Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection.
About the Presenter: Bie Verbist
Bie Verbiststudied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis.
Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection.
About the Presenter: Bie Verbist
Bie Verbiststudied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis.
Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection.
About the Presenter: Bie Verbist
Bie Verbiststudied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis.
Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection.
About the Presenter: Bie Verbist
Bie Verbiststudied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis.
Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection.
About the Presenter: Bie Verbist
Bie Verbiststudied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis.
Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection.
About the Presenter: Bie Verbist
Bie Verbiststudied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis.
Joint PSI/EFSPI Visualisation SIG 'Wonderful Wednesday' Webinars
Our monthly webinar explores examples of innovative data visualisations relevant to our day to day work. Each month a new dataset is provided from a clinical trial or other relevant example, and participants are invited to submit a graphic that communicates interesting and relevant characteristics of the data.
Topic: R Package Basics.
Our monthly webinar series allows attendees to gain practical knowledge and skills in open-source coding and tools, with a focus on applications in the pharmaceutical industry. This month’s session, “R Package Basics,” will introduce the fundamentals of working with R packages—covering how to install, load, and manage them effectively to support data analysis and reproducible research. The session will provide a solid starting point, clarify common misconceptions, and offer valuable resources for continued learning.
Date: Ongoing 6 month cycle beginning late April/early May 2026
Are you a member of PSI looking to further your career or help develop others - why not sign up to the PSI Mentoring scheme? You can expand your network, improve your leadership skills and learn from more senior colleagues in the industry.
PSI Book Club Lunch and Learn: Communicating with Clarity and Confidence
If you have read Ros Atkins’ book The Art of Explanation or want to listen to the BBC’s ‘Communicator in Chief’, you are invited to join the PSI Book Club Lunch and Learn, to discuss the content and application with the author, Ros Atkins. Having written the book within the context of the news industry, Ros is keen to hear how we have applied the ideas as statisticians within drug development and clinical trials. There will be dedicated time during the webinar to ASK THE AUTHOR any questions – don’t miss out on this exclusive PSI Book Club event!
Haven’t read the book yet? Pick up a copy today and join us.
Explanation - identifying and communicating what we want to say - is described as an art, in the title of his book. However, the creativity comes from Ros’ discernment in identifying and describing a clear step-by-step process to follow and practice. Readers can learn Ros’ rules, developed and polished throughout his career as a journalist, to help communicate complex written or spoken information clearly.
PSI Training Course: Effective Leadership – the keys to growing your leadership capabilities
This course will consist of three online half-day workshops. The first will be aimed at building trust, the backbone of leadership and a key to becoming effective. This is key to building a solid foundation.
The second will be on improving communication as a technical leader. This workshop will focus on communication strategies for different stakeholders and will involve tips on effective communication and how to develop the skills of active listening, coaching and what improv can teach us about good communication.
The final workshop will bring these two components together to help leaders become more influential. This will also focus on how to use Steven Covey’s 7-Habits, in particular Habits 4, 5 and 6, which are called the habits of communication.
The workshops will be interactive, allowing you to practice the concepts discussed. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion. There will also be reflective time where you can think about what you are learning and how you might experiment with it.