Jeroen Kool

Dr. Jeroen Kool is an analytical chemist with research interests in high resolution screening of biologically active mixtures. His research achievements allow full compatibility of analytical separations with biological assays (including cellular) and parallel MS detection for investigation of bioactive mixtures (natural product extracts, metabolic mixtures, venoms, environmental mixtures) using miniaturized setups and nanospotting technologies. These techniques combining chromatography, mass spectrometry and bioassays in one analytical platform are now known as nanofractionation analytics. He developed hyphenated analytics for both LC and GC separations to bioassays for identification of biologically active toxicants in natural extracts, food and the environment. In case of GC fractionations, we developed and patented an automated system for high resolution fractionation of complete GC chromatograms with parallel chemical detection, such as FID and MS. Dr. Kool also developed analytical methodologies for bioactivity profiling of metabolic mixtures from drugs and lead compounds targeting GPCRs, nuclear receptors, protein kinases and ion channels. Other analytics developed allow for bioactivity profiling of biopharmaceutical products (such as monoclonal antibodies) with on-line post-column surface plasmon resonance-based bioassays. Currently, we are working on post-column microfluidics and nanospotting analytics for analysis of bioactive mixtures only available in low amounts. Insect and animal venoms are examples that contain many different, highly potent, and sometimes very selective peptide ligands for a large variety of medicinal targets. Recently, we started developing and applying analytics for characterization of venom induced pathologies in order to better understand snakebite envenoming and as such develop better treatment strategies based on antivenom & small molecular drugs.