He has been an influential driver in developing X-ray fluorescence microscopy, and his key interests lie in hard X-ray microscopy with a focus on methods development as well as the role of trace metals in biology and life sciences. He is deeply involved in hardware, software and methods development related to Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence element mapping and quantification, and has developed and optimized instrumentation for biomedical applications of X-ray microscopy, and in particular trace elemental analysis. He has spearheaded the development of relevant, complementary techniques, such as quantitative differential phase contrast for hard X-ray microscopy. In collaborative studies he has applied this exciting technology to numerous experiments across different fields.