JIF award

THE College has secured a JIF award to support a broad range of activities in structural biology.

Dr Panico operating the Q-TOF mass spectrometer

Dr Maria Panico, laboratory manager of the mass spectrometry facility in the department of biological sciences completed final experiments on the department’s Q-TOF mass spectrometer prior to its move to temporary accommodation, whilst JIF-funded refurbishment of the mass spectrometry laboratories is carried out.

Maria has been a senior research fellow in the department since 1991, having first joined the College as a postdoctoral assistant in 1981.

Quadrupole orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight (Q-TOF) technology, which was the brainchild of Professor Howard Morris in the early 1990s, has transformed ultra-high sensitivity structure analysis of biological substances worldwide and has helped fuel the proteomics revolution.

The Q-TOF will shortly be joined by a state-of-the-art second generation instrument, together with a matrix assisted laser desorption (MALDI)-TOF (both funded by the JIF), and this will ensure that the Imperial College mass spectrometry group, now led by Professor Anne Dell, remains competitive at the highest international level.