Dr. Luc Derijks

Luc Derijks is a hospital pharmacist-clinical pharmacologist and residency supervisor in Hospital Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology at Máxima MC. In addition, he serves as Assistant Professor at the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Toxicology of Maastricht UMC+ and is affiliated with NUTRIM, Maastricht University.

In 2005, he obtained his PhD from the University of Amsterdam for his research on strategies to optimize thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease. For this work, he received several awards, including the Dissertation Award of the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy.

His research focuses on the individualization of (complex) pharmacological treatments for a wide range of diseases and conditions, with a particular emphasis on patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). His work encompasses the rediscovery of thioguanine, pharmacogenetics of immunosuppressive therapies, precision dosing of monoclonal antibodies, remote monitoring, and the positioning of IBD medications using prediction models and real-world data. The overarching goal is to improve the effectiveness, safety, and cost-efficiency of IBD treatment through personalized pharmacotherapy. He supervises PhD candidates, researchers, and students, and collaborates closely with partners including Maastricht UMC+, Maastricht University/NUTRIM, Eindhoven University of Technology, and various clinical and technical research partners.
 

Participations, projects and additional duties:

• Infliximab SWITCH study
• Retrospective validation of clinical decision support tools for predicting outcomes in patients with IBD treated with vedolizumab

Current research projects:

• Drug discovery: thioguanine in IBD
• Applied pharmacogenetics in IBD
• Precision dosing of monoconal antibodies in IBD
• Anti-TNF biosensor point-of-care testing
• Prediction of drug respons in IBD
• Biosimilars in IBD