Future Medicines Lecture Series

We are entering a new era of medicine

Gene editing, cell therapies and tissue engineering could revolutionize our health care system. But how can we get advanced bio-inspired therapies from bench to bedside?

The Future Medicine Lectures Series comprises five monthly seminars which will take place on Friday afternoons, if possible in the David de Wied Building, M2.01. Well-known scientists will present their research on topics covering the full range of advanced biomolecular and cellular therapies. With each seminar, we will focus on a certain checkpoint in the drug life cycle, starting with target discovery and the current state-of-art to clinical applications and future regulations of advanced therapeutic medicinal products.

The seminars offer a stimulating venue for students and researchers to exchange and broaden their scientific knowledge; everyone is cordially invited to join. Drinks afterwards are included! Please save these dates.

• Oct 20th, 2017 – "Glycoscience and Drug Discovery"
  • Speakers:
    • 15.00, Prof.dr. Herman Overkleeft, UL
      • Activity-based glycosidase profiling in biomedicine and biotechnology
    • 16.00, Prof.dr. Hans Aerts, LUMC
      • Glycosphingolipids in health and disease

• Nov 24th, 2017 – Discovery: “Advancements in the study of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders”
  • In this seminar, the speakers will discuss recent technical advances to study neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders.
  • Speakers:
    • 16.00, Dr. Maarten Altelaar, Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics division, UIPS
      • Advancement of high-resolution proteomics to study the dynamics of protein expression, synthesis and phosphorylation in neurodevelopment and neurological disorders
      • The proteome is a highly dynamic entity, especially in the face of signal transduction cascades regulating cellular responses, which take place on second to minute time scales. In neuronal processes such molecular signaling is essential for proper function, however highly challenging to study on a global scale. Here we describe several proteomics developments to study these transient neuronal processes in primary neuronal cell cultures and converted pluripotent stem cells.
    • 16.30, Dr. Massimiliano Caiazzo, Pharmaceutics division, UIPS
      • Generation of human models of neurodegenerative diseases
      • Neurodegenerative disease dynamics is still elusive, especially the first steps that trigger neurodegeneration. To date the only available human models consist of 2D neuronal cultures, which cannot represent the complex of etiopathogenic mechanisms. In my lecture, I will discuss what are the available techniques to model human nervous system and how to improve them to study neurodegeneration in the human brain.

• Jan 12th, 2018  – Preclinical: “Animal testing for human therapeutics?”
  • In this seminar, we will address problems involved in the preclinical studies to novel therapies, e.g. the inability to assess the safety profiles and efficacy of human proteins in animals. Which requirements should be met in preclinics before we apply advanced therapeutic medicinal products to humans
  • Speakers:
    • 12.15, Dr. Han van de Sandt (TNO)
      • Preclinical drug development and the need for modelling human (patho)physiology
    • 13.00, Dr. Mathieu Vinken (VU Brussel)
      • Liver-based in vitro models for pharmaco-toxicological testing

• Feb 9th, 2018 – Clinical: “Genes and cells in clinical trials  - where are we now?”
  • In this seminar, we will explore examples of gene and cell therapies that have found their way into clinical trials.
  • Speakers
    • 15.30. Prof.dr. Rob Houben (LUMC)
      • Human gene therapy: gene addition, gene editing and beyond
    • 16.15. Prof.dr. Jolanda de Vries (RadboudUMC)
      • Dendritic cell based vaccination against cancer: from hypothesis to daily practice

• April 6th, 2018 – Postclinical: “Hurdles in the regulation and reimbursement of innovative therapies: a case study" 
  • During this seminar, regulatory and HTA experts will reflect on the ambiguities encountered in the phase after the clinical development. In addition, a representative from the pharmaceutical industry will provide the industry’s perspective.
  • Speakers: to be announced

If you are interested, please sign up for lectures and/or updates by sending an email to science.fmf@uu.nl.