In particular, Gargano's research is centered on the coupling of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to study the micro-heterogeneity (e.g., the chemical composition) of intact polymers, natural as well as synthetic. Examples of natural polymers are enzymes used in biotechnology and proteins, acting players of life whose function is regulated through chemical modifications (e.g., phosphorylation). Synthetic polymers are for instance high-performance polymers used for advanced coatings in material science.

Keep it intact

These two very diverse class of molecules have in common that they are of high molecular weight and have multiple distributions (e.g., with respect to molecular weight, conformation, etc.). Due to technological limitations, their properties are studied looking at fragments or average properties. Yet, much (important) information regarding their distributions cannot be characterized by the current approaches and is awaiting new technologies to be studied.

Veni laureate

Prior to his tenure track appointment at HIMS, Andrea Gargano has worked on his project 'Intact Protein Analysis' for which he received an NWO Veni grant in 2016. In this, he has explored innovative analytical methods to push forward the technology to characterize protein distribution in proteoforms. He performs experiments both at the Bio-Analytical Chemistry group of the Vrije Universiteit and the Analytical Chemistry group at HIMS (united as CASA, the Center for Analytical Science Amsterdam). He collaborates with renowned research institutes such as the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (WA, USA), Northwestern University (IL, USA), Leiden University Medical Center (Leiden, NL) and DSM Biotechnology Center (Delft, NL).

Andrea Gargano was awarded the Ernst-Bayer Award in 2014 and the Csaba Horváth Young-Scientist Award in 2015. In October 2018 the Analytical Scientist magazine listed him among the 'Fab Forty' of gifted young scientists 'making waves in analytical science.'