Issue 4 Summer 2002 - Applied Biosystems

44
customer relations
German Society of Mass Spectrometry
Grants ‘Life Science Award’
to Prof. Jasna Peter-Katalinic, for Scientific Excellence
in Mass Spectrometry
F
or the first time, the German Society of
Mass Spectrometry (Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Massenspektrometrie, DGMS) has granted the newly
established ‘Life Science Award’ for Scientific
Excellence in Mass Spectrometry to a researcher.
The first awardee is Prof. Jasna Peter-Katalinic,
University of Muenster, where she heads the
Biomedical Analysis Group at the Institute of
Medical Physics and Biophysics.
A 5000 Euro prize was donated by Applied Biosystems
Germany, which was open to researchers all over Europe.
The award honours scientific work from all areas of
methodology development and applications of mass
spectrometry within the life sciences. Prof. Peter-Katalinic
was honoured in appreciation of her outstanding work in
the field of the structural analysis of glycoconjugates.
left to right: Prof. Dr. Michael Przybylski, Mrs Prof. Jasna Peter-Katalinic
and Dr. Holm Sommer
The prize was awarded with a certificate at a special award
presentation during the conference of the German Society of
Mass Spectrometry (DGMS) on 5 March 2002 in Heidelberg.
The chairman of the DGMS, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Grotemeyer,
said he was proud to award this prize for the first time.
The prize is awarded exclusively through nomination by a
scientific jury appointed by the Board of the German Society of
Mass Spectrometry. Prof. Dr. Michael Przybylski, chairman of
the nominating committee, gave the awarding speech.
In his speech, he honoured Prof. Peter-Katalinic for having
built up one of the best known international groups working in
the field of biological mass spectrometry for glycoconjugate
analysis and glycomics. She has published more than
150 articles in peer-reviewed, high impact factor journals,
and 200 presentations at scientific meetings. She is serving
as a reviewer for several scientific journals in her field.
Her research projects have been funded by the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the German Federal
Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF).
In the main areas of her research she is focussing on:
➜ New instrumentation methods of mass spectrometry
to tackle the most challenging analytical questions,
e.g. with quadrupole time-of-flight and with highresolution
Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance
mass spectrometry
➜ Novel strategies for structure elucidation of complex
N- and O-glycosylation in proteins, which have proven
difficult to analyse with common methods
➜ Applying these strategies for elucidation of the role of
glycoconjugates in the field of molecular medicine,
e.g. in the etiology of genetic diseases.
Following this introduction, Prof. Peter-Katalinic herself
presented ‘Glycomics in the Post-Genome Era and the way
to get it: 20 Years Glycoanalysis’. She described her early
work on oligosaccharide determinants of blood groups,
and on gangliosides in the development of the human brain,
both of high biological relevance. In her more recent work,
applying a broad range of glycoanalytical methods,
she both contributed to clinical research, where the differential
expression of glycoconjugates in normal and diseased
specimens may be used as a diagnostic tool, and to basic
customer relations
Kiel University Hospital Collaborates
with Applied Biosystems
A
research where she investigates protein – carbohydrate
interactions. Amazingly enough, there are still novel
glycosylation types in proteins to be detected.
Apart from her position as a professor in Muenster,
Germany, she is involved in establishing a new laboratory for
biological mass spectrometry and proteomics at the Institute of
Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia,
Augusta, USA. At both locations, she applies a broad range of
analytical methods using different instrumentation.
When asked for her first response when she was informed about
the prize, Prof. Peter-Katalinic said that she was surprised,
pplied Biosystems Group, an Applera Corporation
business, and the University Hospital in Kiel in
Germany, have recently announced a collaborative
study on high-throughput genotyping led by Dr. Stefan
Schreiber, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology.
Up to 2,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
approximately 5,000 individuals will be investigated in the
course of the study using the local high-throughput SNP
genotyping infrastructure to identify if any have associations
with chronic intestinal inflammation, in particular Crohn’s
disease and ulcerative colitis.
In the past, Professor Schreiber’s research group has
examined a large number of genes for disease associations on
various chromosomes and was among those who described
the first Crohn’s disease susceptibility gene, NOD2,
on chromosome 16. This new study, which will use an approach
called high-density association mapping, will attempt to define
further interacting disease genes in this polygenetic disorder.
The study has received considerable support from
the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF),
the German National Genome Network, and the German Crohns
and Colitis Foundation, who helped assemble the patient
database for the project.
but highly honoured. She admitted that she hadn’t yet had the
time to celebrate, but has promised to take her students out to
mark the occasion. At that time she spent another research
period at the Medical College of Georgia. Young scientist’s
education in the field of mass spectrometry in life sciences,
a dynamic and truly interdisciplinary field for physicists,
chemists and biologists is one of her major concerns.
Applied Biosystems would like to congratulate
Prof. Peter-Katalinic and wish her well with her future
career. We hope that the prize will contribute to her
future research success.
Professor Schreiber is one of the first users of
the recently introduced Assays-by-Design SM service from
Applied Biosystems, where individual assay kits for known
SNPs are designed and tested to order. This approach can save
time, money and manual labour and when used in combination
with the ABI PRISM ® 7900HT Sequence Detection System,
can help researchers analyse up to 250,000 genotypes
a day. As part of the Applera-wide discovery program,
Applied Biosystems is dedicated to providing scientists
with the tools they need for high-throughput, low-cost SNP
genotyping and gene expression research.
For more information on:
The Assays-by-Design service enter:
No. 432
or see: http://home.appliedbiosystems.com/press
(Press release dated October 25, 2001)
or visit: www.appliedbiosystems.com/assaysbydesign
45