Our laboratory develops and applies advanced analytical methods to answer public-health research questions. Instrumentation, equipment, and custom software in our laboratory that support this research are listed below.

Instrumentation

  • LC-Q/TOF MS: Liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry is used to perform non-targeted analysis of relatively polar contaminants and metabolites.
  • GCxGC-TOF MS: Comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry is used to perform non-targeted analysis of relatively non-polar contaminants and metabolites.
  • LC/MS/MS (x2): Relatively polar molecules including some metabolites are quantified using liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.
  • GC/MS: Gas chromatography coupled to quadrupole mass spectrometry is used to quantify persistent organic pollutants and other relatively non-polar molecules.
  • LC-ICP MS: Metals are quantified using liquid chromatography coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
  • Mercury Analyzer: Mercury is quantified on a specialized instrument.

Sample Preparation Equipment

  • SPE: Solid phase extraction is used to isolate and concentrate molecules of interest from liquid matrices.
  • PLE: Pressurized liquid extraction isolates molecules of interest from solid/semi-solid matrices.
  • Microwave: Microwave extraction isolates molecules of interest from solid/semi-solid matrices.
  • GPC: Gel permeation chromatography is used to separate molecules of interest from co-extracted lipids.
GCxGC-TOF
GCxGC-TOF/MS
LC/MS/MS (1)
LC/MS/MS (1)
LC/MS/MS (2)
LC/MS/MS (2)
GC/MS
GC/MS
LC-ICP/MS
LC-ICP/MS
LC-Q/TOF MS
LC-Q/TOF MS


SPE
SPE
PLE
PLE
Microwave
Microwave
GPC
GPC

Software

Some of our research projects require the development of custom software to process and summarize data. Most code is written in R, and is publicly released. For example, custom software is used to:

  1. Analyze non-targeted mass spectrometry data to assist with compound identification and generate mass spectral libraries.
  2. Process quantitative mass spectrometry data to determine target compound concentrations and evaluate data quality objectives.

Packages

OrgMassSpecR

R package for organic/biological mass spectrometry.

Mass Spectral Libraries

Collection of mass spectral libraries.