Dennis R.A. Mans

Dr. Dennis R.A. Mans grew up at Paramaribo, Suriname. He completed his secondary education in 1974 at Mr. J.C. de Miranda Lyceum in Paramaribo. He subsequently moved to The Netherlands to study Biology, and he graduated in 1984 as a Medical Biologist from the Sub faculty of Biology of the State University of Utrecht in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He worked as a junior scientist in the field of Biochemistry of Cardiovascular Diseases at the Institute of Cardiovascular Research in Leiden, The Netherlands, a division of the Netherlands Organization of Applied Scientific Research TNO for 1 year. He participated in research on the role of the enzyme squalene synthetase in the regulation of cholesterol metabolism. Mans received his PhD diploma in 1991 with the thesis ‘Mechanism of action of etoposide: a study at the cellular and molecular level’, a survey completed at the Department of Medical Oncology of the Free University Hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In 1992, Mans went to Brazil, where he was closely involved in setting up the South-American Office for Anticancer drug Development (SOAD) in Porto Alegre (RS), and the Integrated Center for Cancer Research (CINCAN) in Canoas (RS). Both the SOAD and the CINCAN are specialized in the development of novel anti neoplastic agents from natural (in particular Amazon) sources. He held the position of Head of the Preclinical Units of both institutions until the year 2000. During that period, he (co-)authored a number of scientific papers in the field of cancer research and plant-derived medicinal substances, and (co-)supervised several PhD and MSc thesis. Mans was in 2001 selected to become Head of the Department of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medical Sciences. He became Associate Professor in 2006 at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, and was in 2008 appointed Full Professor with a chair in ‘Pharmacology, with special attention to plants with medicinal properties’ at that same institution. He held his inaugural address in 2009 on the subject ‘From forest to pharmacy. Bringing traditional medicine into the 21st century.’ Currently, he coordinates scientific research on medicinal plants with angiogenesis-interfering properties and potential efficacy against cardiovascular, neoplastic, diabetic, chronic obstructive pulmonary, and infectious diseases. He also supervises PhD, MSc, and BSc candidates in these areas. Thus far, his scientific production amounts to more than 70 full papers and approximately 200 congress presentations.