"Halfway through my Pharmacy studies, I realized that I didn't want to be a pharmacist. I'm curious by nature and like to investigate. These qualities came together during my internship at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, where we used mathematical models to describe and predict how a particular medicine behaves in the body. I ended up doing my PhD research here and was involved in multiple studies. In one of these, I investigated how we can translate scientific data from mouse models to humans. This involves more than just a difference in body size, which meant that I could make use of my interest in mathematics.
Another part of my research involved exploring whether it is safe for babies to drink breast milk while their mother receives chemotherapy. Although it seems like the concentration of most chemotherapies is low enough after a few days, we still recommend people to be careful until we have more data. Pharmacometrics, the combination of pharmacy and mathematics, left me wanting more. I started working for Pharmetheus in January. This Swedish company develops mathematical models for the pharmaceutical industry to ensure the safety and efficacy of medicines."
David will defend his thesis on March 28.
prof. dr. A.D.R. (Alwin) Huitema & prof. dr. J.H. (Jos) Beijnen
T.P.C. (Thomas) Dorlo