My primary research interests focus on how we can utilize mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics to answer fundamental questions in biology. Since my master thesis I have been amazed at how MS can give us holistic insights into the inner workings of the most complex tiny construct known to us today: the eukaryotic cell. During my PhD, I systematically studied and optimized the way we can use MS to identify and quantify signaling peptides. And now, I continue this work into my postdoctoral research, by developing intelligent MS acquisition methods and applying them to fundamental questions in cellular signaling.
Postdoctoral research. During my time with Prof. Judit Villén, I turned to yeast as a model organism to study how cellular phosphorylation-based signaling systems are optimized. Even though yeast cells represent a much simpler organism with regards to signaling complexity than human cells, I still faced major limitations in sample throughput and depth with current MS technology. To help overcome this, I helped design and optimize smart MS acquisition methods that dynamically identify and target biologically interesting peptides in complex mixtures. Furthermore, I am interested in developing methods to study non-phosphorylation-based cellular signaling mechanisms, specifically the cis-trans isomerisation of proline in the peptide backbone.
PhD research. During my PhD with Prof. Jesper V. Olsen, I used MS-based proteomics technology to study phosphorylation-based signaling in human cells, specifically cancer and the DNA damage response. In order to enable large-scale experiments with minimal MS measurement times, I systematically compared the at the time dominating quantification approaches with regards to their respective pros and cons to study phosphorylated peptides: LFQ, SILAC and TMT. Later I extended this work to data-independent acquisition methods and how we can use spectral library-free approaches for deep phospho-proteomics studies.