Iwan de Esch

Prof. Iwan de Esch is a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences at VU University Amsterdam, leading the Drug Design & Synthesis division and serving as Head of Department. He holds dual appointments in the Faculty of Science and AIMMS (Amsterdam Institute for Molecular and Life Sciences). His research focuses on understanding molecular interactions for drug discovery, employing CADD and FBDD approaches. He co-founded three biotech companies (De Novo Pharmaceuticals, IOTA Pharmaceuticals, Griffin Discoveries) and coordinates the EU-funded FRAGNET network.

• PhD from VU University (1998)
• Postdoc at University of Cambridge (Drug Design Group)
• Recipient of the 2011 Galenus Research Prize
• Received grants from EU-FP7, IMI, and Dutch STW

Research interests span fragment-based drug design, receptor-ligand interactions, and pre-clinical drug candidate development. His work impacts GPCRs, PDEs, kinases, and protein-protein interactions. He teaches courses on drug discovery methodologies and computational tools. Over 200 peer-reviewed publications and 8 datasets/software contributions highlight his impactful career.