Marie Louise (Marieke) De Bruin, professor in Drug Regulatory Science at Utrecht University, the Netherlands and scientific director of the Utrecht Centre for Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation.
I was trained as a pharmacist (Utrecht University) and epidemiologist (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and have combined academic research with working for the regulatory authorities since 2008, both nationally (Pharmacovigilance expert for the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board 2008-2016) and internationally (European Commission appointed independent Scientific Expert of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), at the European Medicines Agency 2012-2018). I have a strong background in epidemiology, was member of the steering group of the European Network of Centers for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance (ENCePP 2017-2019) and have applied quantitative methods from epidemiology to study regulatory science research questions. Working as a regulator has given me theoretical training about and hands-on experience in the functioning of the regulatory system. I have wide experience in leading public-private as well as academic research collaborations, nationally, at EU level and globally.
My personal motivation to engage in Drug Regulatory Science is to benefit public health, which originates from my training as a health care professional. With my research, I want to improve the drug regulatory system, by systematically studying its structure and behaviour as well as designing new tools to facilitate regulatory decision-making. Through improvement of the drug regulatory system, I aim to contribute to an improvement of the health of the society.