ABC Best Paper Award 2011 for research on mass spectrometry imaging

The Springer journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC) has chosen Andreas Römpp (38) and Sabine Guenther (30) as the recipients of its Best Paper Award 2011. Römpp and Guenther are the lead authors of a paper published in ABC on mass spectrometry imaging. The award, accompanied by 1,000 euros, was created by Springer to honor exceptional young scientists and to stimulate their research careers. The ABC Best Paper Award has been given since 2005.

Mass spectrometry (MS) imaging is the main research field of Drs. Andreas Römpp and Sabine Guenther. To increase validity and reliability of MS images, they focus on accurate mass-based identification of imaged compounds and on improving effective lateral resolution in biological tissue analysis. Römpp and Guenther were able to combine the high-quality spectral features of Fourier transform MS for the first time with lateral resolution in the low micrometer range for biological tissue imaging. The method was applied to phospholipids, neuropeptides and drug compounds. The resulting MS images show excellent correlation with histological features and provide highly specific molecular information. Several additional applications are currently under investigation including human tumor, plant and insect samples.

Andreas Römpp studied environmental chemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and Colorado State University, USA. Following his PhD at the University of Mainz, Germany, in 2003, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the FOM-Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam. He is currently group leader at the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry of Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany. Sabine Guenther studied chemistry at Justus Liebig University and graduated in 2007. She received her PhD in 2011 from the Faculty of Biology and Chemistry of the same university.

Klaus G. Heumann, Editor of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, said, "Römpp and Guenther's pioneering work is new and innovative, meeting ABC's high standards for exceptional research articles. In their work, they developed a MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization) MS imaging method with high spatial resolution. In principle, the new imaging system opens the door for more analytical quality and reliability in mass spectrometric imaging."

Source: Springer Science+Business Media