Dr. Isabelle Kohler is a tenure track researcher at the division of Bioanalytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Her major research interests lie at the intersection between bioanalysis, metabolomics, and forensic/clinical toxicology. As an educated Pharmacist, she is interested in better understanding the pharmacokinetics and toxicokinetics of drugs and pharmaceutical compounds in the body. Her research expertise includes the development of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry-based approaches for the analysis of metabolites (i.e., small molecules such as drugs, drug metabolites, or endogenous compounds) in complex biological fluids and tissues. She also focuses on developing novel analytical approaches based on metabolomics for clinical and forensic applications.
Isabelle Kohler obtained her MSc and Federal Diploma in Pharmacy at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. She received her PhD in 2013 at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (University of Geneva). Her PhD research focused on capillary electrophoresis – mass spectrometry and the development of high sensitive methods for clinical and forensic applications. The same year, she was awarded the Swiss Young Researcher Award in Analytical Chemistry from the Center of Expertise in Analytical Chemistry and Toxicology. She then obtained a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation to continue her career abroad. She joined the Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) for a postdoc fellowship focused on the use of metabolomics (untargeted and targeted approaches) for investigating the biomolecular mechanisms of migraine at the metabolic level using a transgenic mouse model, a collaboration with the Department of Human Genetics at the LUMC.
Prior to joining the VU, she has been working as an Assistant Professor at the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR) at Leiden University, in the group of Prof. Thomas Hankemeier, to further develop her expertise in clinical metabolomics, notably in the context of neurological disorders.
Isabelle Kohler is also actively involved in teaching activities, as well as supervision and mentoring of (PhD) students. She is notably involved in the Masters Chemistry track Analytical Sciences (joined degree VU/UvA); Drug Discovery and Safety, and Forensic Sciences (UvA). She has obtained her University Teaching Qualification (Basiskwalificatie Onderwijs, BKO) in 2019. Her enthusiasm and teaching skills have been appreciated by the students, as highlighted by her nomination in 2018 to the Leiden University Faculty of Sciences Teaching Award.
Isabelle Kohler is a Board member of the following associations:
- Dutch Society for Mass Spectrometry (NVMS, Secretary)
- Stiching for International Mass Spectrometry Conference 2022 (IMSC2022, Secretary)
- Society for Microscale Separations and Bioanalysis (SMSB, Secretary)
