The development, regulation, and usage of medicines has become a critical area of scientific reflection and research. Over the last decades, pharmaceutical development and regulation have become increasingly responsive to medical needs, clinical practice, patient voices, and society in general. There is a great need for scientific underpinning of drug regulatory interventions and how these interventions affect patient outcomes, public health and innovation. 

This chair will especially lead assessing the performance of the regulatory system itself, including the assessment and evaluation of intended and unintended effects. You will address research questions in the field of new complex therapeutic interventions, which besides biopharmaceuticals entail advanced therapy medicinal products and other precision treatments. Because of their complexity, the ‘regulatory density’ increases for such therapeutic interventions leading to new and understudied regulatory challenges. These challenges encompass among others adaptive pathways, the role of HTA in bringing these products in a more sustained way to the clinic, biomarkers for targeted therapies, and platforms for real world evidence.

As a full professor Drug Regulatory Science at one of the most renowned drug regulatory research centers globally, you will be strengthening and further developing the internationally recognized line of research in Drug Regulatory Science at Utrecht University in connection with the other 2 centers in the division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Faculty of Science.

As a team leader, you will be a fundamental connection between the groups of the research institute, the department, and the faculty. Your energy and passion for this research field will strengthen the division’s impact and reputation - both within the Netherlands and internationally.

As a passionate educator, you will play a key role in contributing to the master Drug Innovation programme and in the Bachelor's and Master's Pharmacy programmes, the College for Pharmaceutical Sciences, and other relevant programmes at the Utrecht University.

You will train and coach (international) PhD candidates and early career scientists - people who in time will occupy important roles in pharmaceutical science related fields.

To excel in this role, you will need a PhD degree backed up by an excellent scientific reputation, interest in academic teaching and the ability to inspire and lead a scientific group.

You will also draw on:

• your ability to make the fundamental connection between science and society in the field of drug regulatory science;
• your successful track record in obtaining external funding;
• your extensive experience (preferably) and existing network in drug regulation at a regulatory agency and/or policy environment;
• your enthusiasm for mentoring and coaching future scientists and policy makers;
• your potential to take formal responsibility for curricula within the domain of drug regulatory science;
• your clear vision for future research, development of the discipline and education directions;
• your collaborative and innovating personality.

• salary at the Full Professor level (H-2: €5,582 – €8,127);
• availability of and access to relevant data, including PHARMO, CPRD and WHO UMC data;
• support in terms of data management, data storage and statistical analysis;
• opportunities for relevant funding organizations as EU (Horizon 2020 IMI, ERC, ITN) and governmental agencies, such as CBG-MEB, ZIN;
• a fascinating array of high profile research and teaching activities with direct and indirect links to basic, applied and translational science related to medicine use and drug innovation;
• a warm work environment and a network of bright and ambitious minds.

In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions. More information about working at Utrecht University can be found here.

The chair ‘Drug Regulatory Science’ will be based at the division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Faculty of Science. There are strong relations with other chairs within the Division, especially Pharmacy and Global Health, Pharmacoepidemiologic Methods, Pharmaceutical Care, and Clinical Pharmacy. The Chair will be embedded in one of the three research centers within the division, i.e. the WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation. There are close collaborations with the other two centres (Pharmacoepidemiology, Clinical Therapeutics).  

Since you will be embedded in the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) you will be expected to make strong connections with all other divisions within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and add to the theme of Future medicines: advanced affordable biomolecular and cellular therapies. Interactions within UIPS can for example be fostered around biosimilars, animal free testing and ATMPs (multiple UIPS research groups). Considering UIPS as a major hub for pharmaceutical science within Utrecht Life Sciences, you will provide a unique opportunity to stimulate systems therapeutic thinking in the area of drug regulatory science, i.e. from the molecule to the patient.

The Chair will forge and maintain cross-cutting collaboration involving multidisciplinary teams, including also Innovation Science, Julius Centre Global Health, Veterinary Science (especially the Netherlands Centre for One Health) and in a broader context, the Utrecht University strategic themes Institutions for Open Societies and Sustainability.

Utrecht University  is a friendly and ambitious university at the heart of an ancient city. We love to welcome new scientists to our city - a thriving cultural hub that is consistently rated as one of the world’s happiest cities. We are renowned for our innovative interdisciplinary research and our emphasis on inspirational research and excellent education. We are equally well-known for our familiar atmosphere and the can-do mentality of our people. This fundamental connection attracts Researchers, Professors and PhD candidates from all over the globe, making both the University and the Faculty of Science a vibrant international community and wonderfully diverse.
 

At the Faculty of Science there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Physics. Within each department there are distinct institutes which focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. These institutes are further broken up into research groups.