Bio:
Sarah Trimpin, an Associate Professor at Wayne State University (WSU), applies mass spectrometry (MS) to difficult problems involving both complexity and insolubility. She obtained her PhD from the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany, where she pioneered the development of solvent-free matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI) and demonstrated its potential with insoluble materials. After completing a postdoctoral joint appointment between Oregon State University and the Oregon Health & Science University, she joined Professor Clemmer's group at Indiana University as a Senior Research Associate to study ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) instrumentation and methods. Combining solvent-free MALDI and IMS-MS led to a total solvent-free approach to analyze solubility-restricted materials. At WSU, her group discovered and developed new and surprisingly simple methods to convert molecules, even proteins, to gas phase ions for MS analyses. Initial experiments with atmospheric pressure ionization using laser ablation of a small molecule matrix containing analyte, similar to MALDI, led to the discovery that the matrix could be a liquid or a solid and that the proper matrix only needs the vacuum inherent with a mass spectrometer to convert small or large molecules into gas phase ions with excellent sensitivity.
Dr. Trimpin has published 52 peer reviewed articles, is co-editor of a book on IMS-MS, has written 7 book chapters, and 6 review articles. She received a number of honors including the German Society for Mass Spectrometry Wolfgang-Paul-Studienpreis and the Wolfgang-Paul Promotionpreis awards and was selected as one of Genome Technology magazine's Rising PI's. She received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award, the DuPont Company Young Professor Award, the Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry, the Pittcon Achievement Award, the Schaap Faculty Fellow Award at WSU, and her laboratory is designated a Waters Center of Innovation. The long-term goals of her research are to develop methods and instrumentation for the structural characterization and imaging of the soluble and insoluble components in single cells.