Personal information
Dr. Jeroen Kool
Associate Professor in BioMolecular Analysis
Division of BioAnalytical Chemistry

Research
My research focuses on high-resolution analytical screening of biologically active mixtures, with a strong emphasis on integrating chromatography, mass spectrometry, and biological assays into unified high-throughput platforms. I am internationally recognized for developing nanofractionation analytics, enabling parallel LC-MS(/MS), GC-MS, and bioassay-based profiling of complex mixtures such as natural products, metabolic mixtures, environmental contaminants, and animal venoms.

A major part of my work concerns venom research, ranging from HTS venomics, zebrafish-based toxin profiling, and venom metabolomics to analytical approaches for understanding venom-induced pathologies. These efforts contribute to snakebite research, drug discovery, and development of new antivenoms and small-molecule therapeutic strategies for treating snakebites. My group also develops analytical pipelines for GPCR ligand discovery, metabolic mixture analysis, and profiling of biopharmaceuticals using microfluidics and SPR-based bioassays.

I also develop advanced LC–MS/MS and nanofractionation-based analytical workflows for metabolic profiling, metabolite identification (Met-ID), and bioactivity assessment of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and other drugs of abuse in complex biological and environmental matrices.

I collaborate widely with academic, clinical, and industrial partners across Europe, the UK, Brazil, Australia, and Asia. My publication record includes over 150 peer-reviewed papers, multiple patents, and contributions to large international research consortia.

Teaching
I am an active teacher and curriculum leader within the Chemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences programs at the VU. Currently, I teach and coordinate several MSc and BSc courses, including High Throughput Screening and Biopharmaceuticals & Biopharma Proteomics. I also supervise and have supervised numerous MSc, BSc, and HLO internships and MSc literature theses, ensuring strong research integration within our educational programs.

Since 2024 I serve as Programme Director of the MSc Drug Discovery Sciences (DDS), overseeing a 2-year curriculum focused on early-stage drug discovery. Previously, I chaired the Programme Committee (OLC) for the Pharmaceutical Sciences BSc/MSc and coordinated the DDS Bioanalytics track, which I initiated in 2021. I have been closely involved in curriculum development, course design, practical course coordination, and educational quality assurance. I was nominated for the VU Faculty Education Prize for Best Teacher (2011).

Other important information / grants / group information / other activities
I lead the Venoms&Drugs group within the division of BioAnalytical Chemistry. My team currently includes PhD candidates, postdocs and junior group leader. Over the years, I supervised more than a dozen PhD projects as promotor or co-promotor, and I obtained Ius Promovendi in 2020.

I have secured substantial external funding as PI or co-applicant, including grants from Wellcome Trust, Open Philanthropy, EU MSCA-ITN, Biodiversa+ (Biodiversity2Drugs), TKI-Chemie,  Naturalis and NWO/TTW Open Technology Programme. Several of these large-scale projects support drug discovery, venom pathology research, GPCR ligand profiling, and water quality analytics.

My research led to two patented and valorized technologies: the DVLS GC Fractionator and the FractioMate™ LC fractionation platform. I serve on several editorial boards and participate in professional committees such as the VU Nagoya. I regularly give invited lectures, co-organize scientific meetings, and engage in interdisciplinary collaborations across academia, industry, and global snakebite-research consortia.

More information can be found on my Research Portal Profile.

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