Blog • Tools
Education
2021 – Present: Post Doctoral Researcher at Vanderbilt University
2016 – 2020: Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at San Antonio
Dissertation: “Multimodal Mass Spectrometry Methods for the Analysis of Biochemical Systems and Tissues”
Committee: Stephan B.H. Bach, Yong-Hee Patricia Chun (UT Health Dental), Mark Libardoni (SwRI), Walter Ermler, Waldemar Gorski, Zachary Tonzetich
2009 – 2013: B.Sc. in Chemistry, summa cum laude from the University of Texas at San Antonio
With Honors from the Honor’s College
Thesis: “The Analysis and Characterization of Gold Monolayer Protected Nano-Compounds using MALDI-TOF/TOF Mass Spectrometry and Electron Transfer Matrices”
Publications & Patents
PASEF technology development. In preparation.
MALDI FTICR Imaging & Top-down Proteomics. In Preparation.
IMS as a unique tool to track the proteomic changes in mouse enamel formation to link to amelogenesis imperfecta genetic models. In Preperation.
Evaluation of the di-tyrosine crosslinks and its mediation by Cu and peroxide species in Alzheimer’s brains. In preparation.
Elevated dietary ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids induce reversible peripheral nerve dysfunction that exacerbates comorbid pain conditions. Nature Metabolism 3, 762-773 (2021). Quantitative Metabolomics.
Ethanol-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tissue Imaging: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease Research. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 12, 2416-2420 (2020). Imaging Mass Spectrometry of AD Plaques.
Improving Spatial Resolution in MALDI-MSI. Initial Invention Disclosure, (2020). Colley, LoCoco, Bach, Hargreaves.
Mapping and Identification of Native Proteins of Developing Teeth in Mouse Mandibles. Analytical Chemistry. 92, 7630-7637 (2020). Imaging Mass Spectrometry of enamel forming proteins.
Major venom proteins of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta: insights into possible pheromone-binding function from mass spectrometric analysis. Insect Molecular Biology. 27, 505-511 (2018). Imaging Mass Spectrometry of fire ant proteins.
Incubation with Cu(II) and Zn(II) salts enhances MALDI-TOF mass spectra of amyloid-beta and α-synuclein toward in vivo analysis. Journal of Mass Spectrometry. 53, 162-171 (2017). Metal binding to neurodegenerative proteins and peptides.
Teaching Experience & Relevant Skills
2021 Mentor to Graduate Students
- Teach LC-MS, ion mobility physics, TOF physics, instrument tuning, and instrument repair to students
- Help design experiments
- Review publications
- Develop professional skills and tools
2019 Physical Chemistry Labs 1 & 2 at UTSA
- Instructed pre-lab and taught physical chemistry lab skills
- Developed a Carnot Engine lab for thermodynamics
- Developed a “particle in a box” lab using vitamins
- Relayed that vitamin lab to computational chemistry using MM, MD and semi-empirical methods in ChemDraw and Spartan
- Lead tutorials on Mathematica, MatLab and Python for data analysis
2014 Instrumental Analysis Lab TA at UTSA
- Instructed students on how to use Carey UV-Vis, Thermo FTIR, NMR with VnmrJ, electrochemistry, Agilent GC-MS, and MALDI-TOF-MS
- Developed NMR lab of symmetrical compounds C60 fullerene and triphenylmethylamine
- GC-MS applications of base/neutrals
2013-2014 General Chemistry II TA
- Instructed students on basic thermodynamics and graded lab reports
- Held pre-exam sessions to study practice problems I generated
Mass Spectrometry
- Metabolomics & Lipidomics with Bruker Impact II, timsTOF Pro/Flex (PASEF) with nLC (nanoElute, Waters, etc.), Waters QqQ quantitative MRM
- Proteomics with Dionex Ultimate nLC, Thermo Orbitrap Elite, and Mascot
- Mass Spectrometry Imaging with Bruker UltrafleXtreme, Bruker timsTOF, Bruker SolariX FT-ICR, Bruker RapifleX, and Orbitrap Elite/Spectroglyph
- Instrument maintenance – Orbitrap Elite Ion Trap cleaning, Bruker timsTOF/Impact funnel cleaning, oil pump maintenance and rebuilds, Bruker UltrafleXtreme laser alignment, front-end tuning, TOF tuning, and parts replacements
Software & Modelling
- Time-of-flight ion physics and modelling in Simion
- GC modelling in MatLab
- Development of Bruker timsTOF software for ion mobility imaging and PASEF applications
- DFT/CC analysis with NWChem and Gaussian
Coding & Languages
- HTML/CSS/PHP/Javascript (basic web apps)
- R, Python, MatLab – enough to be dangerous
- BASH/Unix Languages – familiar, not a pro
Academic & Work Experience
in progress…