Reflections: Mass Spectrometry as a Career Choice: Anyin Li, Ph.D.

Next in our series 'Reflections', where we focus on the thoughts of early career researchers and professionals, BMSS Associate Editor Mervyn Lewis spoke to Anyin Li , Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire, USA. Read the full interview below!

ML: What was your impression of mass spectrometry when you were first introduced to it?

AL: Strong magnet winnowing grain. I was first introduced to a sector type mass spectrometer in a textbook during my sophomore year. After that, my true hands-on experience was with a 3-Tesla FT-ICR mass spectrometer that had EI/CI source. Strong magnet was my very first impression of mass spec. Till this day, I still have the habit of putting away my metal key chain before running a mass spec. experiment. Another of my early impressions with mass spec is the process of separation. I have always been amazed by how the molecules are and sorted out in space, which associate me with childhood memory of rice winnowing in the countryside.

ML: What persuaded you that mass spectrometry could be a good career option for you? Were you attracted by an application of mass spectrometry or excited by the prospect of developing it as an instrumental technique?

?AL: Role models and the problem-solving aspects. When starting as a fresh PhD student at Purdue University, I was lucky enough to have run into a few highly talented and dedicated senior graduate students, namely, Frank (Mingkun) Fu, He Wang, and Abraham Badu-Tawiah. With very different backgrounds, these folks joined mass spec. research groups. At the time I met them, they were all in the process of trying to figure out something in their research. At Purdue, there is also a “culture” for mass spec, pioneered by Prof. Cooks. Seeing how these folks succeed and how they do research convinced me mass spec. could be a career option for me.

Initially, I was attracted by the gas phase chemistry applications of mass spectrometry. As research goes on, I also became interested in developing instrumental techniques to realize unique gas phase chemistry that may be utilized in applications.

ML: How did you go about finding your first opportunity in mass spectrometry?

AL: Proton affinity of radical ions. My first opportunity in mass spectrometry was to do gas phase chemistry in the lab of Prof. Hilkka Kentt?maa. Measuring proton affinity of highly reactive radicals was like to taste the sweetness of a popping candy. You can do it using mass spec and this still fascinates me. This challenging project was a great first opportunity that helped me to gain in-depth learning for many aspects of mass spectrometry. It also certainly reinforced that I want to study mass spectrometry for my PhD.

ML: In what application fields do you see new opportunities in mass spectrometry?

AL: There are always new opportunities for mass spec because it is “universal” i.e. everything has a mass and can theoretically show up in a mass spectrum. For example, the new developments in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly the recent burst of “new therapeutic modalities” have been providing a lot of problems for analytical chemists. Mass spectrometry is ideal for many of these problems.

?There are even more opportunities in research because mass spec is not yet quantitatively “universal” i.e. analytes are being detected with varying efficiencies. This is an age-old problem that people have gotten used to. People are bypassing this problem by other means such as using isotopically labelled internal standards. Imagine when mass spec is truly quantitative, we will be able to carry out many new analyses in different ways.

ML:What is your opinion about the impact that automation and informatics will have on mass spectrometry?

?AL: One great thing about mass spec. is that it has been boosted by many technology innovations that may initially seem irrelevant. Automation and informatics are no different. I think they are going to have long lasting impact on how we conduct analysis and data interpretation. Obviously, there will be more automation and even robotics in mass spec. Mass spec. is going to produce data in increasing sizes and higher dimensions. These “big data” may be processed by in many new ways to allow new interpretations.

?Despite getting more automated, these developments will also bring new opportunities for experimentalists and researchers. Automation and big data desire mass spec. to be more robust and universally quantitative. A lot of development is still needed for mass spec to be seamlessly coupled with automation and data technology.

ML: Could you describe your views on career prospects in mass spectrometry for young people?

AL: It is really a good time for a career mass spectrometry. Mass spec solves many problems so you could be working with lots of disciplines, such as chemistry, biology, pharmacy. The demand from industry is strong so there is job security. The field is also evolving (boosted by technology breakthrough in all fields) so rapidly that things are getting outdated in 5 or 6 years. This is a particularly exciting sign for young people to consider mass spec. as a research field.

Acknowledgement. Anyin would like to thank Prof. Hilkka Kentt?maa and Prof. Graham Cooks for their mentoring and support throughout his PhD, and Prof. Facundo Fernandez for mentoring his postdoctoral research. Anyin Li is now an Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire, and acknowledges funding supports from NSF.

Learn more about Prof. Li's group on his homepage : https://al-unh.weebly.com/