Bouwstra was born on 2 December 1956 in
Hardenberg. She obtained her PhD at
Utrecht University in 1985, with a thesis titled: "Thermodynamic and structural investigations of binary systems". Since 1985 Bouwstra has been involved with the predecessor institutes of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research. In 2004 she became a professor of Drug administration at Leiden University. In 2005 named Bouwstra the
Simon Stevin Master 2005. In 2011 she won the CHANEL-CERIES Research Award. Bouwstra was elected a member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013. Bouwstra's research has focused on the administration of drugs through the human skin and the barrier role the skin has. ==References==