As an analytical chemist and biochemist and as a senior research scientist I contribute to the quality of research by developing accurate and validated methods, which I view as fundamental in the field of research. Biochemical markers that accurately diagnose and reflect the severity and progression of diseases in patients and their response to treatment are urgently needed. For this reason I dedicated my scientific career to explore novel biomarker hypotheses through improved Liquid Chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method development to optimize treatment for patients. During the years that I am working in the field of mass spectrometry, I set-up more than 20 assays, of which six biomarkers are used for several diseases in diagnostic settings. Furthermore, I have worked in a Pharmaceutical and Clinical Toxicological Laboratory on therapeutic drug monitoring and a Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine on diagnostic and therapy.

Lines of research: For many years, my research focuses on characterization of glycosphingolipid metabolism in health and disease with emphasis on the detection and accurate quantitation of known and formerly unknown glycosphingolipids. I developed sensitive mass spectrometric assays with important applications for lysosomal storage disorders and essentially contributed to the discovery of novel metabolites with proven and potential important implications.

Recently, I have shifted my focus to tryptophan metabolites as potential biomarkers for diagnoses and treatment of several diseases. I developed an innovative LC-MS/MS platform aimed to study these biological pathways driving disease. The method is already applied successfully to several conditions, e.g., studies in pregnant women and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. The success of this platform resulted into my own research group in the field of tryptophan metabolites of which I’m the Principal Investigator. I collaborate among others with the Department of Internal Medicine of Erasmus MC on stress and inflammatory biomarkers with focus on corticosteroids in human scalp hair.

My work has contributed over the years to the acquisition of research grants (among others ERC AdG CHEMBIOSPHIN) for patient related studies and service contracts with third parties such as international clinical colleagues and the companies Sanofi-Genzyme and Shire.

Management: I set up and organized mass spectrometry units, with responsibility for apparatus, design and development of standard operating procedures for standardized measurements at Academic Medical Center (AMC) and Leiden University.

Education & supervision: I act as supervisor of 15 students and 16 PhD students (2 as co-promotor) and research technicians. I developed and presented the course modules ‘Neuroendocrine Tumors’ and ‘Tryptophan Metabolism (Kynurenine pathway)’.