Dr. Menno Hoekstra is Assistant Professor in Systems Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden University. His work focuses on the role of lipids in physiology and pathology to uncover novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of metabolic disorders such as fatty liver disease, diabetes, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Menno obtained his PhD from Leiden University for his thesis on the modulation of hepatic gene expression in the context of lipid metabolism. He subsequently established an independent line of research within the LACDR, supported by two Postdoc Grants from the Dutch Heart Foundation. Through these projects, he laid the foundation for the discovery that adrenal cholesterol uptake via scavenger receptor BI is of critical importance for glucocorticoid synthesis in both mice and humans.

In his research, Menno combines endocrinology, hepatology, and cardiovascular biology, with a particular interest in the roles of specific gene products, i.e. nuclear receptors and other transcriptional regulators, in metabolic homeostasis. He supervises PhD students working on related projects and is frequently involved in national and international scientific collaborations.

Alongside his academic research, Menno is actively involved in higher education. Through his dedication to teaching in both the BSc and MSc programs in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Master of Pharmacy at Leiden University, he aims to bridge fundamental pathophysiological insights, target discovery, and the education of the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists.