“Protein Mass Spectrometry in Biomedical Research and the Care of Patients”

Andy Hoofnagle, MD, PhD
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Michael MacCoss, PhD
Professor, Genome Sciences

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 1 pm
Foege South Auditorium and Zoom Webinar

Abstract
This seminar will focus on using mass spectrometry to address hypotheses in medical research and to assist the care of patients. The field of proteomics emerged as an important tool in scientific investigation more than 30 years ago. The technology of mass spectrometry then became a central feature in proteomics, which permanently changed biochemistry. The speakers will share a few of the ways that they have helped push the field forward, collaborating along the way.

Biographies

Andy Hoofnagle, MD, PhD

Andy Hoofnagle is Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Head of the Division of Clinical Chemistry, Director of the Analytic Core of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, and Laboratory Director of the Kidney Research Institute. He first learned about mass spectrometry when working with Drs. Natalie Ahn and Katheryn Resing at the University of Colorado, where he earned his MD and PhD. He brought his love of the technology to his residency in Laboratory Medicine in 2004. He is board certified as a Clinical Pathologist and practices as a clinical chemist in UW Medicine.

Dr. Hoofnagle’s lab uses mass spectrometry in the care of patients. In addition, his laboratory is developing novel assays for use in clinical research in diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, kidney disease, and doping in sport. It is his main goal to provide the most accurate testing for every patient in the UW Medicine healthcare system. His research interests include clinical chemistry, mass spectrometry, proteomics, metabolomics, vitamin D, and high density lipoproteins.

Michael MacCoss, PhD

Michael MacCoss has been working with mass spectrometry instrumentation since 1994 when he was an undergraduate in a stable isotope geochemistry lab at the University of Vermont.  He became interested in biomedical applications working in Dr. Patrick Griffin’s protein mass spectrometry lab at Merck Research Laboratories during two summer internships in 1995 and 1996.  In 2001, he completed a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry with Professor Dwight Matthews in the development of stable isotope and mass spectrometry methodologies for the measurement of human amino acid and protein metabolism.  After completing his degree, Dr. MacCoss moved to The Scripps Research Institute to work with the proteomics pioneer John R. Yates III as a postdoctoral fellow.

Dr. MacCoss moved to the University of Washington in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of Genome Sciences and was promoted to Professor in 2014.  At the University of Washington, his lab has focused on the development and application of mass spectrometry-based technologies for the high throughput characterization of complex protein mixtures.  Realizing that software was a major limitation in proteomics, Dr. MacCoss has established a major software engineering effort within his group at the University of Washington to provide tools to analyze quantitative mass spectrometry data.  Dr. MacCoss and his team continually work to improve quantitative methods, train others, and build a community around their tools. In 2007 he was the recipient of a Presidential Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).  He has been awarded the Biemann Medal from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the 2016 HUPO Award for Discovery in Proteomics Sciences. The MacCoss lab’s research has been at the intersection of biochemistry, instrumentation, engineering, computer science, and statistics.