prof. dr. B.N. (Barbro) Melgert

Biography

Barbro Melgert studied Pharmacy at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands and graduated as Doctor of Pharmacy in 1994 (Cum Laude). She continued with research into liver fibrosis and the use of macrophage-specific drugs to intervene with this disease at the Department of Pharmacokinetics and Drug Delivery of that same university. In 2000 she successfully defended her PhD thesis called “Aiming at the cirrhotic liver: drug targeting in practice”. She moved to the Department of Pathology of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) for a postdoctoral position investigating the effects of smoking, and later the effects of gender, on the development of asthma. The sex differences in immunological responses caught her attention and she continued working on this topic at the Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh, USA from 2005-2007. Late 2006 she was awarded a Young Investigator Grant by the Dutch Asthma Foundation which enabled her to continue her work on sex differences in asthma at the Department of Pathology of the UMCG. During these studies she rediscovered her interest in macrophages, but this time in the context of sex differences and lung diseases. She is currently working as an associate professor at the Department of Molecular Pharmacology of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, studying innate immunity, including macrophage behavior, in lung diseases and its potential as therapeutic target. In this context she has a special interest in effects of indoor air pollution, such as microplastics exposure, and its effects on the lung.

Education

1995 – 2000 Ph.D., Dept. of Pharmacokinetics and Drug Targeting, University of Groningen, NL

1992 – 1994 Pharmacist license, University of Groningen, NL

1986 – 1992 M.Sc., Pharmacy/Biochemistry, University of Groningen, NL (cum laude, top 5%)

Postdoctoral Training

2009 – 2010 Div. of Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, NL

2007 – 2009 Dept. of Pathology, University Medical Center Groningen, NL

2005 – 2007 Div. of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, USA

2001 – 2005 Dept. of Pathology, University Medical Center Groningen, NL

2000 – 2001 Biomade Foundation, Groningen, NL

Academic Appointments

2023 - present Professor of Respiratory Immunology, Dept. of Molecular Pharmacology, University of Groningen, NL

2019 - 2023 Associate Professor, Dept. of Molecular Pharmacology, University of Groningen, NL

2015 – 2019 Associate Professor, Dept. of Pharmacokinetics, Toxicology and Targeting, University of Groningen, NL

2010 – 2015 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pharmacokinetics, Toxicology and Targeting, University of Groningen, NL

1994 – 1995 Research Assistant, Dept. of Social Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology, University of Groningen, NL