Looking back on the past year, we are proud of what has been achieved in collaboration with our clients and partners. It has been a challenging year, with the COVID-19 pandemic once again having a strong impact on planning — not only ours, but also that of our clients. However, by engaging in an open and constructive dialogue, we have managed to overcome many obstacles together. The dedication of our employees, many of whom had to work remotely for long periods, also deserves special mention: thanks to their efforts, we were able to maintain our high standards despite the inevitable setbacks due to the pandemic.
Continued scientific output
Our scientific output also remains at a high level both in quality and quantity, with 77 scientific publications and 6 PhD graduates in 2021. We are as committed as ever to our mission to develop people and cultivate talent, contributing to the training of doctors, scientific researchers and industry professionals. In the past year, four clinical pharmacologists completed their training at CHDR.
Further growth
As we emerge from the global pandemic, it’s also a time to regroup and look forward to the years ahead. In anticipation of further growth, we already expanded our internal clinical research unit capacity in 2020. Moreover, we are pleased to announce that in the coming years we will realise an additional clinical research unit on the premises of Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) with a capacity of eight beds. Not only will this facilitate our continued growth as an organisation, but it will also further strengthen the longstanding partnership between CHDR and the LUMC.
We are also expanding in terms of the scope of our activities. Dr Jacobus (‘Co’) Bosch has recently joined our organisation as Research Director for Oncology, tasked with building an Oncology research group and cultivating a network of collaborations in this area. Meanwhile, we are responding to the increasing demand for patient studies in early drug development by establishing new partnerships with large teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. And, as ever, we are driven to explore the benefits of novel technology for pharmacological research, from remote monitoring using wearable devices to the implementation of advanced measurement techniques.
Innovative methods and biomarkers
In this year’s Annual Report we celebrate the innovative methods developed and implemented by researchers at CHDR, in a series of spotlight articles placed throughout the book. As a foundation, we have the freedom to reinvest our revenues into cuttingedge research and development. Five years ago, we established a formal R&D fund, which has provided the springboard for most of the methods featured in these spotlight articles. Time and again, our clients have expressed their appreciation for the innovative and science-driven approach which inspires our efforts to develop and validate new methods and biomarkers.
Click here to open a virtual version of our Annual Report, or click here to download the PDF.
