Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of antimicrobials

Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is an enormous worldwide problem. Development of new classes of antibiotics has been an important weapon against this problem. However, strains start to emerge that are no longer susceptible to the currently used antibiotics and pose an increasing treatment problem.

Optimizing Antimicrobial Therapy
The PK/PD group performs pre-clinical research to investigate the most effective treatment optimizations for patients with difficult-to-treat, complex, and emerging antibiotic-resistant infections (‘precision medicine’). Support is provided to research institutes, large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises via contract research.

Aims of our research
Treatment optimization of bacterial infections using:

• New antimicrobial compounds
• Neglected and disused antibiotics
• Non-antibiotics
• Combinations

Research includes preclinical studies as well as mathematical modelling, to provide optimal doses in clinical studies.

Within the Erasmus MC, we closely collaborate with the department of Pharmacy (research in PK/PD, including analysis of PK samples and mathematical modelling of the data). Also, collaboration exists with clinical departments such as the ICU. 

Our group has solid collaborations with several (inter)national institutions. Examples are:

• Radboud UMC 
• University of Athens (Joseph Meletiadis)
• Université catholique de Louvain (Françoise Van Bambeke)
• Uppsala University (Lena Friberg)
• Université de Poitiers (William Couet)
• Bioaster Fondation de Cooperation Scientifique
• Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Infektionsforschun (Mark Brönstrup)
• North Bristol National Health Service Trust (Alasdair MacGowan)
• University of Liverpool (William Hope)
• Medizinische Universitaet Wien (Markus Zeitlinger)

• Anouk Muller, MD, PhD
• Sanne van den Berg, PhD
• Wendy Kloezen, MSc
• Aart van der Meijden, BSc
• Heleen van der Spek, BSc
• Marian ten Kate, BSc
• Merel Raaphorst, BSc
• Wil Goessens, PhD