Sitting Down With… The Past: Richard D. Smith
We dive into the archive of 2014 for insight and inspiration – this time with Richard D. Smith
| 2 min read
On finding mass spectrometry:
“It goes back to the mid-1970s – very early in my career – when I was thinking about what large research impacts might be enabled by MS. At that time, there was a very small community pursuing the development of MS for what are now considered extremely simple biological applications. Applying MS for the characterization of whole ‘biological systems’ was really not discussed; the possibilities then were greatly constrained by some really difficult problems: lack of sensitivity, limitations of MS ionization methods, separation methods to which MS could be interfaced, and a range of other MS capabilities. I was intrigued by these problems, and realized that if they could be solved, MS could become an integral technique for biological research.
“My career has centered on addressing these MS technology issues and applying the improved techniques in as broad a context as possible. It’s fun to be part of a much larger research agenda and contribute to areas that can affect all of us in one way or another, for example, in cancer-related research or improving biofuel production. Importantly, our applied work also provides continuous feedback on which technical issues are limiting – presenting a better focus for our technology development efforts.”
On his “obsession for sensitivity”:
“Actually, I think of myself as having a ‘passion for sensitivity’, but the difference between passion and obsession is in the eye of the beholder… More seriously, what drives this is the desire to better characterize, and ultimately understand, biological systems. And this gets to what I really want to focus on next. If you look at what we really need to effectively apply systems biology approaches, it will require much, much more data across the pan-omics data types (for example, proteomics). However, the throughput of present measurements (that is to say, the rate at which we can make measurements and fully analyze samples) lags by many orders of magnitude behind what can now be done in genomics. What we really need is to take MS-based proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics and related measurements, and be able to make them not just ten times faster but a million times faster.”
Read the full article, first published in July 2014.
Congratulations are in Order…
Earlier in 2024, Dick Smith announced that he had worked his last day at PNNL, calling an end to an illustrious career.
In 2023, Dick was named as one of the 100 most influential analytical scientists of the past decade – and one of the top 25 “Innovators and Trailblazers.” We asked him about choosing a problem to work on, emerging trends in the field, and the qualities of an innovative thinker:
“I think it is the step that follows the birth of the idea, concept, or invention, and achieving an effective balance between having confidence in it, and simultaneously being open to challenges to it, both from yourself and from others as it matures.”
We wish Dick well for his next chapter!
