I did my bachelors degrees in chemistry, biochemistry and philosophy at the University of Otago, in my homeland of New Zealand. From there I threw myself across the pacific to carry out my PhD with prof. Stephen Withers at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Next I crossed the pacific again to pursue a JSPS post-doctoral position at the University of Tokyo, Japan, under the guidance of prof. Hiroaki Suga. Heading back to my roots, I then took up an assistant professorship position at Utrecht University before moving the group to our current home at VU Amsterdam. My research interests are guided by a desire to understand how living systems work on a chemical level. I am fascinated by the idea of a collection of intricate and complex reactions coming together to create something like a cell, or even a whole organism.

My passion is to understand and regulate molecular interactions from a chemical perspective. I graduated from Kyoto University with a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences. During the 4th year of my bachelor's studies, I visited Utrecht University for a year-long research internship under the guidance of Dr. S.A.K. Jongkees. This experience inspired me to continue my career in the Netherlands and I pursued a Master's degree in Chemistry at Leiden University. During the master's, I used quantum simulations to investigate the mechanisms of chemical reactions under the supervision of Dr. J.D.C. Codée. Additionally, I investigated the computational aromaticity in the group of Dr. C. Fonseca Guerra at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. My academic journey returned to Jongkees group for my PhD at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I worked on a project to discover glycopeptides as  immune system regulators. After completing PhD, I continue to pursue my passion for novel drug discovery using chemically modified peptides.

I perfomed my Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. During this Bachelor's I specialized in chemical biology and tissue engineering. Furthermore, I worked in the group of Prof. Luc Brunsveld on branched, light-cleavable peptides for the modulation of supramolecular interactions. During my Master's Biomedical Engineering, which I also perfomed in Eindhoven, I further specialized in chemical biology. I again worked in the lab of Prof. Brunsveld, this time focusing on protein engineering and assay development in order to engineer an allosteric pocket in the nuclear receptor RORalfa. I finished my degree with an intership at the Netherlands Translational Research Center. Here I worked on the characterization of the interaction between drug candidates and two proteins involved in cancer, using X-ray crystallography and various biochemical and biophysical assays. At the moment I am persuing my PhD in the group of Seino Jongkees at VU Amsterdam. I am working on genetically reprogramming proteins in lysate-based cell-free expression systems using flexizymes. Additionally, I am working on the characterization and discovery of cyclic peptide inhibitors of several viral and membrane proteins. My ambition is to further develop some of these cyclic peptides into compounds that can be used for the targeted degradation of membrane proteins. 

I completed both my bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in the Ichikawa Laboratory at Hokkaido University, located in my hometown. There, I learned the fundamentals of organic chemistry and gained an appreciation for natural products, while also realizing the challenges associated with their total synthesis and derivative synthesis.

Currently, I am working in the Jongkees Laboratory, where I am learning to master mRNA display and exploring the development of reactions compatible with this method, as well as the applicability of existing reactions. Through this work, I aim to construct libraries of hybrid peptides—peptides that incorporate non-amino-acid structural elements—containing pseudo-natural product scaffolds, and ultimately establish more straightforward approaches for generating natural product derivatives.

After my BSc and MSc in Life Science from Leibniz University Hannover, I joined Nathaniel Martin's group at Leiden University for a PhD, where I had already spent 6 months during my Erasmus+ internship researching antibiotic resistance mechanisms and their inhibitors. My PhD research focused on development of novel antibiotics targeting the gram-negative cell envelope and the characterization of resistance enzymes. During my PhD I spent some time at the VU using mRNA display to find new binders to the potential antibiotic target BamA and have returned as a postdoc to continue this work, now targeting the protein LspA. I'm fascinated by the interaction of small and large molecules and how they can drive or, in the right circumstances, defeat disease.

I received my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from University of Alcalá. During this time, I had the opportunity to complete an Erasmus internship at Université de Poitiers, where I conducted research on heterogeneous catalysis for the catalytic conversion of carbohydrates into biosolvents via the furanic platform under the supervision of Karine Vigier. I later had the opportunity to join the Scanlan group at Trinity College Dublin for my PhD research. My work was focused on organic synthetic chemistry, including the synthesis of bioactive molecules and peptide chemistry, with a particular focus on developing novel “click” photochemical methodologies for peptide bioconjugation, macrocyclization, and stapling. In the final year of my PhD, I expanded my expertise into the field of chemical biology through a research placement at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam under the supervision of Dr. Seino Jongkees. During this project, I developed a covalent, site-selective protein modification strategy for mRNA display platforms targeting aberrant protein–protein interactions. This experience allowed me to broaden my skill set and apply my knowledge in an interdisciplinary context. Likely, I could continue as a postdoctoral researcher, where I developed and optimized high-throughput screening platforms for genetically encoded peptide libraries, contributing to intellectual property and patent development.

​I received my bachelors degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Utrecht University, during which I did an mRNA display selection at the Jongkees lab on sialvltransferase ST6Gal1, an enzyme overexpressed in many types of cancer. I then pursued a masters degree, further deepening my knowledge of Pharmaceutical Sciences, again at Utrecht University. During my masters I investigated non-canonical amino acids for the bio-orthogonal modification of peptides at the Jongkees lab and I investigated a modular nanoparticle system at the Radboud University in Nijmegen under the supervision of Dr. Kim Bonger. I received my masters degree in mid-2022 and not long after took up the position of Lab Technician at the Jongkees lab. I want to further develop my understanding of a wide range of Biochemical research topics and techniques. I'm fascinated by the chemistry of life, how so many brainless things can form such intricate and complex systems. And how one can manipulate this chemistry of life to a host of potential uses, from developing therapeutics to understanding the fundamentals behind disease.

I graduated from the chemistry department of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with a major in inorganic chemistry. A year later, the work of my bachelor’s thesis, concerning the synthesis of a metalloorganic complex (Ruthenium with para-quinoline ligands) for cancer treatment, was published. Next step was relocation to the Netherlands for my master’s, Drug Innovation program in Utrecht University. The first internship took place in the Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery department, at the Wennekes Lab. The project involved the organic synthesis of a bacterial sugar precursor (Legionaminic acid). This compound was designed for in vivo labeling studies and for application in aldolase libraries aimed at drug discovery. This experience marked the beginning of my strong interest in chemical biology and glycochemistry. I am currently conducting my second internship in Dr. Seino Jongkees’ lab at Vrije University. During my time here, I aim to chemically synthesize fluorescent inhibitors for two separate enzymes (human heparanase and bacterial LspA). Techniques such as mRNA display, and hydrogel bead assay, will be employed for target identification and validation. To conclude, I believe that if we use chemistry as a tool in biology, like math for physics, we might gain useful insight to combat orphan or “uncurable” diseases.

Hello there, :)

I have a strong interest in biochemistry and drug discovery. I graduated with a Bachelor's in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, where I completed an internship in the Department of Biotherapeutics, focusing on the synthesis and supramolecular polymerisation of biphenyl tetra carboxamide-based peptides to study liquid droplet formation. During my Master’s in Biopharmaceutical Sciences (Drug Discovery & Safety specialisation), I carried out an internship in the Medicinal Chemistry department in the group of Sebastian Pomplun, contributing to early-stage hit-to-lead optimisation of a β-catenin inhibitor using affinity selection–tandem mass spectrometry. I am currently finalising my Master’s through an external internship at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in Jongkees’ lab, where I work on expanding chemical diversity and improving cell permeability in mRNA display macrocyclic libraries.

After a career in art and theatre, I pursued a Bachelor’s degree Scheikunde joint degree at the UvA and VU, where I discovered a passion for biochemistry and biotechnology. This led to in an internship at the Jongkees lab, where I explored reprogramming in in vitro translation using cell lysates from engineered bacteria. Keen to dive deeper, I continued with a Master’s in Chemistry (Chemistry of Life track) at the UvA and VU. Drawn to the creative aspects of scientific research, I returned to the Jongkees Lab for an extended master’s program internship to work on a novel design for mRNA display libraries, aiming to develop a generalizable strategy for the experimental discovery and optimization of high-affinity ternary binding interactions, allowing for the engineering of multicomponent complexes, relevant to challenges in drug discovery and molecular glues.

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from University of Amsterdam and

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. During my bachelor’s studies, I completed a short

internship at the Jongkees group, where I worked with flexizymes and explored their

application in the incorporation of non-canonical building blocks into peptide systems. I

am currently pursuing a Masters in Chemistry at the VU, following the Molecular science

track. My main interests are synthetic chemistry and biochemistry and I am currently

doing an internship at the Jongkees group, where I am working on the synthesis of

macrocyclic peptides. The goal is to try to improve their stability against enzymatic

degradation while keeping the target binding properties.

I graduated from Avans University of Applied Sciences with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry (Food and Pharma). During my studies, I hopped between internships in biochemistry, microbiology, and analytical chemistry, which gave me a solid, hands-on foundation in the lab. After completing a pre-master’s, I’m now working toward my Master’s in Molecular Sciences at the UvA/VU. My main passion lies at the intersection of organic synthesis and chemical biology. I’m currently putting this into practice at the Jongkees lab, where I’m optimizing how we incorporate small molecule modifications into mRNA display.

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