National University of Ireland, Galway, and Agilent open biological
mass spectrometry facility
16 February 2009
The National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway and Agilent
Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) have announced the opening of a Biological
Mass Spectrometry Facility on the NUI Galway campus. The
state-of-the-art facility is fully equipped with the latest
accurate-mass quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) and triple quadrupole
(QQQ) mass spectrometer platforms from Agilent.
The facility primarily focuses on functional genomics, proteomics,
lipidomics and metabolomics research. As part of the collaboration, NUI
Galway will provide application notes and data for key applications
using the Agilent Q-TOF and QQQ platforms. The facility will also be
used to showcase new instruments to Agilent customers and to run samples
for demonstration purposes.
“The opening of this facility is a continuation of Agilent’s drive to
be a key technology partner for innovative research in academia,” said
Gustavo Salem, general manager for Agilent’s LC/MS business. “NUI Galway
has some of the top primary investigators in Europe. We look forward to
working closely with them to further their breakthrough research in the
fields of metabolomics and proteomics.”
“NUI Galway has recently made a substantial commitment to increase
its capability in mass spectrometry, in particular targeting life
science research,” said Professor Terry Smith, vice president for
Research, NUI Galway. “With our recent investment, sponsored by IDA, SFI
and Agilent Ireland, NUI Galway now has this capability.”
Primary investigators Dr David Finn, Dr Niclas Karlsson and Brendan
Harhen will run the mass spectrometers at the facility.
Dr Finn is a lecturer in pharmacology and therapeutics and co-director
of the Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway. The aim of Dr. Finn’s
research is to increase the understanding of the neurobiology of pain
and anxiety and support the development of novel therapeutic agents for
their treatment.
Dr Karlsson is one of the top researchers in mass spectrometry and
bioinformatics for sugar and protein identification. He established one
of the first integrated bioinformatic platforms for this kind of
research and collaborated with the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics for
generating glycobioinformatic resources for the community.
Mr Harhen is an honors biochemistry graduate from NUI Galway with a
special interest in facilitating ultra-trace quantitation of
biomolecules in complex matrices, such as bioactive lipid signalling
molecules. He will support other quantitative needs at NUI Galway, such
as quantitative proteomics.
The collaboration between NUI Galway and Agilent is a result of
Agilent’s Academia Program, which facilitates collaborations with
universities around the world. The program assists universities with
teaching, materials and creating research partnerships.
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