The staff of the Centre

Below you will find a short biography of the staff members of the Utrecht WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmaceutical Policy Analysis.

Scientific Director: Hubert (Bert) Leufkens
Managing Director: Aukje Mantel-Teeuwisse
Research Associate: Joëlle Hoebert

WHO HQ members of staff

Richard Laing
Hans Hogerzeil

More information about the other members of staff of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy can be found here.

Hubert (Bert) Leufkens, PhD Bert obtained his PharmD and PhD degree from Utrecht University. In 1998 he was appointed as full professor in Pharmacoepidemiology at the same university. From 2003-2005 he has been the Scientific Director of the UIPS Institute for Drug Innovation. From 2006-2007 he has been Dean of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Starting August 2007 he will be the Chair of the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board. Moreover, Dr Leufkens is scientific director of the SIR Pharma Policy Institute in Leiden and active at several (inter)national platforms on pharmacoepidemiology (e.g. Past-President of ISPE, EMEA Pharmacovigilance Working Party). He is (co) author of > 250 papers in peer reviewed journals, book chapters and research reports. His key interests relevant for the Centre are pharmaceutical policy analysis, regulatory science, international health, risk assessment, public health, orphan drugs and scenario planning. -----top-----

Aukje Mantel-Teeuwisse, PhD Aukje was trained as a pharmacist at Utrecht University. She obtained her degree in 1998 and subsequently worked as a community pharmacist in Apotheek Tanthof, Delft. In February 1999, she started as a PhD student at the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy of the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Netherlands. She combined this position with a position as lecturer at the same division. In 2004 Aukje, obtained her PhD (thesis entiteld "Quality and safety of lipid-lowering drug use"). In February 2004 she was appointed assistant professor at the Division and has been working as a pharmacovigilance expert for the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board since June 2005. Her primary fields of interest are drug utilisation research, pharmacovigilance and pharmaceutical policy analysis. Aukje is the main contact point for the Utrecht WHO Collaborating Centre, responsible for the project management of the main activities of the Utrecht WHO Collaborating Centre including organisation of the Pharmaceutical Policy Analysis summer course. -----top-----

Anthonius (Ton) de Boer, MD Ton obtained his MD degree from the Free University in Amsterdam. After his graduation he was trained in Internal Medicine, followed by a PhD research and training period in clinical pharmacology and clinical epidemiology at Leiden University. In 2001 he was appointed as professor of pharmacotherapy at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Utrecht. He is the current director of the School of Pharmacy at Utrecht University. Dr de Boer is also at the Dutch Central Committee of Research Involving Human Subjects (the 'CCMO'), member of several editorial boards, member of the Scientific Council of the Dutch Drug Bulletin and of the Dutch Thrombosis Foundation and is part of the Committee on Pharmaceuticals (CFH) from the Dutch Healthcare Insurance board (CVZ). He is (co-author) of >200 peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and research reports. His key interests relevant for the Centre are evidence-based medicine, clinical pharmacology, and quality of pharmacotherapy and teaching methods. -----top-----

Liset van Dijk, PhD Liset was trained as a family sociologist at Wageningen University. She obtained her PhD-degree in sociology at Utrecht University. Liset was rewarded a TALENT-stipend by the Netherlands organization for scientific research (NWO) to become a visiting research fellow at the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan (1995). Afterwards she was a researcher and assistant professor of Sociology at Utrecht University and Wageningen University. From 1999 onwards Liset is employed at NIVEL, Netherlands institute for health services research in Utrecht, a WHO-collaborating centre for primary care. At NIVEL, she is research coordinator of pharmaceutical care. In 2007, she joined the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy at Utrecht University as adjunct faculty. Her main research interests include: drug utilization research, adherence to medication, international comparisons, and policy evaluation. Being trained as a family sociologist she is also interested in the role of the family in health care and drug utilization. Liset was secretary of the board of the Dutch Sociological Association (1998-2003) and member of the board of Public Health and Science (2004-2009). -----top-----

Eibert (Rob) Heerdink, PhD Rob is an Associate Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the Department of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. He initiated, designed and performed numerous pharmacoepidemiological studies. Previous work was mainly done in the cardiovascular area with an emphasis on congestive heart failure therapy. Current interests focus on psychopharmacology with ongoing studies on antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers. Much of this work is done using automated pharmacy medication databases linked to clinical outcomes (PHARMO), but also prospectively collected data as well as GP and hospital records. He is experienced in pharmacy-based intervention studies and has a special interest in (drug) compliance research. Dr Heerdink has published extensively on his studies in peer-reviewed journals. -----top-----

Jan Raaijmakers, PhD Appointed professor Pharmaceutical Technology Assessment at the faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, oktober 1998, Jan Raaijmakers started as a analist at the Department of Lung Diseases / Pulmonary Diseases at Utrecht University. Studying in the evening hours, he obtained his PhD on the study of receptors of the autonomus nervous system in the lung. Since 1988 he is employed at GlaxoSmithKline, the last five years as medical director and leader of the european Business Team Respiratory. Since january first 2001 appointed as Director Sience and Business Development. <-----top-----

Marie Helene Schutjens, PhD Marie Helene acquired a degree in Private Law from Utrecht University in 1985 and has been affiliated with the Molengraaff Institute of Private Law for a number of years. Her PhD thesis on Patents and Medicines (1993) was a breakthrough and scholarly piece of work in pharmaceutical law. Since 2000 she holds an extraordinary chair of pharmaceutical law at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Utrecht University. During the last decade Marie Helene has been legal advisor for a wide array of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical arena. In the framework of the Utrecht WHO Collaborating Centre, she also participates in international projects. She has extensive knowledge of the various aspects of pharmaceutical law and the regulatory environment and she has experiences with legislative processes and problems, both at a national and international level, also with regard to self regulation. Marie Helene has published on several relevant topics. She is amongst others a member of the editorial board of the specialized Dutch Journal on Pharmaceutical case-law and member of the board of the Dutch Scientific Association of Pharmacy and Law. -----top-----

Richard Laing, PhD Richard is a physician who worked at all levels for 18 years in the Ministry of Health Zimbabwe. After receiving post graduate degrees in public health and health policy he spent 13 years in Boston USA. He initially worked for an international consulting company establishing the International Network for the Rational Use of Drugs.
He was then a professor of international public health at Boston University School of Public Health before joining WHO in mid 2003 as a medical officer. He has served on a number of WHO expert committees. He has an extensive list of academic publications and is one of the editors and authors of the standard text Managing Drug Supply. At WHO, he is responsible for editing the Essential Drugs Monitor and for leading the Medicines Information and Evidence Policy team. He was one of the authors of the Priority Medicines for Europe and the World Report. He has been engaged in working on measurement of medicines pricing and availability as part of the joint WHO/HAI project on Medicine prices. -----top-----

Hans Hogerzeil, PhD Hans qualified as a medical doctor from Leiden University in the Netherlands and received a PhD in public health in 1984. For five years he was a mission doctor in India and Ghana and in 1985 he joined the WHO Action Programme of Essential Drugs, first in the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in Alexandria, and later in WHO´s Headquarters in Geneva. As a WHO member staff he has advised more than forty developing countries, especially in Africa and Asia, on the development of their national medicines policy, essential medicines list and essential medicines programme. In his current position as Director for Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies he is responsible for all WHO´s global policies, norms and standards on medicines as well as WHO´s technical support in the field of medicines, with support programmes in over 80 countries covering access to essential medicines, quality, and rational use. He chairs the Interagency Pharmaceutical Coordination Group which coordinates the pharmaceutical policies and programmes of all major UN agencies, the Global Fund and the World Bank. Hans is the editor of several WHO books on essential medicines policies, the quality of medicines, medicines in emergency situations and essential medicines for reproductive health. He has published over 50 scientific papers in peer/reviewed journals. In 1996 he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburg and in 1998 he received an honorary doctorate of Science from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. -----top-----