Gladstone Hosts Mass Spectrometry Workshop for Local Researchers

Mass spectrometry has rapidly become one of the most powerful techniques for identifying and studying proteins, and on January 25, 2017, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), had an opportunity to come together to compare notes on the latest advances.

The event was the Mass Spectrometry Workshop for Biologists, one of two workshops held in the Bay Area. The workshop at Gladstone was co-hosted by the Thermo Fisher Scientific Proteomics Facility for Disease Target Discovery at Gladstone and the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at UCSF, and the second workshop was co-hosted by UC Berkeley and Jeffery Cox, PhD, director of the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases.

“Scientists can learn so many things with mass spectrometry,” shared Nevan Krogan, PhD, who directs QBI and the Thermo Fisher Facility. “Through this workshop, we wanted them to explore mass spectrometry and learn how they might apply it to their own work.”

The Thermo Fisher Facility was formed as part of a collaboration between Thermo Fisher, Gladstone, UCSF, and QBI. The facility is one of only two in the United States, and it aims to arm researchers with the most advanced mass spectrometry technologies, build collaborations, and accelerate targeted proteomics research.

“Mass spectrometry is extremely complicated, and it constantly advances at a rapid pace,” said Krogan, who is also a senior investigator at Gladstone and a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at UCSF. “By investing in the most advanced technology and the most knowledgeable experts to use it, this collaborative facility enables scientists to decipher complex biological systems and gain valuable insight that will help them to find solutions to overcome biomedical challenges.”

In addition to these informative workshops, the Thermo Fisher Facility will promote mass spectrometry technologies and the expertise offered by its staff through seminars, discussion groups, and training sessions.

“The facility has already served 60 labs at Gladstone, UCSF, and other institutions across the globe,” said B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy, who spoke at the event. “Through the facility, we can promote rich and unique collaborations for innovative research and novel discoveries.”