Invited Speakers
Heather Desaire, Kansas University
Heather Desaire is the Dean’s Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kansas, where she has been on the faculty since 2002. She started her studies in Chemistry at Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, where she earned a BA in 1997, and continued them at the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned her PhD in 2001. She spent a few months working in the pharmaceutical industry prior to starting her appointment at the University of Kansas. Her current research interests span the fields of mass spectrometry, machine learning, and glycobiology. She received a MIRA award from the National Institutes of Health to combine machine learning and omics analyses, and she has been recognized by the University of Kansas for excellence in teaching.
Kallol Gupta, Yale University
Kallol Gupta is an Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine in the Department of Cell Biology and Nanobiology Institute. He completed his PhD at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, under the guidance of Prof. P. Balaram. During his doctoral research, Kallol delved into the depths of the ocean to study the venoms of deep-sea snails. His work focused on understanding how these snails maximize their genomic space to produce a diverse array of toxins, which they use to immobilize their prey by targeting specific ion channels and receptors. Through studying the effects of these toxins, Kallol developed a keen interest in the fascinating world of membrane proteins. Consequently, after finishing his PhD, in 2014, Kallol joined the laboratory of Prof. Carol Robinson at the University of Oxford as a fellow of the 1851 Royal Commission to study membrane proteins. There, he developed a key mass spectrometric platforms that enabled the identification of bound endogenous lipids and provided a mechanistic molecular understanding of how lipids can regulate the organizational assemblies of membrane proteins. In 2019, Kallol established his own lab at Yale University. The focus of his research group is to unravel how spatiotemporal organization of proteins and lipids within biological membranes regulate specific cellular signaling pathways in both healthy and diseased states. To achieve this, his lab combines mass spectrometry with synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, single-molecule imaging, electron microscopy, as well as various cell-based and in vitro biochemical assays. By integrating these interdisciplinary approaches, Kallol’s lab aims to develop quantitative molecular membrane biology platforms.
Kelly Hines, University of Georgia
Kelly Hines is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Georgia. Kelly graduated from the University of Florida in 2009 with a B.S. in Chemistry. She completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Vanderbilt University with John A. McLean, where she used ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) to identify of metabolite, lipid, and peptide signatures of disease from complex biological samples. After receiving her Ph.D. in 2014, Kelly completed a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Mayo Clinic Regional Metabolomics Core where she established quantitative MS methods for lipidomics and protein metabolism. In 2015, Kelly joined the lab of Libin Xu at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. Her work in the Xu Lab, supported in part by a U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) Global Fellowship, focused on high-throughput IM-MS measurements of drugs and small molecules, and LC-IM-MS methods for lipidomics. She joined the faculty at UGA in 2019, where her lab is using lipidomics to study the role of lipids in host-pathogen interactions and antibiotic resistance. Kelly has been recognized as a Female Role Model in Analytical Chemistry by Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, an Outstanding Emerging Investigator by the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and is the recipient of an ASMS Research Award.
Amanda Hummon, The Ohio State University
Amanda Hummon earned her A.B. in chemistry at Cornell University and her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at the University of Illinois, in the laboratory of Prof. Jonathan V. Sweedler. She completed her postdoctoral work at the National Cancer Institute. She began her independent career at the University of Notre Dame, establishing a biomolecular imaging research group. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University and a Director of the Proteomics Shared Resource. Her laboratory studies molecular alterations in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer and develops mass spectrometric methods to explore cancer tissues, cell cultures, and organoids. She has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award, the American Chemical Society Rising Star Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and a Fulbright Scholar Award.
John McLean, Vanderbilt University
John A. McLean is Stevenson Professor of Chemistry, Dean of Graduate Education and Research, and Director of the Center for Innovative Technologies at Vanderbilt University. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He completed his PhD at George Washington University, postdoctoral research at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany and then at Texas A&M University – under the direction of David H. Russell – before beginning at Vanderbilt University in 2006. McLean and colleagues have focused on the conceptualization, design, and construction of ion mobility and structural mass spectrometers, specifically targeting complex samples in systems, synthetic, and chemical biology. His group applies these strategies to forefront translational research areas in drug discovery, personalized medicine, and ‘human-on-chip’ synthetic biology platforms. Prof. McLean has received a number of awards, including the Agilent Thought Leader Award, Waters Center of Innovation, the Chancellor’s Award for Research, the Thomas Jefferson Award, Excellence in Teaching Award from the student members of the American Chemical Society, a Defense Threat Reduction Agency Research Award, an American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award, and the Bunsen–Kirchhoff Prize from the GDCh (German Chemical Society), among others. He has published over 200 manuscripts and received over 30 patents in these and allied areas. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio and graduated from Upper Arlington High School several years ago.
Liangliang Sun, Michigan State University
Dr. Liangliang Sun is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University. He joined MSU in 2016. Before that, he worked with Prof. Norman Dovichi at the University of Notre Dame as a postdoctoral fellow and later a Research Assistant Professor (2011-2016). He received his Ph.D. degree in Analytical Chemistry in 2011 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, advised by Profs. Yukui Zhang and Lihua Zhang. The Sun group at MSU aims to develop novel analytical methodologies based on capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) for multi-level proteomics with high throughput, high sensitivity, and single-cell resolution. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers with more than 3000 citations (Web of Science). He has received several awards, including Emerging Investigator by the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and Analytical Methods, the National Science Foundation CAREER AWARD, the Rising Star in Proteomics and Metabolomics by the Journal of Proteome Research, top 2% of analytical chemists according to the citation impact during the single calendar year of 2019 and 2020, and the Thermo Fisher Scientific Early Career Award for breakthrough research advancing the field of Microscale Separations and Bioanalysis by the 37th International Symposium on Microscale Separations and Bioanalysis (MSB 2021).
Lunch and Learn Speakers
Rachel Harris (sponsored by MOBILion)
R
achel Harris is an applications scientist at MOBILion Systems. She first began her research in the field of ion mobility-mass spectrometry as an undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill, in the lab of Dr. Gary Glish, where she worked on a prototype FAIMS device. She later received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the lab of Dr. John McLean at Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation research focused on the combination of multiple analytical techniques for lipid structural characterization, including ion mobility, ozonolysis, and surface induced dissociation. At MOBILion Systems, she generates applications-specific content to show off the MOBIE platform’s capabilities and serves as the in-house small molecules expert, providing actionable feedback for product improvements.
Heino M. Heyman (sponsored by Metabolon)
Dr. Heino M. Heyman is a seasoned Metabolomics professional with an accomplished career spanning over a decade. He embarked on his journey in 2010, utilizing metabolomics to expedite the discovery of active constituents in natural products and to enhance the understanding of resilient crops. In 2015, he joined the Integrative Omics team at Pacific Northwest National Lab, WA, where he broadened the application of metabolomics across diverse sectors, including human, microbial, plant, and soil metabolomics. Following his postdoctoral studies, he transitioned to the industry, joining Bruker Scientific as a Metabolomics Applications Specialist. He excelled in promoting and demonstrating solutions using sophisticated ion-mobility mass spectrometry instrumentation. In 2020, he joined Metabolon, deepening his involvement in translational science informed by metabolomics. Since 2023 he has been leading a team of metabolomics specialists as Global Metabolomics Application Manager, elevating the metabolomics experience for clients at Metabolon.
Trenton Peters-Clarke, University of California-San Francisco (sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific)
Trenton Peters-Clarke is a postdoctoral fellow within the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California-San Francisco under the guidance of Professor Jim Wells. He completed his B.S. in Biochemistry and Biology from the University of Oregon in 2017 and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2023 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison within the research group of Professor Joshua J. Coon. In his graduate research, Trent developed new electron- and photon-centric tandem MS methods to characterize and quantify complex biopolymers including post-translationally modified peptides and proteins, modified oligonucleotides, and glycans. His postdoctoral research is focused on innovating chemical biology and mass spectrometry technologies to investigate how the cell surface is dysregulated in disease, with the ultimate goal of generating more specific therapeutics.
Roy Martin, Waters (sponsored by Waters)
Dr. LeRoy B. Martin, III is the Principal Field Marketing Manager for Biological Mass Spectrometry at Waters Corporation. His primary role is developing and promoting advanced mass spectrometry solutions in the Americas. He is also charged with evaluating and integrating new technologies and methods in collaborations and product development. Most recently, his focus has been on molecular imaging mass spectrometry and implementation of advances in ion mobility technology. Other research interests include complex mixture quantitative proteomics and structural biology using mass spectrometry. Roy received a BS in Chemistry from Davidson College and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from North Carolina State University.
Rob Schrader, Texas A&M University (sponsored by Agilent)
Robert L. Schrader is a postdoctoral research associate at Texas A&M University in Professor David Russell’s group. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2021 from Purdue University. His research focuses on the development of the digital quadrupole mass filter for the analysis of high m/z analytes.
Chris Brown, Corteva Agriscience (sponsored by SCIEX)
Chris Brown first developed an interest in analytical instrumentation during his undergraduate experience at Butler University where he worked to develop circularly polarized luminesce spectroscopy, on a home-built spectrophotometer. Additionally, during his time at Butler, Chris spent a summer internship at Dow Agrosciences, where he developed a passion for high resolution mass spectrometry. Chris then went to Indiana University in Bloomington to complete a PhD in Dave Clemmer’s lab, where he developed ion mobility instrumentation and bioanalytical applications. After finishing at Indiana University, he rejoined the team at then Dow Agrosciences, now Corteva, where he focuses on small molecule structure elucidation as well as identifying and investing in new analytical instrumentation in their cross functional core.
Leon Lin, The Ohio State University (sponsored by Bruker)
Leon (Yu-Fu) Lin is a fifth-year PhD student within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The Ohio State University under the guidance of Professor Vicki Wysocki. He completed his B.S. in Applied Chemistry from National Chaiyi University, Taiwan in 2014 and M.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2019. In his current research projects, Leon focuses on instrument development and modification, especially on Bruker timsTOF Pro mass spectrometer platform, for native mass spectrometry and development and application of soft-landing technique for protein complexes using mass spectrometry to image the structure of landed protein complexes.
Jacelyn Greenwald, The Ohio State University (sponsored by Bruker)
Jacelyn Greenwald is a graduate student in the Department of Neuroscience under the research mentorship of Dr. Vicki Wysocki. Jacelyn received her B.A. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Cornell University in 2018. She then spent two years as a research assistant at Tisch Multiple Sclerosis Research Center of New York, before matriculating into the Ohio State MD/PhD program in 2020. As a student in the Wysocki lab, Jacelyn’s projects center around brain-derived tau characterization, including assessment of post-translational modifications. Jacelyn has a second project focusing on adipose-tissue extracellular vesicles as mediators of peripheral inflammation contributing to neurodegenerative disease.