I belong to the Analytical Sciences Unit (ASU) and the overall remit of my job is the handling and analysis of high-dimensional data. I work primarily in collaborative mode with science groups within Quadram Institute Bioscience who have mathematical, computing, or programming skill gaps. I also carry out development work of my own (ASU-led projects or external collaborations), and have responsibilities at a corporate level.

Within the context of collaborative projects, I strive to ensure the rigorous exploitation of complex data and facilitate biological interpretation in a multidisciplinary environment. I have had a long-standing involvement with metabolomics data, my own background being in analytical chemistry. However, I currently contribute to projects involving a broad range of data types, and develop tailored analyses e.g. in response to new technical advances (an example of this is the analysis of 16sRNA microbiota data, often collated alongside metabolomics data).

My expertise comprises the following: high-dimensional data analysis, chemometrics (e.g. eigenvector methods e.g. pca and pls, classification methods e.g. da,  ann, variable selections methods e.g. rfs and gas), programming with specialist software (e.g. Matlab, R) for implementing non-standard mathematical/ quantitative statistics approaches for data analysis, data visualization, metabolomics, spectroscopy, NMR, analytical chemistry.

Key Publications

Defernez M., Wren E., Watson A. D., Gunning Y., Colquhoun I. J., Le Gall G., Williamson D., Kemsley E. K. (2016) Low-field 1H NMR spectroscopy for distinguishing between arabica and robusta ground roast coffees Food Chemistry 216 106-113

Ballmer-Weber B., Fernandez-Rivas M., Beyer K., Defernez M., Sperrin M., Mackie A. R., Salt L. J., Hourihane J., Asero R., Belohlavkova S., Kowalski M., de Blay F., Papadopoulos N. G., Clausen M., Knulst A. C., Roberts G. C., Popov T., Sprikkelman A. B., Dubakiene R., Vieths S., van Ree R., Crevel R. W., Mills E. C. N. (2015) How much is too much? Threshold dose distributions for five food allergens Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 135 964-971

Armah C. N., Traka M. H., Dainty J. R., Defernez M., Janseens A., Leung W., Doleman J. F., Potter J. F., Mithen R. F. (2013) A diet rich in high-glucoraphanin broccoli interacts with genotype to reduce discordance in plasma metabolic profiles by modulating mitochondrial function American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 98 712-722

Defernez M., Colquhoun I. J (2003) Factors affecting the robustness of metabolite fingerprinting using H-1 NMR spectra Phytochemistry Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford 62 1009-1017

Defernez M., Kemsley E. K. (1997) The use and misuse of chemometrics for treating classification problems. Trends in Analytical Chemistry 16 216-22