Daniel A. Rickert

-supervised undergraduate organic chemistry, biochemistry and general chemistry labs -responsible for marking lab reports, assignments and quizzes -ensured students followed assigned protocol and abided by all healthy and safety regulations (WHMIS, MSDS etc)

-completed my senior thesis project under the supervision of Professor Janusz Pawliszyn in the Department of Chemistry at uWaterloo -thesis centered on initial characterization of a novel coating for SPME in bioanalytical applications -investigated the physical stability and biocompatibility of the coating -assessed the suitability of the coating for targeted and untargeted SPME from biological samples using LCMS -assessed the potential applications of the novel coating for metabolomics studies using LCMS

-currently investigating therapeutic strategies for knee ligament repair using Western Blotting to determine relative protein expression levels over a specified time course -in vitro component of the project requires extensive cell culture preparation to ensure that a sufficient amount of time points are included in the study -in vivo component of the project involves using a rat injury model to further elucidate mechanisms of recovery and regeneration throughout the injury and healing process in the knee -eventual submission of completed research to a high-impact journal such as the American Journal of Orthopedics

-Completed chromatographic analysis using Liquid Chromatography (LC) with FLD, UV and DAD detectors for PAHs as well as Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry Analysis (GC-MS) for toxic POPs -Method development for a new standard operating protocol for clean-up, extraction and LC analysis of Polychlorinated Napthalenes (PCNs), a toxic POP found in the environment

-Managed an individual project creating a protocol for the expression and purification of a carbohydrate active enzyme including all optimizations and results analysis -Assisted in the expression, purification of several different enzymes and have experience in enzymatic assays as well as basic crystallization condition optimization

My Ph.D. research was supervised by Prof. Janusz Pawliszyn and Prof. Scott Hopkins. My thesis focused on the design, construction, and characterization of an innovative variable-flow trapped ion mobility spectrometer. I was also involved in other research projects that focused on the continued development of ambient mass spectrometry techniques, as well as investigating various analytical applications that employed hybrid ion mobility-mass spectrometry instruments.

My M.Sc. research in the Pawliszyn research group focused on the development, optimization, and characterization of ambient ionization mass spectrometry techniques such as coated blade spray (CBS) for quantitative analysis of biofluids. Using techniques such as CBS, I was able to leverage the intrinsic advantages of solid phase microextraction (SPME) to improve the selectivity of target compounds, reduce analysis time and achieve lower detection limits when compared to traditional sample preparation approaches. Furthermore, I was also responsible for validating the CBS technology for clinical applications, with a particular focus on immunosuppressive drugs and other challenging analytes.