Richard van Breemen
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Oregon State University, USA
Biggest challenge facing the field? Deciding how the next generation of mass spectrometrists focus their effort as the field of biomedical mass spec reaches maturity. Some academics have been advising their students to pursue other fields as the history of mass spec suggests we should be entering a new era.
Most exciting development or trend? I’d like to believe that there will be an upcoming era of mass spec worthy of academic study and scientific investigation – which could be dominated by medical application areas. We’re already seeing this addition in operating theaters, which could be the start of a new era of medical mass spec.
Book for scientists?“Arrowsmith” by Sinclair Lewis reinforces the importance of the scientific method and how chemistry underpins medical science. Despite being published in 1925, the parallels with the COVID-19 pandemic are amazing. Almost 100 years later, the guiding principles in this book still apply to bioanalytical chemistry today.
