Researcher biography

Pradeep earned his Bachelor of Food Science and Technology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2008 and later pursued a Master of Science in Biochemistry at Pukyong National University, South Korea, graduating in 2013. He completed his PhD at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), the University of Queensland, in 2019. His doctoral research focused on developing strategies to investigate novel and bioactive microbial secondary metabolites, showcasing his proficiency in detecting, isolating, and characterising small molecules using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS).

After completing his PhD, Pradeep joined the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, as a postdoctoral research fellow in analytical chemistry. At GEOMAR, his research focused on detecting and identifying small organic molecules in complex matrices using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry-based analytical techniques and non-targeted metabolomic approaches.

In 2020, Pradeep joined the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS). His current research focuses on understanding the chemical landscape covered by non-target analysis and pioneering methods to enhance the monitoring of human exposure to emerging environmental contaminants.