SciLux podcast – Kathleen Mommaerts, Biospecimen Science Researcher

31 October 2023

Biobanks and Sample Preparation

Blood, urine, saliva, tissue: Researchers can extract a wide range of information from samples stored in biobanks such as IBBL in Luxembourg. Dr Kathleen Mommaerts is dedicated to improving the quality of these samples.

Dr Kathleen Mommaerts is Biospecimen Science Researcher in the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL) of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH). Her research focuses on the long-term improvement in the pre-analytical variability of samples.

“Superhero tools”

Biobanks store various kind of samples such as blood, urine, saliva, breast milk or tissues, from both healthy and diseased individuals. Researchers can extract a wide range of information from these samples, known as biomarkers, such as glucose or cholesterol in the blood, which provide insights into various diseases. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers required large quantities of samples for their epidemiological studies. However, there is a problem: not all samples are of the same quality, which can lead to errors. Differences in sample quality can affect the parameters measured and are not necessarily indicative of a disease.

This is where Kathleen Moammerts’ work comes into play. She investigates the pre-analytical variability of samples to improve it in the long term. Her research interests extend beyond blood samples to include cerebrospinal fluid samples, the clear and colorless bodily fluid associated with brain tissue.

Listen to Dr Kathleen Mommaerts to learn more about biospecimen research in Luxembourg and, more generally, how the collection, processing, analysis and storage of biological samples work in a biobank.

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Pluripotent stem cells

In July 2023, Dr Mommaerts was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Society Award in Science for her article on induced pluripotent stem cells, which was published in the journal “Biopreservation and Biobanking” in February 2022,

In her article “Method Optimization of Skin Biopsy-Derived Fibroblast Culture for Reprogramming Into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells”, Dr Mommaerts presents a method for the processing of skin biopsies, and specifically for the isolation, culture and cryopreservation of skin-derived fibroblasts, which can subsequently be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells.

It was such a wonderful surprise to have been awarded this prestigious award. I am extremely grateful to the selection committee for selecting our paper, which is an excellent example of a collaborative project involving the key Luxembourg research institutes working on this topic. I am also grateful to my colleagues for providing their support and expertise.

Kathleen Mommaerts

The full study, carried out by Dr. Mommaerts in collaboration with Camille Bellora (IBBL), Pauline Lambert (IBBL), Seval Türkmen (Laboratoire National de Santé), Jens Schwamborn (Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine) and Fay Betsou (Institut Pasteur), can be accessed here.

The Rosalind Franklin Society Award in Science rewards the best paper of the year by a woman or underrepresented minority in science, in each of the publisher’s 100 peer-reviewed journals in science, medicine and biotechnology.

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