Honorary members
Honorary members
Our association has seven professors who may call themselves honorary members of L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius”. One of them holds the position of honorary president. Honorary members are extremely important to „Aesculapius”. They have actively devoted themselves to the association in the past and help the board whenever necessary. If contact persons are needed for the Afternoon Symposium, the Foreign Excursion or the Dies celebration, they are always willing to see if they know anyone who can help us. They are also always interested in what is going on within the association during the board's periodic visits.
Prof D.D. Breimer is the honorary president of L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius”. In 1985, the government felt that there were too many Pharmacy courses in the Netherlands, so the Pharmacy course in Leiden was abolished. To save the training in Leiden, Prof Dr Breimer founded the Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences course, namely in 1985. Partly because of him, the Vereeniging was able to continue to exist and we are extremely grateful to him for that. Prof Dr Breimer studied Pharmacy in Groningen and obtained his PhD in pharmacology cum laude at the University of Nijmegen in 1974. He delivered his inaugural lecture in October 1976 on the topic ‘Tailor-made pharmacotherapy’. From 2001 to 2007, he was Rector Magnificus of Leiden University and from 2005 to 2009 he was also chairman of the Executive Board. From 1992 to 2001, he was scientific director of the LACDR. Prof Breimer has received several honorary doctorates from Budapest, Navarra, London, Montreal, the University of Ghent, the University of Uppsala and Hoshi University in Tokyo, among others.
Since 1988, Prof Dr Breimer has also been a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2000, Prof Dr Breimer was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion and in 2007 Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau. He was also Scientific Secretary of the FIP from 1978 to 1989, co-founder of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS) and of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board of TU Delft from 2007 to 2017, member of the Board of Governors of KU Leuven from 2008 to 2018 and of the Governing Body of University College Cork from 2008 to 2016. If this list is not impressive enough, he was also chairman of the Supervisory Board of Life Sciences Partners in Amsterdam from 2003 to 2019, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Medicines Evaluation Board from 2013 to 2019 and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Museum Boerhaave from 2010 to 2018.
Prof G.J. Mulder has been an honorary member of L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius” since 2001. He studied Chemistry and obtained his PhD in 1973. On 29 March 1985, he delivered his inaugural lecture entitled: ‘Toxicology: from risk assessment to science’ and thus received his PhD in the field of toxicology. Professor Mulder has served as scientific director of the LACDR as well as programme director of BFW. In July 2015, Prof Mulder was appointed an honorary member of the Health Council of the Netherlands; in 1986, he participated in the Committee on Assessment of Carcinogenicity of Substances and he has been chairman of the Committee on Health and Occupational Exposure to Substances (GBBS) for no less than 15 years (from 1999 to 2014).
Prof Dr A.P. IJzerman was appointed an honorary member of L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius” on 5 April 2004. He studied Pharmacy in Utrecht and received his PhD from the Free University of Amsterdam in June 1985 with a topic on receptor research. He was appointed professor of Pharmacochemistry in 2001. Professor IJzerman has been chairman of the Federation for Innovative Medicines Research in the Netherlands (FIGON). He was also appointed secretary of Natural Sciences of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences (KHMW) in July 2015. Prof IJzerman was head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the LACDR until April 2021.
Prof Dr M. Danhof has been an honorary member der L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius” since 2006. Prof Dr Danhof studied Pharmacy at the University of Groningen and received his PhD in pharmacology from Leiden University in 1980. He worked at a top institute in the United States from 1980 to 1983. In April 1997, he delivered his oration entitled: ‘Pharmacology in mirror image’ and has been emeritus since March 2017. He also became a professor at LUMC in 2007. From 2005 to 2012, he was scientific director of the LACDR and also served as chairman of the LACDR Pharmacology Department for a long time. In 1998, he founded LAP&P Consultants BV. Since 2015, Prof Danhof has chaired the committee involved in organising the ‘6th FIP Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress 2017’ in Stockholm, Sweden. On 23 April 2014, Prof Danhof was appointed Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw (Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion) for his research into more efficient medicines.
Prof Dr A.F. Cohen has been an honorary member of L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius” since 10 June 2013. He studied Medicine and Pharmacy at Leiden University. In May 1986, he received his PhD with the topic: ‘The Human Pharmacology of Acrivastine and Lamotrigine’. Prof Cohen delivered his oration in 2011 entitled: ‘Clinical Pharmacology - between remedy and ailment’. He is co-founder and has been CEO of the Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR) for more than 25 years. In addition, Professor Cohen is editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Prof Dr H. Irth was appointed an honorary member of L.P.S.V. „Aesculapius” not long ago. Prof Dr H. Irth studied Environmental Technology at the Technical University in Berlin, after which he received a diploma as Diplom-Ingenieur in 1984. In 1989, he obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the Free University of Amsterdam. In 1991, he became an assistant professor at the LACDR. From 2010 to 2016, he was dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the Free University of Amsterdam. Since 2016, Prof Dr H. Irth has been scientific director of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) and professor of Biomolecular analysis.
Prof E.C.M de Lange has been an honorary member of L.P.S.V „Aesculapius” since 2024. Professor de Lange joined the BUEX to Portugal in the year 2024. She trained as a chemist at the University of Groningen and specialised in Biophysical Chemistry. Prof de Lange obtained her PhD in pharmacology at the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR). She is currently the principal investigator in the field of Predictive Pharmacology within the ‘Systems Pharmacology & Pharmacy’ division of the LACDR.
Prof M. van Eck has been an honorary member of L.P.S.V „Aesculapius” since 2024. Prof Van Eck joined the BUEX to Portugal in the year 2024. She studied Biopharmaceutical Sciences with a specialisation in Biopharmacy at Leiden University. After graduating in 1994, she obtained her PhD also from Leiden University in 1999. In 2001, Van Eck was appointed Research Fellow of the Dutch Heart Foundation. After which, in 2005, she received a prestigious VIDI grant and was appointed University Lecturer. 2 years later in 2007, Van Eck was appointed Established Investigator of the Dutch Heart Foundation and became a University Senior Lecturer. For her research on the role of macrophage genes in the development of atherosclerosis work, she twice received a Pfizer International HDL Research Award.
