ASMS 2013 Awards

The 2013 ASMS Annual Conference, held June 9-13 in Minneapolis, saw the presentation of several high-profile ASMS Awards. Congratulations to all the winners!

ASMS Award: Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry

2013 Recipient:  Richard Smith

The ASMS Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry recognizes a focused or singular achievement in fundamental or applied mass spectrometry. The 2013 recipient Richard Smith is Battelle Fellow and Chief Scientist in the Biological Sciences Division and Director of Proteomics Research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (WA,USA).

Smith was selected for the development of the electrodynamic ion funnel, first created in his laboratory in 1997 to replace ion transmission-limited skimmers and to efficiently capture ions in the expanding gas jet while radially focusing them.The funnel is now a broadly applicable tool used in mass spectrometry for ion focusing and manipulation at elevated pressures that challenged conventional approaches.The ion funnel continues to be used in an increasing number of applications such as ion trapping, ion cooling, low pressure electrospray, and ion mobility spectrometry; however, its original use still remains the most common ­– decreasing ion losses in the interface of high pressure sources.

Bioanalysis Zone recently conducted an interview with Dr Smith, discussing the work that led to the Award.

Source: ASMS : Distinguished Contribution

ASMS Award: Biemann Medal

2013 Recipient: Yinsheng Wang

The Biemann Medal recognizes significant achievement made in the early stages of a career. The 2013 recipient Yinsheng Wang isProfessor of Chemistry at the University of California-Riverside.

Wang’s research focuses on discovering the biological consequences of DNA damage and on unraveling mechanisms of action for anti-tumor drugs and environmental toxicants. In his laboratory, the combination of mass spectrometry, synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology allows an understanding of how DNA damage products are repaired, and how they perturb the efficient flow and fidelity of genetic information during DNA replication and transcription.

The award winner has successfully identified and characterized new DNA lesions, including bulky lesions induced by reactive oxygen species. Wang’s new methods have been able to discover some long-sought biomarkers for oxidative stress – cyclopurine lesions including 8,5’-cyclo-2’-deoxyadenosine and 8,5’-cyclo-2’-deoxyguanosine.

Source: ASMS: Biemann Medal.