientists have made wonderful discoveries. From the largest numbers to the smallest molecules and from the oldest galaxies up to the latest algorithms, take a look at each institute's…

A main goal of MSBB research is to address the major bottle-necks in combatting viral diseases: the lack of experimental models that are representative of human pathology and are cost effective and versatile. Viral diseases such as those that cause viral hemorrhagic syndromes or severe acute respiratory…

Source: Br. J. Pharmacol., Volume 172, Issue 3, pp. 940-55 (2015)

Promotor: C.A.M.J.J. van den Hondel, Co-promotor: Sandra de Weert

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

Development of Comprehensive and High-throughput metabolomics techniques and Clinical applications of (pharmaco)metabolomics

The Translational Immuno-Pharmacology group works on translating the efficacy of anti-infective therapy from preclinical (e.g. in vivo) to clinical, and is led by Rob van Wijk. Infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, are in constant need of new therapies that work better, faster, and with less risk…

Key publications of the Cancer Drug Target Discovery group

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?

On this page you can find information about previous CCLS events.

Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center have joined the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH), further strengthening the academic network in which such problems as antimicrobial resistance are studied.

No, this isn’t about a Star Wars Alliance that wants to suppress The Resistance. Rather, the EPIC Alliance brings together scientific experts from seven countries to address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Leiden professor Nathaniel Martin is part of the 11-member consortium.

Researchers at Leiden University have made a breakthrough in the study of the hereditary Pompe disease. Together with colleagues in York, they have developed a molecule that binds to the enzyme that is key to the progress of the disease. The findings have been published in ACS Central Science.

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.

We know this, but we don’t act on it: eat healthily, move more, address our stress levels and sleep well. Internist and Professor of Diabetology Hanno Pijl is fascinated by the effect that a healthy lifestyle can have on health. He researches how this lifestyle is achievable and satisfying, for patients…

How can zebrafish research help to understand and fight human cancer?

Unraveling the immune-suppressive actions of drugs like prednisone.

We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

The recognition that there may be more, so-called allosteric binding sites on a given receptor has also fueled our synthetic efforts. Over the last few years we have focused on many drug targets (adenosine A1, A2A and A3 receptors, the mGlu2 receptor and a classic ‘anti-target’, the hERG channel) to…

Many of the challenges of our time are too complex to be resolved within the confines of a single discipline. Leiden University is a broad-based university where an incredible number of research fields converge. That makes us the ideal breeding ground for, and practitioners of, interdisciplinary research…

Currently, several successful vaccines are available. However, for pathogens with a highly variable genetic composition, and for which serum IgG antibodies are not a useful correlate of protection, effective vaccines are yet to be developed.

Can we make a better vancomycin?

An overview of our infrastructure at the SPP division:

We have developed a microfluidic platform for complex 3D organotypic cell cultures (so-called organ-on-a-chip systems) which are suited for integration in 96 or higher well plate format.

The imaging group focuses on bio-imaging, image analysis and visualization.

This thesis represents a comprehensive investigation into the control of cancer stemness and metastatic initiation using a combination of advanced zebrafish xenograft models and in vitro assays.

Bioactive Molecules is one of the four research themes of the Institute of Biology Leiden.

The currently available in vitro generated human skin equivalents resemble the human skin in many aspects. However, some essential barrier characteristics do not fully mimic the native barrier. Consequently, the human skin equivalents cannot be used for screening of drugs for skin penetration.

In what way can new tools and techniques be used to develop drug candidates for the treatment of neurological disorders?

With the rise of multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens, the possibility of a post-antibiotic world is quickly becoming reality.

For her bachelor’s thesis, Molecular Science and Technology student Madouc Bergers synthesized her own molecule that can inhibit the breakdown of sugars. Although most students do not even manage to make one building block, Madouc made three. Partly because of this, she has been nominated for the Science…

How can Staphylococcus aureus bacteria subvert the host immune system?

In this research group, led by Dr. Joost Beltman, the aim is to employ mathematical and computational dynamical modelling approaches in order to quantitatively and mechanistically understand the dynamical behaviour and regulation of intracellular networks of genes, proteins and metabolites as well as…

Do you recall all those drugs that were hastily proposed as potential treatments for COVID-19? In the event of a future pandemic, the goal is to offer an effective treatment more quickly and efficiently. To achieve this, a team led by Coen van Hasselt is developing a platform that can speed up the process…

The fact that scientists are increasingly better able to access molecular cell and tissue data also brings with it a new challenge: how can scientists find the information they need for research among the vast amount of data available?

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