We welcome Zhen Yang as new PhD student in the group. Zhen, who obtained his MSc degree in Analytical Chemistry from Uppsala University (Sweden), will work on the development of an ingestible sensor. His project is a a collaboration of imec, the Synthetic Organic Chemistry group at Radboud University in Nijmegen and our Laboratory of Organic Chemistry at Wageningen University & Research.
Ingestible sensors have the potential to non-invasively measure biomarkers and metabolites in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Using such electronic smart pills equipped with sensors will give novel insights into gut processes, help with early diagnosis and screening for diseases, and aid personalised nutrition. The project is highly interdisciplinary involving organic chemistry, surface chemistry and biocatalysis and therefore strongly relies on teamwork and collaboration as the laboratory work will take place in the labs of all three project partners.