Willem Jespers

Dr. Willem Jespers is an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen, leading the Computer Aided Drug Discovery (CADD) group within the Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy (GRIP). He holds a faculty position in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, specializing in integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and physics-based methods to advance early-stage drug discovery. Jespers obtained his MSc cum laude from Leiden University and his PhD from Uppsala University, focusing on computational methods for ligand binding affinity prediction. He co-founded MODSIM Pharma AB, commercializing tools like QligFEP, a computational tool for structure-based drug discovery. His research emphasizes G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) pharmacology, molecular dynamics simulations, and AI-driven drug design.

Education: MSc Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences (Leiden University, 2016), PhD in Computational Chemistry (Uppsala University, 2020). Professional Experience: Postdoc at Galapagos NV, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, and currently tenured at Groningen. Research Interests: CADD, AI for drug discovery, GPCR modeling, free energy calculations, and oncology targets.

Publications (2021–2025) focus on computational methods for drug discovery, including AI-driven molecule design, GPCR dynamics, and free energy calculations. His work addresses challenges in membrane protein modeling, mutational impact on receptor pharmacology, and covalent ligand development. Collaborations span institutions like Leiden University, UC Irvine, and international conferences such as ICCS2025. The Jespers Lab actively mentors PhD students and researchers in drug discovery workflows and innovative computational tools.