Phaedra Verding

Education: 

• September 2023: Master in Drug Development (pharmacist) obtained at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) - Jette (Belgium)

• October 2023: Ph.D. Student at the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Applied Chemometrics and Molecular Modelling (FABI) and at the Department of Experimental Pharmacology (EFAR), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) - Jette (Belgium)

Research topics:

• Novel sample preconcentration strategies

• Targeted metabolic profiling

• LC-MS/MS

Research project:

The project will focus on analysing metabolites from biological samples. The metabolites to be analyzed will have been previously linked to neurological diseases. Often only small sample volumes are available and in addition the concentration of metabolites in these biological fluids is very low. For this reason, novel sample preparation techniques will be evaluated such as solid-phase microextraction (SPME), dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), Pipette-tip solid-phase extraction (PT-SPE), microextraction in a packed syringe (MEPS), magnetic nanoparticles, molecularly imprinted polymers and 3D printed materials. The analyses will then be conducted using LC coupled to mass spectrometry.