Research
Research
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Making a difference in research is becoming harder every year, and that's a good thing! There are more researchers and more research groups than ever. And things have become so specific, that is harder for an outsider to realize what is new and groundbreaking.
Interestingly, many amazing new discoveries appear by serendipity and, most importantly for us, by connecting different areas of science (e.g. the Doppler effect, used daily by MDs in specialties like cardiology or gynaecology, was originally used to measure the distance of stars).
This group aims to give a contribution to interdisciplinary research by connecting analytical chemistry and medicine.
These are some of the research areas we are currently working on:
Molecularly imprinted polymers
"Biosensors frequently require aqueous media with slim pH intervals, and they do not endure large temperature changes, which further reduces their limited shelf life. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) aim to solve this; they are the product of a few decades of scientific effort to mimic — and even improve — the antigen–antibody system that nature took millions of years to achieve."
in Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, 25 (2021) 100640
Gas-diffusion microextraction
"Gas-diffusion microextraction (GDME) is a technique developed a decade ago that consists in employing a small probe with a membrane and small liquid extract in its interior where a small portion of volatile and semi-volatile analytes is collected to be analyzed. It combines gas-diffusion and microextraction, where the separation of volatile analytes from a large volume solution through a gas‐permeable membrane into a smaller volume liquid receiver occurs. It is a low cost and very versatile technique; the extraction devices can be homemade with different designs and materials. Moreover, the portability and the simplicity of the extraction procedure (applying heat to the sample with the device) makes it an excellent sample preparation tool for volatile and semi‐volatile analytes in several types of samples."
in Journal of Chromatography A, 1636 (2021) 461797
Forensic sciences
Sample preparation
"Sample preparation is a stage of major importance within analytical chemistry. It is often a limiting step because it can be labour-intensive, time-consuming, environmentally hazardous, expensive and even sometimes harmful to the analyst. It has great influence in the precision, accuracy, limits of detection and quantification (LODs and LOQs) of analytical methodologies. Moreover, normally a clean extract will extend the equipment’s life span and/or make the instrumental measurement cheaper."
Derivatization
"Chemical modification, also known as derivatization or labelling, serves several purposes : it can make an analyte “visible” to a specific instrumental technique; it can also enhance sensitivity as well as selectivity. The chemical changes of the analyte can turn it in a compound that can be, for example: more stable, more photoactive, simpler to separate by chromatography and even different in its physical state. Derivatization is extremely useful and applicable in a wide range of analytical determinations."
Biosensors
Psychiatry
"Cotard delusion (CD) is a rare psychiatric disorder in which the patient believes to be dead, i.e., the patient holds nihilistic delusions concerning his/her own existence. Taking into account its rarity, and possible subdiagnosis due to unawareness, most of the literature consists of case studies, complicating a more systematic approach and leading to difficulties in deciding the best clinical guidance to offer the patient suffering from CD."
in International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, in press
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