2020 has only just started, and I already brought three publication-celebration-cakes to work this year. The corresponding publications all report on research which I conducted myself, so-called ‘original research’, and feature my name as the first author, thus explaining why I had to bring the cake. One of them describes a project I carried out in Switzerland while the other two present data which I obtained when I was still in the Netherlands. The peculiar thing is that the topic of these works is very different, and it would be difficult to get an idea of my research interests when strictly looking at these three publications. What do you think?
Publication A: “Cigarette smoking prior to blood sampling acutely affects serum levels of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease biomarker Surfactant Protein D” (accepted for publication in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine on February 14, 2020)
Based on data from my last PhD sub-project, we found that blood levels of the protein ‘SPD’ can be different if a person smokes a cigarette before his or her blood is taken. This effect was not yet known for this lung-derived marker, which has been studied for years as important blood marker in lung diseases. Previously gathered insights into the value of blood SPD levels in the context of lung diseases should be re-examined following our findings, and there is a possibility that important conclusions were incorrectly drawn in previous studies, at least in those which did not standardize or correct for a person’s smoking status before blood was taken.
Publication B: “Female specific association of low Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF1) levels with increased risk of premature mortality in renal transplant recipients” (accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Medicine on January 17, 2020)
The data from my first PhD sub-project already yielded a technical publication in 2017, but it took us three more years to finalize the clinical story. This delay was partly caused by the fact that I had zero experience with handling clinical data, and it took me months and months of training and a couple of amazing collaborators (i.e. my ‘epidemiology mentors’) in order to get the essential work done. Also, the clinical analyses were performed as a kind of side-project, which I mainly worked on in weekends and evenings so I would not face substantial delays in finishing my (technical) PhD thesis. This sub-project may not have been within the core of my activities in Groningen, the outcomes of this work have a considerable impact nonetheless. We assessed whether blood levels of a growth hormone called ‘IGF1’ could predict survival in people who underwent kidney transplantation. And, we found that low IGF1 levels in blood are linked to poor survival in this population, albeit only females and not in males. These findings may have important implications for future research and eventually also for transplantation patients (once our findings are supported by results from other researchers).
Publication C: “SWATH data independent acquisition mass spectrometry for screening of xenobiotics in biological fluids: Opportunities and challenges for data processing” (accepted for publication in Talanta on January 13, 2020)
To get a good start upon arriving in Geneva, I was asked to work on an unfinished project based on which I could get familiarized with the type of research and analytical workflows as well as the corresponding data processing techniques and software tools. Specifically, I started analyzing comprehensive profiles of small molecule compounds (i.e. breakdown products from our body, drugs, drugs of abuse, pesticides) measured in urine from people who tested positive for cocaine and/or marijuana during roadside drug testing in Switzerland. I had to explore the complex datasets and try to derive as much information as possible on compounds that do not originate from the human bodies but have an external source. Examples of so-called ‘xenobiotics’ are drugs and drugs of abuse, but also compounds such as caffeine and nicotine which reflect a person’s lifestyle and nutritional habits. Using several data processing techniques and software tools, we worked on a workflow based on which as much relevant information as desired could be derived. We furthermore highlighted key opportunities and challenges for handling these types of data, which can set the stage for future research projects and potentially also for the actual application of our workflow in clinical, pharmaceutical, and/or forensic laboratories.
In a nutshell, publication C dealt with how we can identify markers of interest, publication B with how we can apply specific tests for a marker of interest, and publication A with how we can improve specific tests for a marker of interest. I am apparently quite interested in many aspects of laboratory testing and in baking cakes of course. As you can imagine, I am very happy at the moment, because I am doing what I like while eating cake in the meantime. It does not get much better than that.
analyzed-by-frank.com 