Provide collaborators with what they need to do their job successfully.Seeking and establishing key partnerships (academic/industrial).Guide discovery stage R&D.Enable preclinical development of first-in-class APIs to limit progression of microtubule-related (MT) diseases in age-related conditions.Implementing effective project strategies, elaboration of work-plans with the team to ensure high work standards.www.mt-act.com

Basic entrepreneurial training for scientists.

Exploring the influence of tubulin modifications in health & disease; mechanistic characterisation and identification of therapeutic options.(Pharmacol Ther. 2021 Feb;218:107681).Institute of Human Genetics (IGH) / Genetics & Development Department

Unvealing the potential of NGS for developement of biomarkers.Strategic resource planning, use of state of the art technology, assay development and screening.(van der Laan et al. Drug Discov Today. 2017 Jul;22(7):1056-1063).

I implemented and optimised a protocol to generate neurons from pluropitent cells in controlled laboratory environment. This groundwork allowed me to study the multistep molecular processes governing neural commitment that occurs during embryogenesis. The path from pluripotent cells to neurons involves various transitions including the establishment of a G1/S checkpoint that safeguards genome integrity. I identified a molecular mechanism regulating the establishment of the G1/S DNA damage checkpoint during cellular differentiation.(Mol Cell, van der Laan et al. 2013; Nov 7;52(3):366-79). Institute of Human Genetics (IGH) / Molecular Bases of Human Diseases Department

My work aimed at contributing to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which glucocorticoids can mediate cell-specific effects in brain. Since distribution of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in brain cannot account for the cell-specific effects of glucocorticoids, I tested the hypothesis that coregulator proteins, enzymes that rearrange chromatin environment in proximity of transcribed genes, contribute to the tissue-specific effects of glucocorticoids.(van der Laan et al. Endocrinology. 2008 Feb;149(2):725-32).(van der Laan et al. Eur J Pharmacol. 2008 May 13;585(2-3):483-91).

I have studied the interaction between cortisol (considered to be the 'stress' hormone) and nicotine in the context of mental illnesses. Prevalence of tabacco consumption is higher among patients suffering from mental illnesses and current knowledge has no clear explanation for the observation. It is well accepted that smoking and ‘stress’ are intertwined however at a molecular basis the crosstalk between the molecular pathways remains poorly understood. The project was to determine if variations in cortisol levels alters binding of nicotine to its receptors and subsequent molecular pathways.

Freelance translator of patents for European validation procedures. English to Dutch translation of medical, technological and pharmaceutical patents for application in The Netherlands.