Gerard JP van Westen is a distinguished Full Professor in AI & Medicinal Chemistry and serves as the group leader in Computational Drug Discovery at Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), a prestigious division of Leiden University. His primary research focuses on the application of both machine learning and structure-based methods in diverse projects, including GPCRs in cancer, resistance prediction (viral, biological, and agricultural), polypharmacology modeling, and allosteric modulation characterization. Previously, he held a postdoctoral Marie-Curie / COFUND fellowship at the European Molecular Biology Lab - European Bioinformatics Institute, working under the mentorship of John P. Overington, and obtained his PhD in proteochemometric modeling through a joint project with Janssen Pharmaceutica (Johnson and Johnson) and Leiden University.