Nico P.E. Vermeulen (MSc in Chemistry (University of Nijmegen, NL, 1975) and a PhD in Pharmacology (University of Leiden, NL, 1980), was appointed professor of Molecular Toxicology in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPS) at VU University Amsterdam, in 1985.
Employment (selected):
1975 Staff-member at the Subfaculty of Pharmacy, Univ. of Leiden, Leiden, NL; 1980 Senior staff-member Center for Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences, Univ. of Leiden, Leiden; 1985 Professor of Molecular Toxicology, Section of Molecular Toxicology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, NL (www.moltox.chem.vu.nl ; 1985 - ); 1997 Dean Faculty of Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit (1997 - 2000); 2005 Scientific Director Leiden-Amsterdam Center for Drug Research (LACDR) (2005-‘11); 2010 Coordinator/ Manager IMI-SafeSciMET: ‘Modular Education and Training programme for Translational Safety Sciences for Medicines’ (2010 - ‘17); 2010 Head Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPS), Vrije Universiteit (2010 - ‘15); 2010 Director Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines & Systems, Vrije Universiteit (AIMMS, www.aimms.vu.nl ; 2010 - 2017). 2018 Emeritus professor Molecular Toxicology, Vrije Universiteit (2018 - ).
His general research interests are concerned with the roles molecular and computational toxicology can play in drug discovery, development and (human/environmental) safety assessment. More specifically, he is interested in toxication/detoxication mechanisms, in silico and in vitro prediction and screening of ADME-Tox properties, (biocatalytic) metabolite production and profiling and translational biomarkers of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The large majority of his research was externally funded, e.g. by Pure & Applied Science foundations, EU-grants and industrial collaborations.
He is author / co-author of more than 400 scientific publications in the fields of molecular toxicology / pharmacology, bioanalysis and medicinal chemistry. In 2010 and 2015, he was listed as highly-cited author at www.ISIhighlycited.com. WOS: # Citations 17114, H-index 57, Google Scholar: # Citations 30845, H-index 72.
He has been promotor/supervisor of > 60 PhD-students.
Selected professional activities:
** President-elect (2000-2001), President (2002 - 2003) and Past-president (2004 - 2005) of ISSX, the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics; ** Joint 19th Microsomes & Drug Oxidation (MDO) / 12th European ISSX meeting, 17-21 June, 2012, Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands (Chairman); ** Coordinator / Managing Entity IMI-JU programme SafeSciMET, a European Modular Education & Training Programme in Safety Sciences for Medicines (2010 – 2017);
** Editor / Editor in Chief of Environmental Toxicology & Pharmacology (1997 - / 2001 - 2017); ** Associate-editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology (2020 - ), Current Drug Metabolism (2007 -), Drug Metabolism Letters (2007 -) and Biomarkers (1996 - 2008); ** Member of Editorial Boards of: Biochem. Pharmacol., J Biomed. & Environm. Sci., Chem. & Biodiversity, Chemico-Biol. Interact., Chem. Res. Toxicol., Chirality, Drug Metab. Rev., Expert Opinions Drug Metab. & Toxicol., Toxicol. and Xenobiotica
He was/is a Member of several Scientific Advisory/Peer Review committees, e.g. Leuven/2016, Vienna/2018, Finnish Academy of Science/2018-2021, Croation Science Foundation/2020, EU-EDCMET (2020 - ), UAEU/2021, ESF/2020 - ), RCN-Norway (2022-’23).
Consultancy: He has long-term and substantial advisory experience in societal roles toxicology and drug disposition can play in drug discovery, drug development and (environmental/human) risk and safety assessment.
