Dr. Alejandro J. Brenes

Wellcome Early Career Fellow - Neutrophil Single Cell Proteomics

Biography

Background

I am a Wellcome Trust Early Career Research Fellow at the Centre for Inflammation Research, Institute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh, where I lead an independent research programme in mass spectrometry-based single-cell proteomics (SCP) applied to human immune cells. My work sits at the intersection of single-cell proteomics, immunology, and computational biology, with a particular focus on rare and technically challenging immune cell populations such as neutrophils and other granulocytes.

I completed my PhD at the University of Dundee (2019–2022) under Prof. Doreen Cantrell and Prof. Angus Lamond, and held a postdoctoral position in Cell Signalling and Immunology at Dundee before moving to the University of Edinburgh in 2024. There, in the group of Prof. Sarah Walmsley, I established single-cell and mini-bulk (low cell number) proteomic workflows for the characterisation of human leukocytes. In March 2026 I was awarded a five-year Wellcome Trust Early Career Award to lead my own research programme aimed at defining neutrophil functional heterogeneity and dysfunction in chronic inflammatory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

My work spans both the biological application of SCP and its analytical foundations. Recent contributions include single-cell proteomic analysis of neutrophil functional states in human glioblastoma (Nature Communications, 2025), systematic benchmarking of SCP across the Orbitrap Astral and timsTOF SCP instrument platforms (bioRxiv, 2026) , and the development of computational pipelines and quality-control guidelines for single-cell and low-input proteomic data. Alongside this, I created and maintain the Immunological Proteome Resource (ImmPRes), an open-access platform that unifies over 25 distinct MS-based proteomic datasets covering both mouse and human immune cells

My research has been recognised with early-career distinctions at successive UK and European proteomics meetings: Early Career Awards at the BSPR meeting (2022) and the joint EuPA & BSPR meeting (2023), and poster prizes at the BMSS & BSPR meeting (2024) and BSPR meeting (2025). I am an invited plenary speaker at the 2026 BMSS Single Cell Mass Spectrometry SIG meeting (King's College London), and I have presented at the European Symposium on Single Cell Proteomics (2024 & 2025), the principal European conference dedicated to the field.

Responsibilities & affiliations

British Society for Proteome Research Management Committee

British Mass Spectrometry Society

British Society for Immunology

Human Proteome Organization (HUPO)

Biochemical Society

Research summary

I work at the intersection of single-cell proteomics, immunology, and computational biology, with a particular focus on rare and technically challenging human immune cell populations. My central interest is the use of mass spectrometry-based single-cell and mini-bulk (low cell number) proteomics to define the functional heterogeneity of human leukocytes, with an emphasis on neutrophils and other granulocytes. A core aim of my independent programme is to characterise neutrophil functional states and dysfunction in chronic inflammatory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Alongside biological application, I am closely engaged with the technical and analytical foundations of the field: optimising and benchmarking SCP acquisition across instrument platforms, developing guidelines for data quality and reproducibility in data-independent acquisition proteomics, and contributing to computational tools and resources that make single-cell and immunoproteomic data more accessible and rigorous.

Affiliated research centres

Project activity

Defining neutrophil functional heterogeneity & dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using single cell proteomics

Current project grants

Wellcome Trust Early Career Award

Conference details

Selected Speaker:

Fuelling the immune response IV: UK immunometabolism meeting (2026)

2nd International Single Cell Mass Spectrometry Conference (2024)

European Proteomics Association Conference (2023)

University of Dundee School of Life Sciences Symposium (Selected talk, 2023) 

Proteomics in Cell Biology and Disease Mechanisms, (Selected talk, 2022) 

British Society for Proteome Research Symposium (Selected talk, 2022) 

Invited speaker

Cell Signalling & Immunology Seminar - University of Dundee (2026)

British Society for Matrix Biology Meeting (2025)

6th European Symposium on Single Cell Proteomics (2025)

Festival of Genomics and Biodata - London (2025)

Annual Edinburgh Human Brain Research Meeting (2025)

11th in-person Lodon Proteomics Discussion Group Symposium (2024)

5th European Symposium on Single Cell Proteomics (2024)

Scottish Biological Mass Spectrometry Meeting (2023) 

MJ Dunn Fellowship (2025)

Poster Prize - British Society for Proteome Research Symposium (2025)

Poster Prize - BMSS & BSPR Super meeting (2024)

Early Career Award - British Society for Proteome Research & European Proteomics Association (2023)

Postdoc Mentor of the Year Award - School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee (2023)

Early Career Award - British Society for Proteome Research (2022)

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