The Early Career Network is meant to include not only scientists who are at the start of their career, but also mentors and hiring managers who are willing to share their experience and
serve as a resource for the next-generation of scientists. There are no age limits or requirements to participate. Public listing in this directory is optional as a member.
Niloofar Abolhasani Khaje
The University of Mississippi
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2020)
1e Interests: Proteomics, Protein Structure, LC-MS/MS Method Development, HRPF-MS
Niloofar Abolhasani Khaje is a PhD candidate in Pharmaceutical Sciences with an emphasis in Pharmacology from the University of Mississippi under Prof. Joshua Sharp’s supervision. She has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. She is passionate about developing new mass spectrometry-based methods for studying the structure-function relationships of biomolecules. She has developed novel methods for data collection of Hydroxyl Radical Protein Footprinting (HRPF) via Fast Photochemical Oxidation of Proteins (FPOP) that allow for more efficient collection and analysis of the resulting data. She accomplished this by developing an LC-MS/MS method that allows coelution of isomeric oxidized peptides, which don’t coelute under standard Reverse Phase (RP) LC-MS/MS methods, while separating different peptides. She also demonstrated that the coeluted isomeric peptides could be accurately quantitated using data-dependent acquisition methods instead of the time consuming data-independent methods that have to be used with RP methods. In collaboration with other members of the Sharp lab and labs across the country, Niloofar is developing methods to transform HRPF-FPOP MS into a structural technique. This requires adapting current methods in computational modeling to use HRPF-FPOP data to allow for structure determination of biomolecules that would be difficult using the standard X-ray crystallography, NMR, and cryo-EM methods.
Bill Clinton Aglomasa, Mphil Pharmaceutical microbioligy (2nd year), BSc. Biomedical Science
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research
Masters Student (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Bioinformatics, Programming, Drug discovery, Immunology and Molecular biology
Am Mphil student reading Pharmaceutical microbiology. I find bacteria interesting and always looking at how mutations in bacteria can be countered by drugs, particularly crude medicine.
Am also open to challenges in different fields that seeks to leverage on my knowledge to improve the world
PINAR AKKOR
Diagenode, EpiSyStem ITN
Doctoral Student
1e Interests: ChIP-MS
Norah Alghamdi, Ph.D.
University of Louisville Hospital.
Pathology Department
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry, toxicology, method development, LC-MS and GC-MS, ELISA
Norah Alghamdi is a clinical chemistry chief fellow at University of Louisville Hospital. She graduated from Cleveland State University with Ph.D. degree in Clinical Bio-Analytical Chemistry. Her clinical research interests focus on discovering biomarkers and developing rapid, accurate and cost-efficient diagnostic methods.
Ghaith Altawallbeh, M.Sc., Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Resident (expected transition in 2020), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Endocrinology, Serology, ELISA, LC/MSMS
Dr. Ghaith Altawallbeh is a Senior Clinical Chemistry Fellow at the University of Minnesota (UofM). Ghaith came to the U of M after completing his PhD in Clinical Bioanalytical Chemsitry at Cleveland State University and two postdocs at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. During his fellowship, he has been extremely productive. He published 4 first author manuscripts and is working on more. He presented three poster presentations related to his research projects at the 2019 AACC conference. He won many awards including the AACC Academy's Distinguished Abstract Award. Also, Ghaith recently passed the American Board of Clinical Chemistry Exams. Since March, Ghaith has been a member of the team developing COVID-19 antibody testing.
Nadia Ayala-Lopez, MLS (ASCP), PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical chemistry and hematology.
I am currently a clinical chemistry fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. My clinical chemistry fellowship started at Vanderbilt University Medical Center before transitioning to JH. I received a B.S degree in Clinical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where I began research in laboratory medicine and toxicology. Before returning to school to earn my PhD, I served as a medical laboratory scientist at Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington in Seattle, WA in the area of hematology and coagulation. My PhD is in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University, where my research was on the adipose tissue's adrenergic control of vasoconstriction. I completed a research postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University in Laboratory Medicine, where I studied RNA-methylation mechanisms of hematopoietic malignancies and completed collaborative research projects in clinical chemistry at the Yale New Haven Hospital on procalcitonin utility and establishing reference intervals.
Rebecca Bearden, BSc, MSc
Cleveland State University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Oncology, Biomarkers
I am a current PhD candidate in Clinical Bioanalytical Chemistry at Cleveland State University conducting research on colorectal cancer by DIA proteomics.
Nazmin Bithi, Bachelor's in Pharmacy
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute and Cleveland State University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry, Proteomics, Metabolomics, Bioinformatics, Biomarker study, Longevity, Glioblastoma, LC-MS/MS, Method development and validation
I am Nazmin Bithi. I am from Bangladesh and graduated from the University of Asia Pacific with a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy. Currently, I am a 4th year Ph.D. student in the ComACC-accredited doctoral clinical chemistry program at Cleveland State University (CSU), doing my doctoral research at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. My Ph.D. research is focused on the determination of endogenous hydrogen sulfide in different tissue and tissue-specific sulfhydration (post-translational modification of protein) along with their biological function under 50% dietary restriction in aged and glioblastoma model by using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. I am the chair of the student engagement committee of the Lerner graduate student association. I am looking forward to becoming a clinical chemistry fellow after my Ph.D. completion next year spring.
Nefeli Boni-Kazantzidou, BSc,MSc
University of Liverpool
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2023)
1e Interests: Mass spectrometry-based proteomics, Phospho-proteomics, Biological Mass spectrometry, Cancer Proteomics, Cancer resistance, Science communication
I am a North West Cancer Research-funded PhD student in the Centre for Proteome Research, Institute of Systems, Molecular & Integrative Biology of the University of Liverpool, supervised by Professors Claire and Patrick Eyers. I hold a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Molecular Biomedicine from the University of Athens, Greece. My PhD research is focused on deciphering the cellular targets of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in models of lung cancer using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. My specific research focus includes the investigation of signaling adaptation in models of cancer resistance to TKIs using quantitative phospho-proteomics techniques, trying to answer the question "in what ways do these cancer cells reprogram their signaling pathways in order to survive targeted therapies?" at the level of protein post-translational modification. Outside of the lab, I have a passion for science communication projects, and have worked as a science writer and web manager/editor.
Hafida Chekkouchi, Master
EMI/ UM5
Doctoral Student, Mentor (Ind)
Steven Conklin Lopez, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry
Steven E. Conklin Lopez received his B.S. in Chemistry (2013) from the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras Campus and completed his PhD training (2019) at Duke University under the mentorship of Prof. Katherine J. Franz. As a graduate student, his research focused on understanding the role of metals and metal coordination in the chemical and biological activity of antimicrobial peptides. Currently, he is a Clinical Chemistry Fellow in the Pathology Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
A. Colleen Crouch, PhD
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Post-Doc, Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Mass spectrometry imaging, Interventional Radiology, Cancer ablation and embolization treatments, preclinical MRI, cardiovascular imaging
Colleen is a postdoctoral fellow position in the Interventional Radiology Department at UT MD Anderson and earned her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. As an undergraduate at the Georgia Institute of Technology, she began her research in cardiovascular health and thermoregulation. Her background in material science and biomedical engineering provide a unique approach to her research by combining engineering concepts and physiology. Colleen hopes to continue her research as a professor and inspire the next generation of scientists and researchers. Experience in research, teaching (2 semesters as a Graduate Student Instructor), and service (Rackham Student Government Vice President).
Demonstrated history of working in the higher education administration from Rackham Student Government leadership positions. Skilled in Image Analysis, Small Animal Research, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Leadership, MATLAB, Data Analysis, Statistics, and Microsoft Excel/Powerpoint/Word.
Christine Dolin, Ph.D.
University of Kentucky
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry, Toxicology
Christine Dolin is a clinical chemistry fellow at the University of Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Louisville in 2019. In her graduate research, she applied proteomics to identify novel drug targets and biomarkers for alcoholic liver disease. She looks forward to continuing to advance her knowledge of mass spectrometry and learn about its applications in the clinical laboratory. She hopes to apply mass spectrometry throughout her future career as a clinical chemist.
Chair: Europe
Erika Dorado
Imperial College London
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Lipidomics, Metabolomics, Proteomics, Extracellular vesicles, Biomarkers, Oncology
Erika Dorado is a PhD candidate and Research Assistant at Imperial College London working on lipidomics and cancer research. She is currently studying extracellular vesicles as body fluid-based biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Before starting her PhD, she worked on proteomics and phosphoproteomics analysis in cancer signalling pathways at the Barts Cancer Institute. Her M.Sc. was focused on -omics technologies, where she worked on analysis of protein-protein interactions using cross-linking mass spectrometry. She obtained her B.Sc. in Biology focussed on molecular and cell biology, and after that worked in the study of mutations in antimalarial and malaria diagnosis targets. She is one of the leads of the MSACL Early Career Network (MSACL ECN) and is now the interim Chair of the European Region.
Merran Dunford, MPharm
University of Bath
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: Lipid LC-MS, Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Merran is a PhD student with Prof. Randy Mrsny at the University of Bath, UK. Her current research interest focuses on the role of bioactive lipids in the promotion and resolution of inflammation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Merran obtained a Master of Pharmacy degree at the University of Bath (2017) and completed her pharmacy pre-registration training with AstraZeneca (2018).
Jessica Espino
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2020), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Protein structure, proteomics, mass spectrometry
Jessica A. Espino is a Ph. D. candidate in the Pharmaceutical Sciences program at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, working under the supervision of Dr. Lisa Jones. Currently, her work focuses on the development of a hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) method to study protein structure and protein-protein interactions coupled to mass spectrometry.
Erica Fatica, PhD
Mayo Clinic
Resident (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Toxicology, therapeutic drug monitoring, inborn errors of metabolism, metabolomics
I am a second-year fellow in the Clinical Chemistry Fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Before moving to Minnesota for fellowship, I completed my doctoral degree in Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry at Cleveland State University. CSU provided me with many great opportunities to learn about clinical chemistry and to be involved in the clinical chemistry community. I look forward to continuing to be an active contributor to the field in the future.
Sina Feizbakhsh Bazargani
University of Florida
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2023)
1e Interests: MALDI Imaging, Metabolomics
I received my bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Sharif University of Technology, which is the most prestigious university in Iran. To pursue my scientific life as an analytical chemist, I joined the University of Florida. I am currently a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Richard Yost and Dr. Timothy Garrett. My research now focuses on finding biomarkers in pancreatic tissue by using Mass Spectrometry MADLI and DESI Imaging. Simultaneously I am using the LC-MS method to compare the data to the Imaging method by employing statistical analysis. In the future, my focus is primary on implementing machine learning into the MS-MSI analysis.
Caroline Franks, PhD
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021)
Deborah French, PhD
UCSF
Mentor (Acad)
Deborah French Ph.D., DABCC (CC, TC) is currently Assistant Director of Chemistry and Director of Mass Spectrometry at the University of California San Francisco Clinical Laboratories. Her work currently focuses on the development and validation of LC-MS/MS assays for small molecules, specifically therapeutic drug monitoring, steroid hormones and toxicology. Deborah received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. She subsequently completed a ComACC Clinical Chemistry postdoctoral fellowship under the direction of Dr Alan Wu at the University of California San Francisco and is now board certified in Clinical Chemistry and Toxicological Chemistry by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry.
Kate Gallagher, BSc, MRes
Imperial College London
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Metabolomics, Microbiome, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Clinical Research
Currently a PhD candidate, at Imperial College London, specialising in the metabolomic and microbiomic stratification of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients (both Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis). Some of my skills include biological/clinical sample preparation and analysis using LC-MS, GC-MS, and proton NMR, and the processing of metabolomic data following acquisition. I have a personal interest in scientific writing and communication.
Roland Geyer, Ph.D.
Thermo Fisher Diagnostics
Mentor (Ind), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical Mass Spectrometry, Automation, Lipidomics, Metabolomics, Microbiology
Roland started as a microbiologist where he gained method development expertise using LC-MS. At the University of Tennessee Center for Biomarker Analysis he worked on lipid biomarker analysis using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS systems, including evaluating lipids in breath condensates. In 2006, he joined a leading MS instrument provider as an Application Specialist. In 2009, he joined a company providing laboratory automation systems where he led technology feasibility and development projects for innovative extraction consumables and workflows for the clinical MS lab. In 2015, Roland joined the clinical chemistry department of the University Hospital Bern in Switzerland to gain insights into the feasibility of approaches and concepts in the clinic. Since 2017, he has been working as Business Development Manager for a large life science company in the area of Clinical MS automation. Roland has been attending MSACL since 2010 with the goal of extending the use of LC-MS diagnostic applications into the clinical lab.
Ettore Gilardoni
University of Milan
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2020)
Nicola Gray, PhD
Murdoch University
Jr Faculty
I joined Murdoch University in 2019 as a Senior Lecturer in Phenomics based at the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC), specialising in diabetes and obesity. I received my BSc(Hons) in Biomedical Sciences in 2005 from the University of Newcastle, UK, followed by my MSc in Forensic Science at King’s College London in 2008. I completed my PhD at the same institution in analytical chemistry, in particular liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, for the detection of doping agents in sport.
I have worked for instrument manufacturers (Waters Corporation and Shimadzu UK Ltd) as well as in academia (Imperial College London and the University of Reading, UK). My research interests are in the application of chromatography and mass spectrometry for metabolic phenotyping to investigate the interactions between our genes and environment in terms of disease risk. I am particularly interested in the influence of lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise in health and disease, and the role of the microbiome.
My expertise are in analytical chemistry and metabolomics and I have taught into a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses on these topics, as well as delivering hands-on training in these areas.
Amber Herold
MSACL
Mentor (Ind), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Data Science, Community Building, Hiking
Amber is VP of MSACL and co-founder and developer of BadgerScan. Amber earned a BS in Computer Science at the University of California, San Diego. Post-graduation, Amber was involved in a startup company developing computer vision algorithms. After the wee company was purchased by a proper non-startup company, Amber spent eight years practicing the development of proper-production-quality code. This was followed by five years at The Scripps Research Institute in an Electron Microscopy lab. A side project developing the BadgerScan lead collection App pulled Amber into the MSACL community.
Katharina Herzog, PhD
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Inherited metabolic diseases, Diabetes, Metabolomics, Lipidomics, Multi-OMICS, Data analysis & Data visualisation using R, Clinical Chemistry, Epidemiology, Science Communication, Advocating for early-career researchers in Academia
CURRENT COMMITTEE WORK
2019 - Present Elected board member Nordic Metabolomics Society; Early-career representative
2018 - Present Elected Committee Member Early-career Member Network of the Metabolomics Society
2018 - Present Steering board member National Junior Faculty (as well as member of local committees at University of employment)
WORK EXPERIENCE
2019 - Present Postdoctoral Fellow (Novo Nordisk Fellowship programme), Karolinska Institute, Sweden
2017-2019 Postdoctoral researcher, Lund University Diabetes Center, Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Sweden
EDUCATION
2017 PhD in Biomedicine (Marie Curie ITN Fellow), Laboratory Genetic Metabolic Diseases, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013 MSc Molecular Bioscience - University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
2011 BSc Nutrition Sciences - Christian-Albrechts-University, Germany
Ólöf Gerður Ísberg, M.Sc.
University of Iceland/Imperial College London, MSACL Early Career Network
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Metabolomics, Breast cancer, Imaging mass spectrometry, data science
Ólöf Gerður is a PhD student at Margret Thorsteinsdottir´s and Sigridur Klara Bodvarsdottir lab in Iceland. She is working on a collaborative project with Zoltan Takat´s lab at Imperial College London where she uses imaging mass spectrometry to identify biomarkers in breast tissue. Ólöf obtained her B.Sc. at University of Iceland in Biochemistry with focus on molecular biology. She achieved her M.Sc. at University of Copenhagen (Denmark) in Human Biology, with focus on cellular and molecular biology. She has 3 years experience working as a research assistant for both University of Iceland and University of Copenhagen as well as she did a short-term internship at the Danish pharmaceutical company, Lundbeck.
Ólöf is a current co-Chair of the MSACL Early Career Network (MSACL ECN).
Parisa Kargaran, Ph.D.
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
Postdoctoral research fellow at Mayo Clinic
Christopher Koch, PhD
Yale-New Haven Health
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021)
Dr. Chris Koch is a Senior Clinical Chemistry Fellow at Yale-New Haven Health. He received his PhD in Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry from Cleveland State University and performed his dissertation research at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. Prior to that he spent nearly a decade as a Clinical Laboratory Technician and Development Technician in the Hospital Clinical Laboratories of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he first developed a passion for laboratory medicine.
While not at the lab, Dr. Koch enjoys trying to keep up with his four kids and is an avid trail runner.
Nicholas Larkey, PhD
Mayo Clinic
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry
My name is Nicholas Larkey and I am currently a 2nd-year Clinical Chemistry Fellow at Mayo Clinic.
Malena Manzi, PhD
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industria & CONICET, Argentina
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2020), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: MS-based metabolomics, pharmacometabolomics, mass spectrometry imaging, cancer, biomarker, pre-clinical studies, drug development
I obtained my degree of Biochemist in 2010 and my Ph.D diploma in cancer biology in 2016 at the School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2016, I obtained a postdoctoral position at the Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION) of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), a national reference laboratory for MS-based metabolomics studies, with the mentorship of Dr. María Eugenia Monged. In particular, I applied UPLC-QTOF-MS coupled with multivariate analysis to profile the metabolome and the lipidome of human serum samples as well as in vitro models to discover clear cell renal cell carcinoma biomarkers. Moreover, I had the opportunity to work as a part of multiple collaborative projects in a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE), MARSU Project: “MARine atmospheric Science Unravelled: analytical and mass spectrometric techniques development and application”, performing seawater omics studies applying DART-MS. In 2019, I participated in the 4th International School of Mass Spectrometry (Spain) and obtained an award for the best oral presentation. During 2017-2019, I participated as a teaching assistant in 3 international courses that focused in metabolomics. In 2020, I got a permanent position as a career researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (Argentina), to work in the Laboratory of Dr. María Julieta Comin. I am in charge of expanding the MS capabilities in the Chemical Department and to perform pharmacometabolomics studies to contribute to the development of new compounds for disease treatment. I will be able to expand the acquired knowledge in MS-based metabolomics for new ideas to address healthcare issues in the region. In 2016 I became a member of the Argentinian Mass Spectrometry Society. I have been a teaching assistant for Advanced Biological Chemistry at the School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires for last 10 years, allowing me to keep in touch with young students and to participate of the teaching-learning process within the framework of biochemistry, molecular and cell biology. (ORCID: 0000-0002-1709-0685)
Mariya Mardamshina, M.D.
Tel Aviv University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021), Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Clinical proteomics, cancer proteomics
Sreenath Nair, Ph.D.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Post-Doc
1e Interests: Clinical Mass Spectrometry, Pharmacokinetics, Metabolomics, Lipidomics, Bioinformatics
Mass spectrometric researcher with 9 years experience in clinical pharmacokinetics and metabolomics.
Krishnatej Nishtala, PhD
Macquarie University
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Method development in Proteomics/Targeted Proteomics, PTM Mass spectrometry
I obtained my PhD from University of Greifswald, Germany in Cardiovascular proteomics where I studied proteomic differences in chronic stages of dilated cardiomyopathy in mice models. Subsequently I worked in industry and in research lab as protein mass spectrometrist. I am currently working as a research associate in glycoproteomics at the Dept. of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University. My research interests are method development in mass spectrometry and it's applications in Proteomics
Sarah Noll, BA, MPhil
Stanford University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Mass spectrometry imaging, DESI-MSI, Probe/spray source development, Method development, Metabolomics, Lipidomics
Sarah Noll is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Stanford University with Professor Richard N. Zare. Her research is focused on clinical and biological applications of DESI-MSI. Sarah graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in both chemistry and German studies. Following graduation, she spent a year studying catalytic inorganic nanoparticles at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany on a Fulbright grant. She then obtained her MPhil in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, using Raman spectroscopy to non-invasively identify sub-surface pigments in works of art. Outside of research, Sarah is actively involved in undergraduate education and outreach, as well as young women’s leadership development. She also works as a student museum guide at the Cantor Arts Center and the Anderson Collection on the Stanford campus.
Lily is a Research Coordinator in the Division of Gastroenterology at The University of Alberta. She received her PhD in Medical Science from the Hull York Medical School in England. During her graduate research, she applied proteomics to identify novel drug targets and biomarkers for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. She also worked as a Medical Laboratory Scientist at in the Clinical Biochemistry department of the NHS lab in Hull from 2013 to 2016 before migrating to Canada.
Catherine Omosule, BS, PHD (4th year)
University of Missouri
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
Kuin Tian Pang, PhD
Bioprocessing Technology Institute, A*STAR
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: Glycomic, Mechanobiological study of glycosylation, Biological data analytics, Real-time and high throughput monitoring of glycosylation in bioprocessing
Dr Zach Pang is a research fellow at the GlycoAnalytics group, Bioprocessing Technology Institute, A*STAR Singapore. His research focuses on the glycomic and glycoproteomic of biologics. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London under the A*STAR Graduate Scholarship. His PhD study focused on the role of haemodynamic wall shear stress and LRG1 in cardiovascular diseases.
Ryan Pearce, BS
Cleveland State University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: LC-MS/MS method development and validation, quantitative metabolic profiling, chromatography, clinical chemistry.
Bini Ramachandran, PhD
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Mass spectrometry, Proteomics, Method development and validation
I am a postdoctoral research associate at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Currently I am working on targeted method development for detection and quantification of proteins in foods which can trigger an allergic response in susceptible individuals. Considering the complexity of food matrices and the type of processing these foods have undergone, I equate my project to solving a multi-level puzzle with increasing challenges to overcome at each level. I am fascinated by the technology behind mass spectrometry and its applications, especially in field of proteomics. So far in my career I got opportunities to employ mass spectrometry and proteomics to address challenges in food allergy, cell biology, infectious disease biology, cancer biology, and bacterial strain improvement. I believe mastering in the art of mass spectrometry will open a path to apply one’s expertise in various areas, from academia to industry, from clinical labs to pharmaceutical manufacturing. I am expecting to transition out of my current postdoctoral position towards the second half of 2021. I would like to transition into a job where I can combine my passion for mass spectrometry, proteomics, and method development. I could see myself fitting well in the role of an R&D scientist in instrumentation industry, in clinical proteomics labs, or in biopharmaceutical industry. I am looking for opportunities to netwrok with people from these areas.
Chair: Americas
Hoda Safari Yazd
University of Florida, MSACL Early Career Network
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: Metabolomics, Lipidomics, Machine Learning
Hoda Safari Yazd is a Ph.D. candidate in analytical chemistry at the University of Florida and working under the supervision of Prof. Richard Yost and Dr. Timothy Garrett. She received her B.Sc. in chemistry from Sharif University of Technology in 2015 and her M.Sc. in computational chemistry from the same school in 2017. Hoda's research at UF primarily focuses on combining analytical chemistry tools and scientific programming for the metabolomic discovery of rare disorders. She is currently working on two projects; the first project concentrates on the detection of new biomarkers in meningiomas to improve early detection of this disease by employing machine learning as a tool on mass spectrometry-based metabolomics data. The second project is focused on the characterization of rare X-chromosome deletion disorders using metabolomics and lipidomics workflows by UHPLC-HRMS on neural progenitor cells. Hoda is one of the founding members and main organizers of the MSACL Early Career Network (MSACL-ECN).
Sumedh Sankhe, MS - Data Science
Masters Student (expected transition in 2020)
Emily Sekera, PhD
The Ohio State University
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: Imaging Mass Spectrometry, -Omics Based Techniques
Rohan Shah, MS in Pharmaceutical Sci.
Cleveland State University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: GC-MS, LC-MS/MS, Small molecules
Eric Yi-Liang Shen, PhD
Imperial College London
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2020), Looking to Hire
1e Interests: Oncology, metabolomics
Devin Swiner, PhD in Analytical Chemistry (Intended May 2021), B.S. in Chemistry (2016)
The Ohio State University
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Method development for clinical diagnostic testing, small molecule and/or macromolecule analysis with mass spectrometry
Devin J. Swiner currently is a 5th year, PhD candidate working under Dr. Abraham Badu-Tawiah at The Ohio State University. Since graduating from The University of Pittsburgh in 2016 with her B.S. in Chemistry, her current research is focused on developing a new ionization source for mass spectrometry using cellulose materials for applications in clinical diagnostics. At OSU, she serves as Chapter President of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and as Vice President for the Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus. In these capacities, she is able to mentor students as they grow and develop during their programs, an effort that awarded her The Susan M. Hartmann Mentoring and Leadership Award in 2018. In her free time, she also co-runs a blog, #MacScientist, whose goal is to increase representation of black women in STEM fields, and more recently co-founded a #BlackInChem Twitter campaign, to amplify and celebrate Black chemists. Her advocacy work is documented on her professional website, Devinthechemist.com.
Tirsa van Duijl, MSc
Leiden University Medical Center
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry | Quantitative proteomics | Mass spectrometry | Method development | Food plating | Gardening
In 2017 I started my PhD research at the departments Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine at the Leiden University Medical Center. Our research group develops LC-MRM-MS-based methods for protein quantitation in body fluids for clinical applications and, ultimately, routine patient care. My current research aims to improve the timely diagnosis of kidney injury using a multiplex proteomic test.
Translation of emering analytical strategies towards the clinical laboratory is my primary research interest. This includes non-invasive strategies such as cell-free DNA quantitation and multiplex mass spectrometry for marker quantitation in body fluids.
Prior to joining the group of prof. C.M. Cobbaert, I received training as a master student at the departments Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Clinical Chemistry of the Dutch Cancer Institute and the Medicinal Chemistry department of the Leiden Academic Centre of Drug Research.
Peter Van Overwalle, BS, Marketing
IVD Industry Consultant
Mentor (Ind)
1e Interests: Professional development, communication, collaboration, justification of outcomes and value of innovation to patient health.
Greetings! I have 30 years in classic sales and marketing with 16 years in IVD Medical Device marketing including the launch of novel Clinical LCMS systems globally. Now as a consultant beyond the traditional Life Sciences supplier realm, my passion is to help people be more relevant in communications and collaboration to advance healthcare. This is done primarily through professional development and mentoring of individuals, teams or entire institutions.
Let's connect on Linked In. I'm happy to share my perspective and experiences with you.
Mudita Vats
Doctoral Student
1e Interests: Imaging Mass Spectrometry, LC-MS/MS, Proteomics, Therapeutics, Microbiology
Looking for a PhD position.
Junior Research Fellow at Central pulp and Paper Research Institute Saharanpur, U.P, India. Involved in determination of microbial contaminants of food packaging paper and board.
During my M.Sc. final semester thesis I worked on a Project- ‘Acetylation; for the validation of peptide sequence using Mass Spectrometery' at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India.
Ruhan Wei, Ph.D.
Cleveland Clinic
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: Clinical Chemistry, Informatics, Biostatistics
My name is Ruhan Wei, and I am a first-year Clinical Biochemistry Fellow at Cleveland Clinic.
Chair: Asia-Pacific
Ethan Yang, PhD
Johns Hopkins University, MSACL Early Career Network
Post-Doc (expected transition in 2022)
1e Interests: MALDI imaging, Multi-modal imaging, MRI imaging, boimedical imaging cancer research
Ethan Yang is a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Kristine Glunde's Lab in the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins University. His current research focuses on combining imaging mass spectrometry with other biomedical imaging approaches to provide a more holistic approach to reserach and diagnosis. He completed his PhD under Prof. Pierre Chaurand at the University of Montreal working on elaborating new techniques to enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of MALDI-TOF imaging mass spectrometry. He obtained his B.Sc. in Biochemistry at McGill University. He is a founding member of the MSACL Early Career Network (MSACL ECN) and is now the interim Chair of the Asia-Pacific Region.
Richard Yost, PhD
University of Florida
Mentor (Acad), Looking to Hire
1e Interests: analytical mass spec, metabolomics
Dr. Yost is the University Professor and Head of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Florida. He is also director of the Southeast Center for Integrated Metabolomics (SECIM) and of NIH’s Metabolomics Consortium Coordinating Center (M3C). He is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of analytical chemistry, particularly tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). His research has been recognized with the ASMS Award for Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry, the MSACL Award for Distinguished Contribution to Clinical Mass Spectrometry, and the Florida Academy of Sciences Medal. Dr. Yost currently serves as President of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS).
Fereshteh Zandkarimi, PhD
Columbia University
Post-Doc, Mentor (Acad)
1e Interests: Lipidomics, Ferroptosis, LC-MS, Mass Spectrometry Imaging
Kevin Zemaitis
University at Buffalo
Doctoral Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Ambient Ionization, Mass Spectrometry Imaging, and -omics studies
Qing Zhang, Master
University of Delaware
Masters Student (expected transition in 2021)
1e Interests: Proteomics, Data Science, Mass spectrometry, Biopharm, Biomarker, Clinical diagnosis
After graduated from undergraduate school, has worked nearly 11 years in mass spectrometry based proteomics, as an application scientist. Now moving to data science and focusing on mass spectrometry data processing and mining in the area of clinical diagnosis.
Xueyun Zheng, PhD
Pacific Northwest National Lab
Mentor (Govt)
1e Interests: Metabolomics; lipidomics; New MS technology development and applications in clinical diagnostics
I am a bioanalytical chemist with more than 10 years's mass spectrometry experience. My research focuses on application novel ion mobility-mass spectrometry technique to multi-omics to understand important disease state and clinical applications.