Alexander Makarov
Director Global Research LSMS, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany; Professor of High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; and Fellow, Royal Society, UK
Main research aims? To keep mass spectrometry instrumentation marching forward in its quest for new breakthroughs in performance.
Most exciting recent instrumental innovation? I hope it is the Orbitrap Astral instrument, although I am clearly biased here…
How to ensure new analytical instruments are accessible? This goal could be facilitated by national funding agencies, especially if several of them are working together and involve vendors.
What’s missing from the analytical toolbox? A technique to “see” a single molecule with atomic resolution directly and rapidly.
Spending a $1 Billion research grant… I would create a massively parallelized high-resolution mass spectrometer on a chip!
Biggest challenge facing the field? I think the biggest challenge is translation of analytical methods to clinics – it happens too slowly…
Most exciting development or emerging trend… I think that such trends are miniaturization and, just to avoid “AI-washing”, I would say “creative re-use of previously acquired treasure troves of data.”
Most memorable advice? Actually, there were several: “It is quality of people that defines success, not the quality of machines they run” (Lidia Gall, Institute for Analytical Instrumentation of Russian Academy of Sciences); “Never copy!” (Reinhold Pesch, R&D Director in Finnigan MAT); “Only paranoid survives” (Andy Grove, CEO Intel).
