This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 956146.

Fritz Harder

AGePOP creates a unique opportunity for eleven young scientists to outgrow themselves within an international network and make a real impact on the life of so many. That is what makes this project so appealing.

AGePOP is the perfect opportunity to use my analytical experience, expand my horizon, and adapt to new challenges in an international environment to make a real impact on the life of elderly patients.

ESR 8: Intestinal drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes in older people and in geriatric patients with Alzheimer’s disease

Host institution: KU Leuven, Belgium
Supervisors: P. Augustijns (KULeuven), T. Vanuytsel (KULeuven), A. Lehmann (Merck; secondment)

Research project in AGePOP

The absorption of drugs from oral dosage forms is largely controlled by drug dissolution in the gastrointestinal contents and drug permeation through the intestinal epithelium. However, the influence of age and age-related diseases on these processes is poorly understood. The overall goal of this project is to generate information on drug and formulation behaviour in older people and geriatric patients, and on physiological characteristics of their gastrointestinal tract relevant to oral drug absorption. More specifically, the impact of advanced age and of Alzheimer’s disease will be explored.

Scientific background

Fritz Harder studied pharmacy at the University of Greifswald from 2015-2020. As a pharmacy intern, he was involved in the development and validation of a routine LC-MS/MS-based, therapeutic drug monitoring of antibiotics at the Institute of Pharmacology, Greifswald. As a result of this work, Harder obtained the degree Diplom Pharmacist in 2021. With the third state examination, he obtained the licence to practise as a pharmacist in December 2021.

About Fritz Harder

Fritz Harder was born in Dresden, a large city in eastern Germany. With most of his family working in the broad field of healthcare professions, he developed a natural curiosity for biomedical sciences from early childhood. This curiosity paved the way for him to study pharmacy, with a particular focus always on analytical chemistry and biopharmacy. As a pharmacy intern, Harder had the opportunity to participate in the complex and colourful world of bioanalytical method development, which reinforced his love for the profession. During this time, he acquired advanced knowledge of LC-MS/MS-based quantification of small molecules and had the opportunity to look over the shoulders of his colleagues working on LC-MS/MS-based proteomics.