Enabling volume-restricted metabolomics using next-generation microscale analytical tools.

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry

The development of novel microscale analytical tools and workflows to enable new measurements that drive drug research and metabolomics is the key research aim of Dr. Rawi Ramautar within the Metabolomics and Analytics Centre (MAC).

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) has been considered as a preferred microscale analytical technology to realize the following ambitions:

1. Development of selective and sensitive CE-MS workflows to study (endogenous) metabolites in volume-restricted biological/biomedical samples and/or complex micro-environments (see e.g., doi: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2018.12.004 and doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03129).

2. To apply the microscale analytical tools to address relevant biomedical questions and/or challenges in the field of neuroscience, neonatology and other application areas intrinsically dealing with low sample amounts (see e.g., doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121107 and doi: 10.1002/elps.201900126 and doi: 10.1002/smll.202000295).

3. To implement the technological/methodological advances in bioanalysis and metabolomics in the drug discovery and development education and research program of the MAC and the LACDR in order to equip students with the right toolset and approaches to study (conceptually) challenging clinical and societal problems (see e.g., ISBN: 978-3-527-83309-2 and ISBN: 9781839161636)

Grants

With financial support of the Veni grant scheme of the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research (NWO Veni 722.013.008) and Vedi grant scheme of the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research (NWO Vidi 723.016.003)