I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the van Wezel lab, where I study Streptomyces and Paenibacillus as sources of new antibiotics. I combine genome mining and MS-based metabolomics to find promising strains, activate silent gene clusters, and isolate bioactive molecules. In natural product discovery, one big challenge is knowing which compounds are actually worth following. To help solve this, we set up the nanoRAPIDS MS-guided nanofractionation platform, which helps us and others quickly prioritize bioactive hits from bacteria, venoms, and plants. I also really enjoy solving peptide fragmentation puzzles, especially when they help discover new RiPPs and NRPs and connect MS/MS data to real chemical structures. Core skills: LC-MS/MS and MALDI-ToF analysis, nanoRAPIDS, peptide sequencing, structural elucidation, biosynthetic gene cluster analysis, GNPS molecular networking, antimicrobial screening, HPLC purification, RiPP and NRP discovery.

Publications