Erasmus praksa na Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) v Rimu
Objavljeno: 16. feb. 2026
My research focuses on developing and applying LC-HRMS methods for the non-targeted screening of organic contaminants in human samples. During my Erasmus traineeship at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) in Rome, I further advanced these workflows, with a specific focus on urinary exposome profiling. In non-targeted analysis, one of the key challenges is the limited chemical space coverage achievable with any single sample-preparation strategy and LC–HRMS method. Therefore, a major objective of my traineeship was to evaluate and optimize complementary extraction approaches to broaden chemical-space coverage and improve the detection of diverse biomarkers of exposure.
During the traineeship, I worked with urine samples prepared using supramolecular solvent-based extraction (SUPRAS) and solid-phase extraction (SPE), analyzed across reversed-phase (RP) and HILIC separation. Measurements were performed on a Waters Synapt XS (QTOF), while the same sample set had previously been acquired at Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) on an Orbitrap Exploris 240 platform. We assessed different acquisition strategies (including DDA and DIA/MSE) and initially explored the added value of ion mobility; however, based on sensitivity considerations and data-processing complexity, we continued without ion mobility and focused on robust DIA processing.
Overall, this traineeship strengthened my practical expertise in LC–HRMS operation and method optimization, and it significantly improved my competence in data-processing workflows (e.g., MZmine/MS-DIAL) and in critically comparing extraction and acquisition strategies for comprehensive exposome characterization.
On a personal note, I can confirm that the weather and coffee in Rome were far better than in Ljubljana. I was also warmly welcomed by colleagues at the institute, which created a supportive and motivating environment throughout my stay.
Žan Rekar, EKO3
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