Local Planning committee 

• Fenne Verheijen
• Laura Hetzel
• Clare Eynon
• Elana Stolaki
• Denise Slenter
• Jorien van der Weerd

Meet the committee members

Fenne Verheijen 

My name is Fenne and I am currently completing my PhD at Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
During my PhD I investigated the metabolic regulation of autologous tolerogenic dendritic cells, which are currently being tested as a novel immune therapy for several autoimmune diseases. To increase our insights into the metabolic regulation of these cells I used several techniques, including LC-MS and flow cytometry. In addition to my PhD trajectory, I have worked on both the 2024 and 2026 edition of the EUSM. In both years I worked in the scientific committee, to develop an inspiring scientific program. As EUSM2026 takes place in the Netherlands, I have also joined the local committee this year. 

Fun fact: I love singing classical music and studied classical singing next to my science bachelor and master. 

 

Pelagia Lekka

Pelagia Lekka is a PhD candidate in the Laboratory of Food Chemistry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her research focuses on metabolomics, clinical nutrition studies, and the characterization of phenolic and aromatic compounds in wine. She employs advanced analytical techniques, such as HPLC-QTOF-MS, in combination with chemometric and statistical tools to investigate the metabolic impact of dietary interventions. Her work spans both acute and long-term human studies and includes the chemical profiling of indigenous Greek wine varieties, with particular emphasis on their bioactive composition.

 

Susana Ramos

Susana Monino Ramos is a Spanish PhD candidate at Scotland’s Rural College and the University of Edinburgh and a member of the scientific committee of the EUSM 2026. Her research focuses on the exploration metabolic interactions between anaerobic fungi and bacteria in the microbiome of ruminant herbivores. She uses untargeted metabolomics and tracing studies to gain deep understanding of the metabolites and fungal biochemical mechanisms responsible for plant lignocellulose degradation, with applications in biotechnology and sustainable farming. Outside of research, she enjoys exploring Scotland’s landscapes, practicing yoga and birdwatching.

 

Teo Hebra

Function: Postdoctoral researcher
Institution: IOCB Prague
Function within comittee: Scientific Comitte, meeting scheduler ;)
Field of research: Untargeted metabolomics, specialised metabolism
Fun fact: My daughters cousin is a dog
Origin: Toulouse, France

 

 

Sandrien Desmet

My name is Sandrien Desmet and I am currently working as a metabolomics expert at the VIB Metabolomics Core Ghent, embedded in the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. I graduated in 2014 as a Master of Science in Biochemical Engineering Technology at Ghent University. During my master’s thesis, I worked on the optimization and validation of the toxicological screening of drugs in human blood samples. Following my master's, I pursued a PhD in the Bio-Energy and Bio-Aromatics group at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. My research centered around the aromatic metabolism of poplar and maize, where I developed dry and wet lab tools for the structural characterization of specialized metabolites. Today, my work at the VIB Metabolomics Core Ghent involves exploring the metabolome to understand biological processes in both plant, animal and microbial samples.

 

Alison Whitby

I am Alison Whitby and I am a postdoc at the University of Nottingham, UK. I work in the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre analysing samples from tumours and cerebrospinal fluid using LC-MS metabolomics to find out more about the differential metabolism in brain tumours. I also analyse samples of children’s liver tumours, another type of embryonal tumour. I grew up in Nottingham and as a child, was fiercely proud of the legend of Robin Hood. Nottingham still has a Sheriff but I think she/he is nice these days. On the EUSM 2026 scientific committee, I will assist in planning the programme and choosing the best speakers for the topics we want ECRs to learn about. I enjoyed organising the last EUSM and look forward to the next!

 

Ioana Fidel

My name is Ioana Ileana Fidel and I am a physicist, with a bachelor and a master degree in the field of Medical Physics from Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, Romania. Currently I am part of the Biophysics and Biomedical Application team, Laser Gamma Experiment Department  from Extreme Light Infrastructure Nuclear-Physics and in the same time I am a Phd student at the Interdisciplinary School of Doctoral Studies under the supervision of professor Paul Vasos. I love science, music and organizing scientific events. 

My main scientific interest is related to the study of biomolecular effects of ionizing radiation. The investigations tool that I am using are Magnetic Resonance Techniques (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and recently I discovered the fascinating world of Earth Field NMR).  I work with cells cultures. I grow them, I irradiate them, I study them, in order to see how their metabolism is affected. Another scientific passion is related to the high power lasers. One of my aim is to use this system in the radiobiological studies that I am doing. I also have an interest in optical fibers and their possibility to be used in studies on cells.

Laura Hetzel

I am Laura, originally from Chicago (USA). I am in my last year of my PhD at Leiden University (NL). I focus on single cell metabolomics of 3D cellular models and work under the supervision of Ahmed Ali and Thomas Hankemeier. I prefer to work on the mass spec method development side of the biological projects. This is the third edition of EUSM that I am involved with and have had nothing but wonderful experiences. I have a Catahoula dog, who I have lived in 3 different countries with and often go on holiday with. Even though she is 17 kg, I treat her like a lap dog and carry her through the city in a backpack.

 

Clare Eynon

I am Clare and I am on the local committee. I am from the UK and am currently in my second year of my PhD at the University of Nottingham. I have a BSc in Medical Genetics and an MSc in Cell Biology.  I work alongside Dr Alison Whitby in the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre and use surface analysis mass spec methods to analyse children’s brain tumours. My primary focus is using metabolomics to understand the metabolic differences between the tumour core and invasive margin in ependymoma and high-grade glioma. Outside of research I love to crochet and do yoga.

 

Elena Stolaki

I am Eleni (Elena) Stolaki, and I come from Corinth, Greece. I have been living in Thessaloniki for the past ten years, where I studied pharmacy. I hold an MSc in Precision Medicine, Translational Research and Therapeutics. I am currently a scientific associate in the Laboratory of Biological Chemistry in the School of Medicine in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and I am a member of Functional Proteomics and Systems Biology (FunPAth) Research Group in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (CIRI-AUTH). I participate in the scientific committee of the EUSM 2026, and the first task I get involved in is the sponsor’s booklet. My scientific interests include proteomics and metabolomics approaches for the study of lymphoma metabolic rewiring and pathophysiology. On my way to a PhD proposal, I am planning to work with lymphoma metabolic rewiring concerning apoptotic mechanisms and pharmacometabolomics. I am also a volunteer teacher and coordinator in a Solidarity School, teaching organic chemistry and biology to high school students for the past eight years. Fun fact about myself? I am constantly complaining about the intensification of everyday life nowadays, but my biggest dream is to own a time machine!

 

Denise Slenter

My name is Denise Slenter and I am currently working as a postdoc researcher in the Translational Genomics department at Maastricht University (MU), the Netherlands. During my prior educational path I studied chemical engineering (Technical University of Eindhoven TU/e), Forensic Science (University of Amsterdam), chemistry education (TU/e), ending with a PhD in Bioinformatics (MU). During my PhD I researched metabolic pathways, graph models, semantic web technologies (RDF) and metabolomics data. I am a passionate advocate for open science, and I lead collaborative projects that bring together domain experts and data analysis communities. My research spans four key areas: data integration, curation, and identifiers; inherited metabolic disorders (IMDs); metabolomics and lipidomics data; and the development of data analysis pipelines.

 

Jorien van der Weerd

Jorien is a fabulous scientist and inspiring lecturer, currently teaching at Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, NL. She participated in the first edition of EUSM and played a major role in organizing the second edition.