The Chemometrics and Advanced Separations Team (CAST) combines the two research groups of Bob Pirok and Andrea Gargano at the Center for Analytical Sciences Amsterdam (CASA), which is a collaboration between the University of Amsterdam and VU University in Amsterdam. We specialise in development of advanced separation systems and chemometric tools for use in analytical chemistry. Aside from providing information on the latest research by the team, the website also intends to provide tools as well as a useful repository on the application and theory of multi-dimensional liquid chromatography.
Andrea Gargano
Andrea Gargano is associate professor in Analytical Chemistry at the van’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Science, University of Amsterdam (NL). He received his Ph.D. in (Analytical) Chemistry from the University of Vienna (AU), did his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Amsterdam (NL) and has been guest researcher in several research labs in the EU and USA (e.g. PNNL, Northwester University, LBNL).
In his research, he focuses on developing MS hyphenated methods to study complex samples and macromolecules. This includes developing LC-MS approaches for intact proteins analysis by native&denaturing top-down mass spectrometry, the use of new enzymatic systems to characterize synthetic polymers by mass spectrometry and instrumental development of multidimensional separation coupled with mass spectrometry.
Bob Pirok
Dr. Bob Pirok is associate professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) at the University of Amsterdam. He is also a visiting research professor at the Gustavus Adolphus College (MN, USA). He obtained his PhD for his dissertation entitled Making Analytically Incompatible Approaches Compatible in 2019 cum laude and prior worked at Shell for two years.
The research of Pirok focuses on the development of multi-dimensional separation technology, particularly specialising in chromatography. In addition, he works on computational method-optimisation strategies and retention modelling.
PostDocs
Tijmen Bos
Dr. Tijmen Bos defended his PhD thesis in December 2023 at the VU University in Amsterdam within the framework of the UNMATCHED project. A project which is funded by BASF, DSM, Nouryon and the Dutch Institute for Scientific Research (NWO). While his research mainly focuses on the development of separation techniques for cellulose materials, Bos also spends a bit of his time in developing algorithms to deconvolute gradient-profile distortions within the context of retention modelling. Earlier, Bos performed computational fluid dynamics simulations and explore 3D-printing methods for the production of 3D-LC systems as part of the ERC STAMP project. He currently is PostDoc at the CAST group of Pirok at the University of Amsterdam and has the lead in several AutoLC projects. Next to that, his research line focuses on data processing tools and method development for advanced polymer separations.
Oliver Bayley
Dr. Oliver Bayley was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He later moved to Wellington to study Biomedical Science (2017) at Victoria University of Wellington, followed by a Master’s degree in Drug Development (2019) under the supervision of A. Prof. Joanne Harvey and A. Prof. Paul Teesdale-Spittle. His Masters research focused on the “Synthesis of Novel Pyran Fragments to Incorporate into Peloruside Analogues”. After this, Olly moved to Auckland to work at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC) to generate lead compounds for pre-clinical trials. In March 2020 he then moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a PhD at The University of Bristol under the supervision of Dr. Beatrice Collins. His research focused on the “Development of A New Class of Molecular Machine: Light-Fuelled Single-Bond Rotors”. After successfully defending his PhD thesis in October 2023, he moved to Amsterdam (NL) to start a postdoc under Prof. Dr. ing. Timothy Noël , Dr. Andrea Gargano and Dr. Bob Pirok. His current work focuses on the development of automated analysis of flow reactions for closed-loop reaction optimisation.
Lapo Renai
Dr. Lapo Renai is a postdoc researcher at the Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) at the University of Amsterdam, where he is working under the MSCA postdoctoral fellowship. He completed his studies in Chemistry at the University of Florence, Italy, and earned his PhD in Analytical Chemistry, focusing on the development of high-throughput LC-MS platforms. Currently, he is involved in the MSCA-PF-funded project called ‘BEspace,’ which aims to unravel sample complexity and expand the chemical space of the environmental exposome. This project utilizes advanced separation techniques, including liquid chromatography (LC and 2DLC) combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The initiative includes fingerprinting environmental concerning chemicals in relevant exposome matrices, such as environmental and treated water samples, by computational tools for feature detection and annotation. During his postdoc, he has also participated in the EU-funded SECUREFOOD2050 project, which included the development of targeted and non-targeted LC-MS/MS methods for analyzing complex samples.
PhD Candidates
Sanne Boot
Sanne Boot finished her MSc. Chemistry degree in 2024 in Amsterdam. She is now PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam and works within the InnovATOR project together with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research covers chemometric tools for LC-MS optimisation and retention prediction methods based on structure and retention score.
Gerben van Henten
Gerben van Henten finished his MSc. Chemistry degree in 2022 and then worked at Shell Global Solutions. He is now PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam and focuses on the development and improvement of the AutoLC algorithm for automated method development.
Thomas Holmark
Thomas Holmark obtained his MSc degree in analytical chemistry in 2024 from the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (joint degree). For his graduation internship, he worked on developing a two-dimensional liquid chromatography method for the characterization of medicinal polymer nanoparticles. Currently he is a PhD candidate in the HYPE-IMMUNe project (MS HYPhEnated workflows for structural and functional profiling of IMMUNoglobulin proteoforms), which is in collaboration with Leiden University Medical Center. His project is focused on developing separation workflows hyphenated to mass spectrometry to explain the structure-function relationship of the immunoglobulins involved in disease or an autoimmune response.
Rick van den Hurk
Rick van den Hurk obtained his MSc degree in 2020 at the University of Amsterdam. For his graduation, Van den Hurk investigated the use of immobilised-enzyme reactors for on-line degradation of biopolymers within liquid-phase separations. He also studied the characterisation of polyether polyols and ethoxylated surfactants using FT-ICR-MS. Having worked as researcher at Shell, Van den Hurk currently conducts his PhD within the PARADISE project. His research focuses on developing methods for determining the sequence distribution of polymers as well as the analysis and on-line degradation of complex nitrocellulose energetic materials. Van den Hurk enjoys working out, nature and travelling.
Nino Milani
Nino Milani obtained his MSc degree in 2021 at the University of Amsterdam. He conducts his PhD in the PARADISE project in Amsterdam. For his graduation project, Milani worked on modelling hydrodynamic chromatography combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experimental studies. For his PhD, he currently focuses on developing automated algorithms for the analysis of higher-order datasets with a particular emphasis on GCxGC data. He furthermore investigates optimisation of gas chromatography experiments. Outside the academic world Nino is a Scout and is interested in the art of coffee as home barista.
Masashi Serizawa
Masashi Serizawa obtained his MSc degree in 2007 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Afterwards he has been working at MCC (Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation). He is certified as an APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) engineer due to his research experience in polymer analysis, enzyme development, and organic synthesis at MCC. In order to develop polymers that contribute to the circular economy and to develop recycling technologies, he is focusing on revealing the mechanism of physical properties of polymers by using advanced analytical technology including LC-HRMS. He is now a PhD student in the PolySequency project. In this project, he has been developing structural analysis technology for polymers that exceeds the detection limit of conventional LC-MS. When he returns to Japan, he plans to instruct the next generation on the advanced technology of polymer analysis related to LC, which he learned at the University of Amsterdam at companies and universities.
Luca Tutiš
Luca Tutiš obtained his master’s degree in analytical chemistry at the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit (joint degree) in 2022. During his master, he worked on developing liquid chromatography methods to characterize multiple attributes of polymeric nanoparticles. Now he is a PhD student in the InnovATOR project (Innovative Analytics for Therapeutic-Oligonucleotide Research). His research focuses on developing novel one and two dimensional liquid chromatography separations coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry for the characterization of oligonucleotides. He is the first PhD candidate to be embedded in both the Gargano and Pirok research groups of CAST.
Joshka Verduin
Joshka Verduin obtained her master’s degree at the University of Amsterdam in 2020. Afterwards she worked at the Dutch National Police laboratory. She is now a PhD student in the PARADISE (Propelling Analysts by Removing Analytical-, Data-, Instrument-, and Sample-related Encumbrances) joint project of the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam. In this project, Verduin investigates the use of multi-dimensional liquid-phase separations and reaction modulators for the analysis of drug-delivery systems with the aim of improving such systems in medicine. Her personal scientific interests lie mainly in applied chemistry with an emphasis in sustainability, method development and data analysis. Verduin furthermore enjoys karate and studying the Japanese language and culture.
Annika van der Zon
Annika van der Zon obtained her MSc degree in 2022 at the University of Amsterdam. For her master’s project, she developed a glycoform-specific pharmacokinetic LC-MS method for a monoclonal antibody from the plasma of rheumatoid arthritis patients. During her project, she found proteins in combination with mass spectrometry very interesting. She would like to broaden her knowledge in this area. Therefore, she is currently conducting her PhD in the group of Andrea Gargano and focuses on developing analytical strategies to characterize proteoforms of biopharmaceuticals, especially antibodies. In her project, she collaborates with pharmaceutical companies, medical centers, and instrument manufacturers.
Ziran Zhai
Ziran Zhai obtained his MSc degree in 2021 at the China Pharmaceutical University. For his MSc research project, he worked on the qualitative and quantitative analysis and impurities studying of innovative drugs with LC/GC and LC/GC-MS/MS methods. He earlier worked on the development of injectable supramolecular self-assembled peptide hydrogels. He currently conducts his PhD within the FFF project and focuses on the characterization of intact protein in native/denatured states by mass spectrometry and AF4. Zhai enjoys reading and traveling.
Past Members
Jim Boelrijk
Jim Boelrijk obtained his MSc. Chemistry in Molecular Sciences in 2019. For his degree, he mainly focused on theoretical chemistry and the application of machine learning to molecular modelling. He now conducts his PhD in the AI4Science Lab at the University of Amsterdam and investigates the development and application of machine-learning strategies to comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography. In his personal time, Boelrijk plays rugby in the Dutch national league and is an avid guitar player.
Stef Molenaar
Dr. Stef Molenaar conducted his PhD at the University of Amsterdam and his research was specifically aimed towards the development of method-development strategies as part of the UNMATCHED project. Molenaar earlier worked on retention modelling for multi-segmented gradients and hydrophilic interaction chromatography. Molenaar has also published on peak-tracking algorithms for LC(×LC)-MS data. He succesfully defended his PhD thesis in September 2023. He is currently doing a PostDoc at the Vrije Universeit Amsterdam with Professor Govert Somsen, where he focusses on data analysis tools for polymer separations.
Wouter Knol
Dr. Wouter Knol conducted his PhD in the UNMATCHED project in Amsterdam and mainly focused on techniques to determine the sequence distribution of polymers. Earlier, Knol developed methods using SWATH-MS within the context of proteomics. Within CAST, Wouter investigated optimization of the detection technique hyphenated to the separation system and the use of packed loops within modulated 2D-LC separations. He defended his PhD thesis in September 2023.
Leon Niezen
Dr. Leon Niezen was a PhD candidate in Amsterdam within the UNMATCHED project. Niezen had earlier worked on 3D-printing technology within the context of the development of analytical devices. He obtained his PhD in May 2023 with the distinction cum laude. In his PhD thesis, Leon mainly focused on the development of modulation strategies for polymers as well as retention models for polymer separations. In addition, his work studies the feasibility of effectively determining the critical point for polymer distributions and their use in so-called size-exclusion chromatography (SEC)-based gradients.
Mimi den Uijl
Dr. Mimi den Uijl was a PhD candidate in the TooCOLD (Toolbox for studying the Chemistry Of Light-induced Degradation) project at the University of Amsterdam and succesfully defended her PhD thesis in 2022. In this project, Mimi developed light-induced reaction modulators for use in 2D-LC. She also published on the development of analysis methods for cultural-heritage samples using LC×LC and active modulation.
