Meet Guinevere Lageveen-Kammeijer

Guinevere studies glycosylation – the sugars decorating proteins and cells – and how it changes in diseases such as cancer. Her group advances CE-MS-based glyco(proteo)mics to uncover previously hidden molecular details, with the ultimate aim of analyzing individual cells and revealing new biology.

“Glycosylation never stops surprising us,” she says. “Every time new technologies allow us to look deeper, we find answers, but also unexpected biology, previously unseen molecular species, and new questions.” Advances in sensitivity, separation, and data analysis are bringing single-cell glycomics closer, but Guinevere stresses that detection alone is not enough. “The goal should not be simply to detect more; it is to uncover meaningful biology. As sensitivity increases, understanding what is real – including taking our blanks seriously! – becomes even more important.”

Her prediction for the coming decade is richer molecular information from dramatically less material. This will mean distinguishing isomers, linkages, and structural differences that may completely alter the biology. “Glycans have largely been missing from the single-cell revolution, and bringing glycomics into this space could reveal an entirely new layer of cellular heterogeneity,” she says. AI may help identify patterns within this information, but human judgment remains indispensable: “We still need to understand where our data comes from, what its limitations are, and whether an exciting pattern actually makes chemical and biological sense.”

A serendipitous experiment redirected Guinevere’s PhD and career. Prostate-specific antigen, initially selected as a model glycoprotein, revealed the separation power of CE for glycoforms carrying differently linked sialic acids and led her toward studying glycosylation in prostate cancer. “It taught me that sometimes the experiment you did not plan to build your career around becomes the one that changes its direction completely.”

Creativity also shapes how Guinevere researches, teaches, and communicates. “It is about finding the story, deciding what really matters, and making someone curious enough to want to know more,” she says. “Sometimes finding a simple way to explain something, or being asked a wonderfully basic ‘why?,’ is exactly what I need to see a problem from a completely new angle.”