Thermo Fisher Scientific scientist Dr. Alexander Makarov receives inaugural HUPO Science and Technology Award

Dr. Alexander Makarov

The award, which honors Dr. Makarov’s principal role in developing the OrbitrapTM mass analyzer, will be presented on September 7 at the HUPO 2011 10th World Congress in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Makarov, who has authored more than 40 papers and holds more than 40 patents worldwide, first presented the Orbitrap mass analyzer in a paper published in 2000. The Thermo Scientific LTQ Orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer, introduced in 2005, was the first commercial mass spectrometer to be based on this new type of mass analyzer. Orbitrap-based mass spectrometers offer performance that was previously only available from larger, more expensive, difficult-to-operate and less reliable Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometers, enabling more widespread use of ultra-high resolution and high mass accuracy instrumentation.

Orbitrap mass spectrometers have quickly become essential tools in many fields, and have enabled breakthroughs in proteomics, the large-scale study of proteins, their structures and their functions within biological systems. Only six years after commercial introduction, Orbitrap mass spectrometers are found in leading proteomics laboratories worldwide. They are used to identify both intact and enzymatically digested proteins, find proteins that have undergone chemical modification and identify the type and location of modification, all essential to the understanding of biological systems. Orbitrap mass spectrometers have been referenced in hundreds of articles in scientific journals.

“We are extremely pleased to see Alexander receive this award, and we are grateful to HUPO for recognizing him in this way.” said Greg Herrema, senior vice president and president, analytical instruments group, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We are proud of the contributions that Orbitrap mass spectrometers have made to scientific knowledge in proteomics, metabolomics, metabolism and many other fields, and Alexander continues to play an important role in the advancement of Orbitrap technology.”

In June of this year, Thermo Fisher introduced several new Orbitrap-based mass spectrometers at the 59th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics in Denver, Colorado. The Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Elite hybrid mass spectrometer features a next-generation, high-field Orbitrap mass analyzer that is smaller than its predecessor yet provides dramatically higher performance. The Thermo Scientific Q Exactive mass spectrometer is the first hybrid mass spectrometer to pair a transmission quadrupole mass analyzer with an Orbitrap mass analyzer. Both instruments are being shown this week at the HUPO World Congress as part of Thermo Fisher’s Comprehensive Proteomics and Protein QuanfirmationTM workflows, respectively.

For more information about Orbitrap technology and Orbitrap-based mass spectrometers, please call 1-800-532-4752, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.planetorbitrap.com.