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By Dennis Hesselink
For those of you who after (or during) a hard day’s work feel the need for some fresh air, I can recommend several parks. Contrary to popular belief, Rotterdam is a city with quite some green. Perhaps the most beautiful and the least well-known garden of the city is the Arboretum Trompenburg. This 150-year old garden is famous for its collection of oaks and beeches. It also harbors sequoia, cypress and gingko biloba trees. Take the subway to “Voorschoterlaan” and stroll for 15 minutes through the beautiful residential area of Kralingen (where the author unfortunately does not live) to get there. Alternatively, the garden can be reached easily by taking the tram (lines 21 or 7; get off at the stops “Woudestein” or “Erasmus University”). A visit can be combined with lunch at the neighboring restaurant “In den Rustwat” (which translates into “in the take a rest”), an inn dating from 1597.
 Just opposite the Doelen conference center and in the middle of Chinatown, there’s the Wijkpark Oude Westen (left). This park is best known for the statue of the Reus van Rotterdam (“the giant of Rotterdam”). This life-size statue depicts Rigardus Rijnhout who suffered from acromegaly and with his 238 cm (and 230 kg bodyweight and shoe size 62) was one of the tallest Dutchmen to have ever lived (admittedly, the tallest Dutchman was born in Amsterdam and was 3 cm taller).
Within walking distance from the conference venue, there’s the museum park which houses the museum Boijmans van Beuningen and the Kunsthal. The latter was designed by the famous and Rotterdam-born architect Rem Koolhaas. Unlike the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, you won’t have to que up and wait for hours to get into Boijmans and see the collection which includes works by Rembrandt, Dürer, van Gogh, Monet, Kandinsky, Dalí, Magritte, and Warhol. I can also recommend the exhibition “from Bosch to Bruegel” and “Keith Haring: The Political Line” which are currently on show in Boijmans and the Kunsthal, respectively.
For the romantics, I would advise to take a walk around the Veerhaven (right). Within walking distance from the congress venue, this area harbors many monumental buildings including the Jugendstil style building of the royal row and sailing society. From the quays of the Veerhaven one has the best view over the Maas river and the “Kop van Zuid” (a.k.a. little Manhattan). This area houses many restaurants and cafes, including my favorites Zeezout, Huson, the Michelin-star winning Wereldmuseum, Z&M , Zinc and La Stanza.
From the Veerhaven one can also take a “Watertaxi” for a spectacular ride over the river. Visit hotel New York on the south bank of the river. This building is the former headquarters of the Holland-America line. Millions of people left from its terminal to go to America in the early 20th century. Today it houses a hotel, N.Y.C. style barbershop, and a very nice grand café. A little upstream, and also reachable by watertaxi, is the stadium of Feijenoord, one of the three football clubs from Rotterdam. Unfortunately the team won’t be playing this week but for the true football aficionados there are tours on the holy ground (http://www.dekuip.nl/rondleiding-en-museum/algemeen-rondleidingen).
Delfshaven is one of the most ancient and original boroughs of Rotterdam. Founded in 1389 it became the harbor of the city of Delft only to be incorporated in Rotterdam in 1886. It is the birthplace of the admiral Piet Hein (who became famous for capturing a Spanish silver fleet in 1628) and the painter Kees van Dongen who later became a member of the group of artists called les fauves (the “wild beasts”) when in Paris. Delfshaven still has many historical and picturesque houses and buildings, including a typical (and active) Dutch windmill. Of special interest to our guests from the United States and the U.K. is the Pilgrims church originally built in 1417. It was from Delfshaven that the Pilgrim Fathers boarded their ship the “Speedwell” to sail for the New World. A plaque and stained glass window commemorates this event (www.pilgrimfatherschurch.org). Located next to the church is the Pilgrim beer brewery (www.pelgrimbier.nl). Taste the “fluid gold of Rotterdam” in the café-restaurant or have a drink in one of the other “brown cafes” in Delfshaven. Delfshaven can be reached easily by subway (Stop Delfshaven) or simply walk all the way down the Nieuwe Binnenweg, one of my favorite streets in town.
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TuP2 - Alcohol Use in Pregnant Women and Effects on the Child
TuP3 - PET-Imaging in Drug Development
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Edgar P Spencer
Franck Saint-Marcoux 
“A great deal of attention has been given to personalized cancer therapy in recent years, and there is a large clinical demand for individualized dosing and precision medicine. Scientific and clinical evidence is increasing to show monitoring of drug concentrations or genomic variations are useful for providing more efficacious and safer cancer therapy. Now, it is a time to make our society’s commitment to oncology.”
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