YS Committee

Chairman
Dr. Frank Theodor Peters, Jena, Germany
(frank.peters@med.uni-jena.de)

Vice Chair
Denise Anne McKeown, London, UK
(dmckeown@sgul.ac.uk)

Web editor
Dr. Sarah Wille, Brussels, Belgium    (sarah.wille@just.fgov.be)

Mailing list coordinator
Asma Djabri, Bath, UK
(a.djabri@bath.ac.uk)

Committee members

Dr. Reinier Van Hest, Den Haag, The Netherlands (r.vanhest@ahz.nl )

Christoph Sauer, Jena Germany (christoph.sauer@med.uni-jena.de)

Jennifer Button, London, UK     (jbutton@sgul.ac.uk)

Susannah Davies, London, UK   (sdavies@sgul.ac.uk)

Frank Saint-Marcoux, Limoges, France (franck.saint-marcoux@unilim.fr)

Get to know the YS committee

Dr. Frank Theodor Peters, Chairman

I was born in Germany’s oldest city, Trier, in 1971. After finishing my studies of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany and a year of practical training, I obtained the licence to practice as a pharmacist in 1998. I then started working as a research assistant, PhD student, and clinical toxicologist at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Toxicology of Saarland University in Homburg, Germany. After finishing my PhD in 2003, I worked in the same department as a post-doc and Deputy Head of Department until the end of 2008. Since January 2009, I have been working as Head of Forensic and Clinical Toxicology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena.

My main research interests are biotechnological synthesis of drug metabolites using heterologously expressed human cytochrome P450 enzymes expressed in fission yeast, (enantioselective) analysis of amphetamines and new designer drugs in blood samples, analysis of sedating drugs in the context of declaration of brain death, evaluation and comparison of screening procedures for systematic toxicological analysis, metabolism of drugs and poisons, and, last but no least, experimental designs and statistical procedures for analytical method validation. I am author or co-author of quite a number of peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. My first IATDMCT meeting was in Basel in 2003 and I also attended the meetings in Louisville 2005 and Nice 2007. In early 2005, I had the honour and pleasure to travel to Hong Kong to speak at the joint meeting of HKSCC and IATDMCT. During the meeting in Louisville I was appointed Chairman of the newly established IATDMCT Young Scientists. Besides IATDMCT, I am a member of TIAFT (and secretary of its already well-established Young Scientist Committee), GTFCh, and DPhG.

My hobbies are spending time with my family, travelling, good food and drink, reading, and just having a good time with friends.

Denise Anne McKeown, Secretary

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1978. I graduated in 2002, from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, with an MSci in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry. Since December 2002, I have worked in Prof David W. Holts group, at St George’s - University of London, pursing my interest in analytical chemistry.

I specialise in the development and validation of hyphenated chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods for the qualitative and quantitative detection of drugs, their metabolites and endogenous compounds for application in the areas of clinical (TDM of immunosuppressives and antiretrovirals, clinical trials) and forensic toxicology. I have contributed to several peer-reviewed publications and a book chapter, and wrote a section for The Encyclopaedia of Mass Spectrometry - hyphenated methods.

My interest in the society stemmed from assisting Prof Holt in organising speakers and the programme for the Basel 2003 Pre-Congress Symposium. I attended the Kentucky 2005 Congress where I presented a poster and made friends. After the establishment of the IATDMCT Young Scientist group I soon took on the role as YS secretary. The Nice 2007 was a busy congress ranging from organising YS events, presenting, chairing poster sessions and participating in a panel for assessing best TDM oral and poster presentations. Since September 2007, I have taken on the role as the Associate Editor of the IATDMCT Compass. As well as being a member of the IATDMCT, I am also a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, TIAFT and the London Toxicology Group.

I enjoy living in London, such a vibrant city with lots of history, museums and architecture to appreciate, and socialising with friends. I like to travel to new places and experience different cultures. I enjoy keeping fit and especially enjoy skiing.

I was born and raised in Algeria until I was 17. I undertook an international Baccalaureate exam in year 2000 where I was ranked one of the top 60 students over the country. I then pursuit a 4-year Master Degree in Pharmacy at Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath in the United Kingdom after which I enrolled in a PhD research programme. My research interest involves exploring the feasibility of using the transdermal interstitial fluid as an alternative matrix for therapeutic drug monitoring. Part of my PhD research resulted in an EU patent application which is pending approval. My first IATDMCT meeting was in Sept 2007 in Nice (France) and I enjoyed every second of it and I made many friends!!! Now, I have joined the YS committee hoping to make a difference to the young scientists down there!!
I enjoy walking, reading, and watching TV!!

Dr. Reinier Van Hest, Committee member

I was born on September 6th 1977 in the city of Leiden, The Netherlands. I studied Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Utrecht. After obtaining my PharmD degree in 2003, I started to work as a PhD-student on the individualization of mycophenolate mofetil therapy in renal transplant recipients at the Department of Hospital Pharmacy & Clinical Pharmacology at the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Part of this project was rewarded with an International Young Investigator Award at the American Transplant Congress 2005. I obtained my PhD degree in January 2007.

I trained to become a Hospital Pharmacist at the same institution, which will be finalized on the 1st March 2009. During this time my main research fields were pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetics of immunosuppressant drugs used in solid organ transplant recipients and in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. The main aim of my research was to identify tools that can guide drug dosing on an individual basis for optimal outcome of therapy, using population PK/PD modelling. Furthermore, I’m interested in how to rationally apply therapeutic drug monitoring of immunosuppressant drugs and I have a general interest in clinical toxicology.

From March 2009 onwards, I will work for the Apotheek Haagse Ziekenhuizen, which is an organisation that provides pharmaceutical care in its broadest sense for the region, The Hague, in The Netherlands. I will work as a Clinical Pharmacist for one of the hospitals in The Hague, namely the HagaZiekenhuis. In addition, I will work on the training and education of nurses and pharmacy technicians in the HagaZiekenhuis. Finally, I will perform research in the field of population pharmacokinetics, mainly focusing on immunosuppressive drugs.

My hobbies include running, philosophy and architecture, but the thing I like to do most is cycling, including reading and watching everything that is written or broadcast about it.

Christoph Sauer, Committee member

I was born in Halberstadt belonging to Germany’s former eastern part, in 1979. After finishing my studies of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina in Braunschweig, Germany and a year of practical training both in industry and pharmacy I obtained the licence to practice as a pharmacist in January 2003. I then started working as a research assistant, PhD student, and clinical toxicologist at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Toxicology of Saarland University in Homburg, Germany. Since January 2008, I have been working at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Department of Clinical and Forensic Toxicology, of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany. My main research interests are the metabolism of designer drugs, their cytochrome P450 enzyme pathway and their detection in urine by GC-MS and LC-MS. At the moment I am working on LC-DAD method development for neuroleptics and benzodiazepines. I am the author or co-author of papers published in JMS, JocA and TDM. My first IATDMCT meeting I attended was in Nice 2007, where I gave an oral presentation. I also attended the TIAFT meeting in Seoul 2005 (oral presentation), the MDO congress in Budapest 2006 (poster) and the GTFCH meeting in Mosbach (Germany) in 2004 and 2007 (both oral presentations). My hobbies are everything about music, playing the piano and the guitar, I also enjoy dancing. Being in Jena, I now have a lot of opportunities to enjoy the beautiful countryside in this area and the historical and cultural variety.

Sarah Wille, Web Editor

I was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1979. My parents tried to keep me away from Ghent, by moving to various places in Belgium and even going to Indonesia for 6 years. However, it was all in vain and from 1997 to 2002, I studied Pharmacy at Ghent University. Thereafter, I started working as a research assistant at the Laboratory of Toxicology (Ghent University) under supervision of Prof. Willy Lambert, where I recently obtained my Ph.D. concerning the monitoring of new generation antidepressants in biological fluids with GC-MS. At the moment, I am working as a juridical expert for the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology in Brussels. I have already published several peer-reviewed publications and presented my work at IATDMCT and TIAFT (The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists) meetings. My first IATDMCT meeting was in Nice in 2007, and I hope more meetings will follow. Besides IATDMCT, I am a member of TIAFT and BLT (Toxicologists of Belgium and Luxembourg). My hobbies are back-packing around the world, playing the violin and having fun with my orchestra-fellows, knitting (yes, it is becoming popular again), and singing along with the radio while driving the car (if nobody is present: their ears!!).

Jennifer Button, Committee member 

I was born in London, England in 1979. After completing college in 1997 I joined the Analytical Unit, St George’s University of London, as a trainee technician. Since then I have progressed through the ranks and now head the busy Forensic Toxicology Section. Whilst post-mortem toxicology and the investigation of drug facilitated crimes is now my main focus, I have also actively been involved in the measurement of immunosuppresives and anti-arrhythmic drugs and the management of GLP compliant clinical drug trials. I am also deputy quality assurance officer for the Unit. I studied part time for a Degree in Biomedical Sciences, for which I achieved 1st class (Hons) in 2003. I was also awarded the Presidents prize from the Institute of Biomedical Science for outstanding achievement in the subject. Following my degree I studied for a post graduate diploma in Forensic Medical Science, which I obtained in October 2007. My first IATDMCT meeting was in Louisville in 2005 and I was lucky enough to also attend the 2007 meeting in Nice. In addition to the IATDMCT, I am a member of TIAFT, the Forensic Science Society, London Toxicology Group and the UK Forensic Toxicology Network (FTNet). Outside of work I am a practicing Christian and member of a proactive and charismatic evangelical church. Besides this I enjoy spending time with my young daughter, Calleigh, but also increasingly savour those child free evenings out with my husband.

Susannah Davies, Committee member

I am a bio analyst at the Analytical Unit at St Georges University of London, working with Prof David Holt. I have a BSc in Biomedical Science and MSc in Forensic Science and I am now specialising in clinical and forensic toxicology. Through additional work with John Ramsey, I have over four years experience in the analysis of illicit and general tablets, capsules and powders. I have published and presented on drug amnesty bins, as well other analyses conducted at the Analytical Unit. My main area of work at the Unit of forensic toxicology, clinical LC/MS/MS work and ensuring the laboratory is GLP compliant. 

Franck Saint-Marcoux, Committee member
Born in Brive La Gaillarde, France in 1976, I studied Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Clermont-Ferrand before moving to the University Hospital of Limoges, to join Pierre Marquet’s group in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. In 2000, I started work as a research assistant, then PhD student, to become a clinical chemist in Pharmacokinetic and Clinical Pharmacology.
I continued my studies at the University of Sciences, Lyon (France), where I obtained a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences, and a postgraduate academic degree in Analytical Chemistry. During this period, my research focused on the LC-MS methods for qualitative and quantitative detection of drugs, as applied in clinical and forensic toxicology. In particular, I specialised in the development of General Unknown Screening procedures.
Around this time, I became interested in a totally different field of research and started a PhD in pharmacokinetic modelling. This thesis was about dose adjustment of immunosuppressive drugs in transplantation which led me to gradually specialise in the design of PK tools useful for a routine activity of TDM, mainly IS, but also antibiotics or anticancer drugs. Using both locally-designed and world-renown PKpop packages, these tools allow the estimation of drug exposure indices using sparse individual data. Some of them have been implemented in an expert system for Bayesian dose adjustment that renders them accessible through a dedicated website. This project received an award at the 10th internal congress of the IATDCMT in 2007.
Outside of work, apart from my children and family, my main hobby is running and I frequently participate in marathons (as long as my legs put up with it!).