National Trip – PRA Health Sciences

On Friday April 21^st a group of around 20 students went to Groningen to visit PRA Health Sciences. We left Utrecht station at 10:30 by train. Once we arrived in Groningen, we ate our lunch and then our tour started. First, we got some general information about PRA Health Sciences. It is a company specialized in doing clinical research in humans. The doctors and researchers at PRA study the effects and possible side effects of new or improved drugs. The presentation also told about the general setup about early clinical drug development. Then, another presentation was given about the kind of people that work within PRA Health Sciences, and what they do. The last presentation was about Pain and the Brain; experimental models and new

Then, another presentation was given about the kind of people that work within PRA Health Sciences, and what they do. The last presentation was about Pain and the Brain; experimental models and new farmaca. This presentation was about how to make experimental models for pain, to test new anti-pain medication. All the presentations were very interesting, and even though a lot of the students that were present were from CPS or pharmaceutical sciences, it was interesting for everybody from every discipline. After the presentations, a tour of the facilities was given. The tour was very

After the presentations, a tour of the facilities was given. The tour was very extensive and included the clinic, the labs, and the pharmacy. In the clinic, different facilities for the research in humans are present. For example, “hospital”-like rooms for phase I trials (first trials done in humans, that need close supervision), but also hotel rooms and game rooms for the later trials. The labs were specialised in blood and urine testing, because this is of course taken from the participants multiple times a day to be analysed for the trials. It was very interesting to see that they had almost completely automated the analysis. The pharmacy is used to make the drugs that are tested.

After the tour, our trip ended. Overall, it was very nice to learn all the different aspects and the way people work at PRA Health Sciences. It was an interesting day, and a very nice national trip!