Areas of Emphasis (Core Mass Spectrometry) During the last six years, the University has strengthened biomedical research on campus and is in need of a Mass Spectrometry Center (MSC). The Department of Chemistry, and the Natural Toxins Research Center (NTRC) have a daily need for a mass spectrometer. In addition, there are other departments at TAMUK such as Animal and Wildlife Sciences, Biology, and Environmental engineering that will have a need for a mass spectrometry center. The Department of Chemistry has the beginning of a mass spectrometer laboratory, but the existing instrument will not handle high molecular weight molecules. The facility will be developed in chemistry but will meet the mass spectrometry needs of the entire University. The new faculty position in the Department of Chemistry will be a protein chemist and the Director of the MSC. The primary users will be the biomedical research conducted in Chemistry, Biology, School of Pharmacy, Animal and Wildlife Sciences and the Natural Toxins Research Center. This facility will greatly strengthen the research capability of the University and will allow faculty to be more competitive when writing research grants. Since the Core Mass Spectrometry Center will be in Department of Chemistry, the budget will include high equipment budget for the mass spectrometer and renovation for the first year only. The request for new faculty in chemistry is included in the core facility budget. The purpose the MSC is to be a multi-user research facility designed to help achieve high quality research for faculty and student publications at TAMUK. Users of the facility will be able to receive assistance from the Director of the MSC. The primary purpose of the Director of MSC will be to collaborate other faculty in their research projects. The renovation of this facility and purchasing of equipment will start as soon as the grant is funded. The success of this program will be measured by the number of users, the presentations, and publications that result from the use the mass spectrometer. In addition, the number of research proposals submitted will be used as criteria to measure the success of the Core Mass Spectrometry Center.
