An Chen

People are chronically exposed to dietary and environmental contaminants, such as mycotoxins and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Mycotoxins are natural secondary metabolites produced by fungi, present in food worldwide. POPs are chemicals that persist in the environment due to their extensive use in industrial and agricultural applications. Chronic exposure to these contaminants has been linked to severe health effects, including increased cancer risk & endocrine disruption, with young people being especially vulnerable to the latter. Human biomonitoring allows for accurate assessment of exposure at the individual level, integrating all sources of exposure. For large-scale population studies, work flow automation and minimally-invasive microsampling methods such as volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) have gained increasing attention. 
My research focuses on developing an automated VAMS-based method for the analysis of mycotoxin and POP biomarkers, using robotics for an automated sample preparation, and LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. This method will be applied on the Flemish Environment and Health Studies (FLEHS) cohorts (5 cycles from 2002-2027, n≥2,100), which offers a unique prospect to investigate the exposure of adolescents (aged 14-15 years). Reference values of the contaminants will be established to identify highly exposed subgroups and enable comparisons with established toxicity benchmarks (e.g. human biomonitoring-guidance values) to perform risk assessments. To identify exposure sources, the biomonitoring results will be correlated with food consumption data, which can lead to personalized preventive nutrition and food safety measures. In addition, time series analysis of all FLEHS samples will be performed to evaluate the impact of climate change on exposure levels and the effectiveness of past public health efforts designed to reduce these levels. 
 

• Bachelor in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2018-2021)
• Master in Pharmaceutical Care (2021-2023)
• Top student award (2023)
• PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2023-to date)
   

• Lab address: Ottergemsesteenweg 460 – 9000 Ghent
• Centre of Excellence in Mycotoxicology and Public Health
• Toxicological Centre  
• Linkedin 
• An Chen is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks