During my PhD (University of Oslo), focus was primarily related to technological developments in liquid chromatography (LC), with emphasis on hyphenated platforms. For instance, in-house developed online coupling of LC and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was explored, enabling detection and elucidation of sub microgram per millilitre amounts of targeted compounds. In addition, two dimensional LC was explored, and I was the first to online-couple hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and reversed phase chromatography. My PhD study resulted in 12, chromatography-based papers. Later, I was a post doctor fellow in the Cancer Stem Cell Research Centre (SFI-CAST) (Oslo, Norway). During this period, I performed research at Oslo University Hospital in Stefan Krauss’ group, at the University of Southern Illinois (Luke Tolley’s group), and at the University of Oslo. At this point, my research shifted towards signal pathway biology, especially the Hedgehog pathway. Focus was on tools for developing and testing novel pathway antagonists, but also developing robust systems for antagonist/metabolite analysis in limited samples e.g. small stem-like cancer cell side populations. This period resulted in 11 papers, often in high ranked biology journals. In 2012, I received an Associate Professor position at the Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo. Current focus is on combining novel analytical techniques with signal pathway analysis. One example is developing open tubular LC systems for high resolution/sensitivity-proteomics studies of Wnt and Hedgehog dynamics. I collaborate closely with the medical research community in Norway, with the philosophy that novel technical approaches should be put to use as soon as possible for aiding understanding and treatment of diseases.
