This year, the Biochemistry & Proteomics Lab from Clarkson University will have a record number of student presenters at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference, to be held in in October in Philadelphia, PA. The ASMS is an international conference that brings together about 7,000 scientists, whose focus is the use of mass spectrometry in their research.
The Biochemistry & Proteomics Lab, led by Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biomolecular Science Costel C. Darie, uses mass spectrometry to investigate proteins. Some of the projects focus on structural characterization of proteins (i.e. Jumping Translocation of proteins), others in qualitative proteomics (part of Prof. Thomas Holsen’s research program), others in quantitative proteomics (i.e. breast cancer) or others in developing methods for proteomics applications.
“There are not too many universities that teach mass spectrometry at the undergraduate level,” said Darie. “From about 5,000 universities and colleges in the US, only about 200-300 teach mass spectrometry, and Clarkson is one of them. Furthermore, we also teach mass spectrometry as hands-on, so that’s why we have so many students that can present at the ASMS conference. In addition to our graduate students (Madhuri Jayathirtha and Danielle Whitham) and a Fulbright Fellow (Dr. Alina Brindusa Petre), we have five undergraduates that will present a poster at ASMS: Shelby Alwine, Hannah Yorkey, Panashe Mutsengi, Yashveen Rai, and Mary Donnelly). For most of them, this is the first international conference that they attend.”