Expertise
What I work with
Hands-on instruments, analyte classes and quality frameworks, grouped for quick scanning. Biology and genomics skills come last: they support the analytical work rather than replace it.
01
LC-MS/MS & chromatography
Instruments
- SCIEX QTRAP 6500+
- SCIEX QTRAP 5500
- SCIEX 3200
- Thermo TSQ
- Shimadzu LC-40D
- HPLC
- TOC analyzer
Method development
- Targeted multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) methods for small molecules in complex biological matrices, including one method covering 80+ analytes.
- Extraction development for hormones, oxylipins, mycotoxins and sterols, including cryogenic tissue homogenization.
- Matrix-effect evaluation through internal standard selection, standard addition and dilution.
- Limit of detection (LOD) determination, and method transfer between instrument generations.
Instrument ownership
- Selected and purchased a SCIEX QTRAP 6500+; oversaw installation and vendor qualification; wrote the lab’s SOPs.
02
Analyte classes
LC-MS/MS
- Fat-soluble vitamins
- Water-soluble vitamins
- Amino acids
- Mycotoxins
- Phytohormones (jasmonates, SA, ABA, auxins)
- Oxylipins
- Sterols
HPLC
- Beta-carotene
- CoQ10
- Caffeine
- Scoville heat units
- Preservatives
03
Quality & regulatory
Accredited-laboratory practice
- Work in an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory, including an A2LA assessment.
- Executing a formal ISO/IEC 17025 method validation (HPLC): system suitability, linearity, repeatability, intermediate precision, accuracy (recovery), LOQ and measurement uncertainty.
- Peer review and approval of colleagues’ analyses, calculations and LIMS data entry.
- Initiation of out-of-specification (OOS) investigations.
Frameworks
- ISO/IEC 17025
- USP methods
- AOAC methods
- 21 CFR 111
- Good documentation practice (GDP)
Working knowledge of 21 CFR 210/211 (pharmaceutical cGMP).
Biosafety & permitting
- BSL-2
- APHIS permits
- Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)
04
Data & software
Instrument & lab software
- SCIEX OS
- Analyst
- PeakView
- LipidView
- MasterView
- Thermo TraceFinder
- Chromeleon
- LIMS
Analysis & programming
- Python
- R (tidyverse, agricolae, edgeR)
- JMP
- Bash
05
Molecular biology & genomics
- Maize genetics: continued backcross introgression of Mutator (Mu) transposon insertional mutants (through BC7), with PCR genotyping of insertion alleles.
- qPCR and RT-qPCR gene expression analysis.
- Molecular cloning.
- RNA-seq data analysis (Salmon, Trinity, edgeR).
- Gene family identification and phylogenetic analysis (TBtools, MCScanX, BLAST+).
06
Training & languages
- SCIEX Triple Quad Systems Training for Quantification (2014)
- North American Mass Spectrometry Summer School, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2018); poster award
- Thermo Fisher Keys to Successful qPCR (2020); Illumina RNA-Seq Workshop, University of Rochester (2019)
- English (fluent); Spanish (intermediate speaking)