"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."
High resolution mass spectrometers are increasingly important in chemical analysis. More specifically, an LC QTOF can provide accurate mass determination, characterization of small molecules and identification of proteins and peptides. This broad array of functionality is ideally suited to the requirements of the UWSP chemistry department. In this proposal, 7 different research projects are described that require high resolution mass spectrometric instrumentation. All of these projects are currently funded by either external or internal granting agencies. A high resolution QTOF instrument will also be used in upper-level chemistry and biochemistry courses. Students will have multiple hands-on opportunities with the QTOF instrument in both teaching and research laboratories. This experience will immediately prepare the students for research opportunities at UWSP and ultimately prepare them for graduate and professional careers.
UWSP offers Bachelor's degrees in Chemistry. In 2006, for the first time, the Chemistry department began a Biochemistry major also. It is the Chemistry department's long term goal to improve student's educational experience through hands on laboratory experiences as well as faculty guided undergraduate research. Modern instrumentation is mandatory to achieve our commitment to our students and community. A high resolution QTOF instrument would be an important part of that commitment. The QTOF will be used in Sophomore, Junior and Senior level chemistry classes that will provide practical experiences for the students. Many of these students go on to individual research projects at UWSP. In addition, because high resolution mass spectrometry is so prevalent in chemical and biochemical applications and our students will have multiple opportunities to use the QTOF, our graduates will be well prepared to enter graduate or professional careers. Knowledge gained from the research supported b
We have purchased and installed the Agilent 6520 QTOF High Resolution Mass Spectrometer. The Principal Investigator has been extensively trained on the use and maintenance of the instrument. The Principal Investigator has begun training other Investigators and Student Researchers to use the QTOF instrument. The Instrument installation has been a long, arduous process with many setbacks. The instrument hardware and/or software has failed several times and lenghly delays ensued before the problems have been corrected. The Principal Investigator has worked extensively with the vendor to fix the problems, under factory warranty. However, due to the number of failures and the ensuing delays, we have only just begun to generate preliminary data for the investigators. Once the instrument begins to regularly generate data, we can begin publish the results. Also, we have not incorporated the instrument into class room activities due to the delays. We expect to rectify this problem when the instrument can reliably perform molecular analysis. Project Outcome, Intellectual Merit: The Investigators have generated several samples for analysis from a variety of protein and small molecule based projects. Only a small number of samples have been successfully run at this time, due to instrument reliability problems. Project Outcome, Broader Impact: Three student researchs have been trained to use the QTOF instrument and are actively engaged in research projects that are based on results from the QTOF. The Principal Investigator has been actively recruiting collaborators whose projects would benefit from results generated by the QTOF. To date three collaborators outside of the grantee Investigators have requested access to the QTOF or sent samples for analysis.
