Last month, our students organized the first Sustainable Drug Discovery (S-DISCO) Days in Gdańsk, Poland. This yearly international scientific conference aims to raise awareness and expand the knowledge on sustainability in drug discovery for students, scientists and experts from various institutions and industries. We would like to thank the students for the perfect organization, the […]
Kevin
May 9th is Europe Day
Today is Europe Day! On 9 May every year we celebrate peace and unity in Europe. How will you celebrate the occasion?
Proposal major revision of EU pharmaceutical legislation
End of April, the European Commission has released its proposal for major change in the human pharmaceutical legislation, undoubtedly making the system more sustainable. One of the key changes is the importance of the environmental risk assessment (ERA), in line with the European Green Deal. The ERA rightfully now becomes a possible reason for not […]
First round: 672 applications received
During the first round of applications for the academic year of 2023-2024, 672 valid applications were received for our Master in Sustainable Drug Discovery (SDISCO) programme requesting an EMJM scholarship. These applications are now being thoroughly evaluated. Each applicant will receive their result before the end of this month if they are selected for the […]
Environment-functionality-cost balance of an analytical reagent
In our recent publication green chemistry principles were applied to the preparation of an analytical reagent. The functionality and cost-efficiency were included to evaluate sustainability. A Derringer desirability function was used to obtain a sustainability score. Replacing acetonitrile by ethanol resulted in the most sustainable reagent. Other factors were of less influence on the total […]
FDA Modernization Act 2.0
With the introduction of the FDA modernization act 2.0, animal testing in drug development is no longer an absolute requirement in the US. Is this a step forward to more sustainable drug development?
S-DISCO guest lectures during the first semester
In the first semester, the S-DISCO students had the pleasure to follow several guest lectures during the courses. In the course ‘Pharmaceuticals in the Environment’, prof. Adrian Covaci (University of Antwerp) talked about the wastewater-based epidemiology of psychoactive compounds, thereby combining multiple disciplines for this study. For the course ‘Sustainable Landscape of Pharmaceutical Discovery’, 3 […]
COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference
The ubiquitous presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment contributes to biodiversity threats. Their presence and bioactivity in plants, invertebrates, (soil)microorganisms, fish and other vertebrates may influence the genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Novel and global approaches are urgently needed to cope with the historical pollution and minimize future contaminations. UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), 7 […]
S-DISCO encourages ‘learning by doing’
The S-DISCO programme challenges students beyond just lectures. In the spirit of learning by doing, students explore how plants and animals react to environmental exposure to pharmaceuticals during practical exercises. Sounds interesting? Apply for the programme today!
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW)
We need to apply a One Health approach to cope with antimicrobial resistance: all sectors must actively be involved in strengthening preventive measures. This includes development and access to safe vaccines, rational use of antimicrobials, sound antimicrobials waste management and discovery of novel targets to develop safer medicines. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is celebrated […]
