Harry Struyker Boudier

Harry Struijker Boudier is a cardiovascular pharmacologist and academic. He is an emeritus professor of Pharmacology at Maastricht University.

Struijker Boudier's research has been focused in the areas of cardiovascular disease, pharmacological science, and pharmacotherapy. He has received the Saavan Zwanenberg Honorary Prize, an honorary doctorate from the University of Liège, Belgium, and Prix Descartes-Huygens from the French Académie des Sciences. He was also appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau of the Dutch Royal House in 2010.

Education Struijker Boudier completed his graduation in Pharmacochemistry and Biochemistry and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology from the Radboud University Nijmegen in 1973 and 1975, respectively.

Career At the University of Maastricht Medical School, Struijker Boudier held the role of professor of Experimental Pharmacology and chaired the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He was also designated as a scientific director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht.

Research During his early research studies, Struijker Boudier highlighted the vascular origin of hypertension, in particular at the level of the microcirculation. In a later follow-up, together with Le Noble and Levy, he showed that VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) inhibitors cause hypertension. His research also highlighted that dysfunctional microcirculation is a key shared mechanism that induces diabetes and hypertension.

Together with Kool and Van Bortel, Struijker Boudier documented that smoking, even one cigarette, increases arterial stiffness and augments the risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. In another collaborative study, he emphasized that arterial aging is not uniform; muscular arteries change less with age, whereas central arteries stiffen significantly. Furthermore, he examined the clinical implications of arterial stiffness, specifically its role in predicting cardiovascular diseases. In addition, he discussed appropriate assessment methods for arterial stiffness, emphasizing the shift to more direct measures, such as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index.

Awards and honors 2001 – Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Liège, Belgium 2002 – Descartes-Huygens Prize, French Académie des Sciences 2010 – Officer, Order of Orange-Nassau of the Royal Dutch House

Selected articles