Staff information

Biography

During PhD studies Dusan Velickovic got a strong background in applied enzymology: production, purification, characterization and stabilization of lipases and glycosidases and their application in synthetic chemistry. After his PhD, he focused his research interests toward biological mass spectrometry, especially toward polysaccharide and polyester MALDI MS imaging.

Research Interests

• MALDI MS imaging
• Ion Mobility MS imaging
• Glycan MS imaging
• Non-water enzymology
• Protein purification and stabilization

Education and Credentials

• PhD studies, Faculty of Chemistry University of Belgrade, Serbia (2008-2011).
• Graduated studies, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Serbia (2004-2008).

Affiliations and Professional Service

• 2014-2016. Scientific Associate, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Serbia
• 2012-2014. Postdoctoral researcher, INRA, Nantes, France.
• 2010-2012. Associate researcher, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
• 2009-2010. Graduate researcher, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade.

Awards and Recognitions

• 2015. Founding member of Serbian Proteomic Association.
• 2012. Scholarship from AgreenSkills organisation (duration of 20 months) for outstanding post -doctoral project.
• 2009. Special recognition of the Serbian Chemical Society for outstanding achievement in the academic studies.
• 2008. Scholarship Fund for Young Talents of the Ministry of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Serbia.
• 2007. Scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Republic of Serbia.

PNNL Publications

2025

• Velickovic M., L. Kadam, J. Kim, K. Zemaitis, D. Velickovic, Y. Gao, and R. Wu, et al. 2025. "Advanced multi-modal mass spectrometry imaging reveals functional differences of placental villous compartments at microscale resolution." Nature Communications 16:Art. No. 2061. PNNL-SA-201502. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-57107-y
• Zemaitis K., J.M. Fulcher, R. Kumar, D.J. Degnan, L.A. Lewis, Y. Liao, and M. Velickovic, et al. 2025. "Spatial top-down proteomics for the functional characterization of human kidney." Clinical Proteomics 22:Art. No. 9. PNNL-SA-193767. doi:10.1186/s12014-025-09531-x

2024

• Balasubramanian V., D. Velickovic, M. Del Mar Rubio Wilhelmi, C.R. Anderton, N.C. Stewart, S. DiFazio, and E. Blumwald, et al. 2024. "Spatiotemporal Metabolic Responses to Water Deficit Stress in Distinct Leaf Cell-types of Poplar." Frontiers in Plant Science 15. PNNL-SA-193284. doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1346853
• Berrios L., G.D. Bogar, L. Bogar, A. Monterio Venturini, C.E. Willing, A.A. Del Rio, and T. Ansell, et al. 2024. "Ectomycorrhizal fungi alter soil food webs and the functional potential of bacteria communities." mSystems 9, no. 6:Art. No. e00369-24. PNNL-SA-192775. doi:10.1128/msystems.00369-24
• Romanowicz K., F. Zhang, S. Wang, D. Velickovic, R.K. Chu, Y. Shaked, and R.M. Boiteau. 2024. "Single-colony MALDI mass spectrometry imaging reveals spatial differences in metabolite abundance between natural and cultured Trichodesmium morphotypes." mSystems 9, no. 10:e01152-24. PNNL-SA-204009. doi:10.1128/msystems.01152-24
• Velickovic D., J. Shapiro, S. Parikh, B.H. Rovin, R.D. Toto, M. Vazquez, and E. Poggio, et al. 2024. "Protein N-glycans in Healthy and Sclerotic Glomeruli in Diabetic Kidney Disease." Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 35, no. 9:1198-1207. PNNL-SA-202058. doi:10.1681/ASN.0000000000000393
• Velickovic D., K. Zemaitis, A. Bhattacharjee, and C.R. Anderton. 2024. "Mass spectrometry imaging of natural carbonyl products directly from agar-based microbial interactions using 4-APEBA derivatization." mSystems 9, no. 1:Art. No. e00803-23. PNNL-SA-184809. doi:10.1128/msystems.00803-23
• Velickovic D., T.E. Winkler, V. Balasubramanian, T.W. Wietsma, C.R. Anderton, A. Ahkami, and K. Zemaitis. 2024. "RhizoMAP: a comprehensive, nondestructive, and sensitive platform for metabolic imaging of the rhizosphere." Plant Methods 20, no. _:Art. No. 117. PNNL-SA-199579. doi:10.1186/s13007-024-01249-5
• Velickovic M., T.L. Fillmore, I.K. Attah, J.C. Posso Escobar, J.C. Pino, R. Zhao, and S.M. Williams, et al. 2024. "Coupling microdroplet-based sample preparation, multiplexed isobaric labeling, and nanoflow peptide fractionation for deep proteome profiling of tissue microenvironment." Analytical Chemistry 96, no. 32:12973 - 12982. PNNL-SA-194410. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00523

2023

• Degnan D.J., K. Zemaitis, L.A. Lewis, L. McCue, L.M. Bramer, J.M. Fulcher, and D. Velickovic, et al. 2023. "IsoMatchMS: Open-Source Software for Automated Annotation and Visualization of High Resolution MALDI-MS Spectra." Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 34, no. 9:2061-2064. PNNL-SA-184623. doi:10.1021/jasms.3c00180
• Liao Y., J.M. Fulcher, D.J. Degnan, S.M. Williams, L.M. Bramer, D. Velickovic, and K. Zemaitis, et al. 2023. "Spatially resolved top-down proteomics of tissue sections based on a microfluidic nanodroplet sample preparation platform." Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 22, no. 2:Art. No. 100491. PNNL-SA-174522. doi:10.1016/j.mcpro.2022.100491
• McNaught K.J., E. Kuatsjah, M. Zahn, E. Teixeira Prates, H. Shao, G. Bentley, and A. Pickford, et al. 2023. "Initiation of fatty acid biosynthesis in Pseudomonas putida KT2440." Metabolic Engineering 76. PNNL-SA-179252. doi:10.1016/j.ymben.2023.02.006
• Vandergrift G.W., K. Zemaitis, D. Velickovic, J.K. Lukowski, L. Pasa-Tolic, C.R. Anderton, and W.R. Kew. 2023. "Experimental Assessment of Mammalian Lipidome Complexity Using Multimodal 21 T FTICR Mass Spectrometry Imaging." Analytical Chemistry 95, no. 29:10921-10929. PNNL-SA-181642. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00518
• Xiang P., A.V. Liyu, Y. Kwon, D. Hu, S.M. Williams, D. Velickovic, and L. Markillie, et al. 2023. "Spatial Proteomics toward Subcellular Resolution by Coupling Deep Ultraviolet Laser Ablation with Nanodroplet Sample Preparation." ACS Measurement Science Au 3, no. 6:459-468. PNNL-SA-191203. doi:10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.3c00033
• Xiang P., A.V. Liyu, Y. Kwon, D. Hu, S.M. Williams, D. Velickovic, and L. Markillie, et al. 2023. "Spatial Proteomics towards Subcellular Resolution by Coupling Deep Ultraviolet Laser Ablation with Nanodroplet Sample Preparation." ACS Measurement Science Au 3, no. 6:459-468. PNNL-SA-188097. doi:10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.3c00033
• Zemaitis K., V.S. Lin, A. Ahkami, T.E. Winkler, C.R. Anderton, and D. Velickovic. 2023. "Expanded Coverage of Phytocompounds by Mass Spectrometry Imaging Using On-Tissue Chemical Derivatization by 4-APEBA." Analytical Chemistry 95, no. 35:12701-12709. PNNL-SA-179568. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.3c01345

2022

• Hansen J., R. Sealfon, R. Menon, M.T. Eadon, B.B. Lake, B. Steck, and K. Anjani, et al. 2022. "A reference tissue atlas for the human kidney." Science Advances 8, no. 23:Art. No. abn4965. PNNL-SA-156513. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abn4965
• Honeker L.K., G. Hildebrand, J.D. Fudyma, E. Daber, D.W. Hoyt, S.E. Flowers, and J. Gil Loaiza, et al. 2022. "Elucidating Drought-Tolerance Mechanisms in Plant Roots through 1H NMR Metabolomics in Parallel with MALDI-MS, and NanoSIMS Imaging Techniques." Environmental Science & Technology 56, no. 3:2021-2032. PNNL-SA-163445. doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c06772
• Smercina D.N., Y. Kim, M.S. Lipton, D. Velickovic, and K.S. Hofmockel. 2022. "Bulk and spatially resolved extracellular metabolomics of free-living nitrogen fixation." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 88, no. 12:Art. No. e00505-22. PNNL-SA-168479. doi:10.1128/aem.00505-22
• Swensen A.C., D. Velickovic, S.M. Williams, R.J. Moore, L.Z. Day, S. Niessen, and S. Hennessy, et al. 2022. "Proteomic profiling of intra-islet features reveals substructure-specific protein signatures." Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 21, no. 12:Art. No. 100426. PNNL-ACT-SA-10618. doi:10.1016/j.mcpro.2022.100426
• Velickovic D., Y. Liao, S.M. Thibert, M. Velickovic, C.R. Anderton, J. Voglmeir, and G. Stacey, et al. 2022. "Spatial mapping of plant N-glycosylation cellular heterogeneity inside soybean root nodules provided insights into legume-rhizobia symbiosis." Frontiers in Plant Science 13. PNNL-SA-170175. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.869281
• Zemaitis K., D. Velickovic, W.R. Kew, K.L. Fort, M. Reinhardt-Szyba, A. Pamreddy, and Y. Ding, et al. 2022. "Enhanced Spatial Mapping of Histone Proteoforms in Human Kidney Through MALDI-MSI by High-Field UHMR Orbitrap Detection." Analytical Chemistry 94, no. 37:12604-12613. PNNL-SA-170716. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.2c01034

2021

• Kucheriavaia D., D. Velickovic, N. Peraino, A. Lad, D. Kennedy, S. Haller, and J.A. Westrick, et al. 2021. "Toward Revealing Microcystin Distribution in Mouse LiverTissue Using MALDI-MS Imaging." Toxins 13, no. 10:Art. No. 709. PNNL-SA-167416. doi:10.3390/toxins13100709
• Velickovic D., A. Bhattacharjee, and A. Ahkami. 2021. Deciphering exopolysaccharide functional specificity via visualization of chemical motifs that mediate microbial-microenvironment interactions in soil micromodels. PNNL-31973. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Deciphering exopolysaccharide functional specificity via visualization of chemical motifs that mediate microbial-microenvironment interactions in soil micromodels
• Velickovic D., M. Zhou, J.S. Schilling, and J. Zhang. 2021. "Using MALDI-FTICR-MS imaging to track low-molecular-weight aromatic derivatives of fungal decayed wood." Journal of Fungi 7, no. 8:609. PNNL-SA-164627. doi:10.3390/jof7080609
• Velickovic D., R.K. Chu, C. Henkel, A. Nyhuis, N. Tao, J.E. Kyle, and J.N. Adkins, et al. 2021. "Preserved and variable spatial-chemical changes of lipids across tomato leaves in response to central vein wounding reveals potential origin of linolenic acid in signal transduction cascade." Plant-Environment Interactions 2, no. 1:28-35. PNNL-SA-158820. doi:10.1002/pei3.10038
• Velickovic D., T. Becejac, S. Mamedov, K. Sharma, N. Ambalavanan, T. Alexandrov, and C.R. Anderton. 2021. "Rapid Automated Annotation and Analysis of N-Glycan Mass Spectrometry Imaging Data Sets Using NGlycDB in METASPACE." Analytical Chemistry 93, no. 40:13421-13425. PNNL-SA-166466. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02347
• Yannarell S., D. Velickovic, C.R. Anderton, and E.A. Shank. 2021. "Direct visualization of chemical cues and cellular phenotypes throughout Bacillus subtilis biofilms." mSystems 6, no. 6:Art. No. e01038-21. PNNL-SA-160801. doi:10.1128/mSystems.01038-21

2020

• Bhattacharjee A., D. Velickovic, T.W. Wietsma, S.L. Bell, J.K. Jansson, K.S. Hofmockel, and C.R. Anderton. 2020. "Visualizing Microbial Community Dynamics Via a Controllable Soil Environment." mSystems 5, no. 1:Article No. e00645-19. PNNL-SA-147223. doi:10.1128/mSystems.00645-19
• Lukowski J.K., A. Pamreddy, D. Velickovic, G. Zhang, L. Pasa-Tolic, T. Alexandrov, and K. Sharma, et al. 2020. "Storage conditions of human kidney tissue sections affect spatial lipidomics analysis reproducibility." Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 31, no. 12:2538-2546. PNNL-SA-154857. doi:10.1021/jasms.0c00256
• Samarah L.Z., R. Khattar, T.H. Tran, S.A. Stopka, C.A. Brantner, P. Parlanti, and D. Velickovic, et al. 2020. "Single-Cell Metabolic Profiling: Metabolite Formulas from Isotopic Fine Structures in Heterogeneous Plant Cell Populations." Analytical Chemistry 92, no. 10:7289-7298. PNNL-SA-152789. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00936
• Velickovic D., G. Zhang, D. Bezbradica, A. Bhattacharjee, L. Pasa Tolic, K. Sharma, and T. Alexandrov, et al. 2020. "Response Surface Methodology as a New Approach for Finding Optimal MALDI Matrix Spraying Parameters for Mass Spectrometry Imaging." Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 31, no. 3:508-516. PNNL-SA-147292. doi:10.1021/jasms.9b00074
• Velickovic D., R.K. Chu, G.L. Myers, A. Ahkami, and C.R. Anderton. 2020. "An Approach For Visualizing The Spatial Metabolome Of An Entire Plant Root System Inspired by the Swiss-rolling Technique." Journal of Mass Spectrometry 55, no. 4:Article Number e4363. PNNL-SA-142631. doi:10.1002/jms.4363
• Velickovic D., V.S. Lin, A. Rivas-Ubach, C.R. Anderton, and J.J. Moran. 2020. "An approach for broad molecular imaging of the root-soil interface via indirect matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry." Soil Biology and Biochemistry 146. PNNL-SA-150080. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107804

2019

• Angerer T.B., D. Velickovic, C.D. Nicora, J.E. Kyle, D.J. Graham, C.R. Anderton, and L.J. Gamble. 2019. "Exploiting the Semidestructive Nature of Gas Cluster Ion Beam Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Imaging for Simultaneous Localization and Confident Lipid Annotations." Analytical Chemistry 91, no. 23:15073-15080. PNNL-SA-150104. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.9b03763
• Nagy G., D. Velickovic, R.K. Chu, A.A. Carrell, D.J. Weston, Y.M. Ibrahim, and C.R. Anderton, et al. 2019. "Towards Resolving the Spatial Metabolome with Unambiguous Molecular Annotations in Complex Biological Systems by Coupling Mass Spectrometry Imaging with Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations." Chemical Communications 55, no. 3:306-309. PNNL-SA-138045. doi:10.1039/C8CC07482H
• Stopka S.A., L.Z. Samarah, J.B. Shaw, A.V. Liyu, D. Velickovic, B.J. Agtuca, and C. Kukolj, et al. 2019. "Ambient Metabolic Profiling and Imaging of Biological Samples with Ultrahigh Molecular Resolution using Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization 21 Tesla FTICR Mass Spectrometry." Analytical Chemistry 91, no. 8:5028-5035. PNNL-SA-137600. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05084
• Velickovic D., H. Liao, R. Vilgalys, R.K. Chu, and C.R. Anderton. 2019. "Spatiotemporal Transformation in the Alkaloid Profile of Pinus Roots in Response to Mycorrhization." Journal of Natural Products 82, no. 5:1382-1386. PNNL-SA-140336. doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b01050

2018

• Velickovic D., R.K. Chu, A.A. Carrell, M. Thomas, L. Pasa Tolic, D.J. Weston, and C.R. Anderton. 2018. "Multimodal MSI in Conjunction with Broad Coverage Spatially Resolved MS2 Increases Confidence in Both Molecular Identification and Localization." Analytical Chemistry 90, no. 1:702-707. PNNL-SA-132227. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.7b04319
• Velickovic D.S., B.J. Agtuca, S.A. Stopka, A. Vertes, D.W. Koppenaal, L. Pasa Tolic, and G. Stacey, et al. 2018. "Observed Metabolic Asymmetry Within Soybean Root Nodules Reflects Unexpected Complexity in Rhizobacteria-legume Metabolite Exchange." The ISME Journal 12, no. 9:2335-2338. PNNL-SA-127419. doi:10.1038/s41396-018-0188-8

2017

• Velickovic D.S., and C.R. Anderton. 2017. "Mass Spectrometry Imaging: Towards Mapping The Elemental And Molecular Composition Of The Rhizosphere." Rhizosphere 3, no. Part 2:254-258. PNNL-SA-123990. doi:10.1016/j.rhisph.2017.03.003