Research team
Expertise
2016-2020 Celine graduated as a pharmacist from the Uantwerpen in 2016. Subsequently, she performed her PhD research in the Toxicological Center, working on human exposure to BPA and other bisphenols. Celine's key developed skills include: development, validation & application of quantitative methods using GC-MS/MS & LC-MS/MS, suspect/non-target screening using LC-QTOF-MS, statistical data analysis, human in vitro metabolism assays, biomonitoring and scientific communication. 2020-heden Celine is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Toxicological Centre, with a focus on forensic toxicology. She is mainly responsible for the development and optimisation of new and existing analytical methods that are applied in (routine) forensic analyses. In addition, she contributes to data analysis and interpretation of the results in forensic cases. She guides the new generation of doctoral candidates in environmental and forensic toxicology.
Vitreous humour thanatometabolomics: in-depth metabolome profiling of an alternative matrix in post-mortem forensic medicine to aid in establishing the cause of death (VITHAMET)
Abstract
Forensic science and medicine currently rely on forensic autopsies and traditional chemical/toxicological analyses to establish the cause of death of unnatural, suspicious, and unexpected deaths. However, identifying a cause of death still comes with substantial challenges because of non-specific findings during autopsies and large interindividual variability in the results of performed chemical/toxicological analyses. Therefore, there is a clear need for innovative methods that allow a more objective determination of the cause of death in forensic medicine. The VITHAMET project strives to investigate the potential of applying metabolomics approaches to post-mortem vitreous humour to gather complementary and more detailed information on the cause of death in a forensic context. Initially, we will optimize and develop state-of-the-art metabolomics and lipidomics workflows tailored for vitreous humour, based on cutting-edge instrumentation. Subsequently, the global endogenous composition of the human post-mortem vitreous humour metabolome will be characterized in its entirety, resulting in a "human vitreous humour metabolome atlas". Finally, we will investigate alterations in the metabolome of post-mortem vitreous humour samples from selected causes of death (CO-intoxication, drowning and alcohol intoxication) to evaluate the diagnostic value of post-mortem vitreous humour metabolomics for more accurate cause of death determination in forensic investigations.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: van Nuijs Alexander
- Co-promoter: Gys Celine
- Fellow: Jacobs Leen
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project