Thermo Scientific Tandem Mass Tag Research Award

Thermo Scientific tandem mass tag (TMT) research awards

For nine years, Thermo Scientific awarded grants to doctoral and post-doctoral students that proposed studies utilizing tandem mass tag labeling reagents in their research. Learn about past award recipients in the tabs below.

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Tandem mass tag research award recipients

2023 award recipients

Recipient 1: $11,000

Annika Richter portrait

Annika Richter, Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin, Germany

Annika is a PhD student in Dorothea Fielder’s lab. Fielder’s lab seeks to develop a better understanding of the multiple ways in which nature utilizes phosphate in both protein signaling cascades and metabolic networks. To do so, they apply modern methods in chemical and peptide synthesis, proteomics, metabolomics, and cell biology, to interrogate critical signaling nodes in healthy and diseased states. Annika is currently working to demystify inositol polyphosphate-protein interactions using covalent and non-covalent probes.

Recipient 2: $11,000

Leandro Xavier Neves portrait

Leandro Xavier Neves, Centre for Proteome Research, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology at the University of Liverpool, UK

Leandro is a research associate in Edward Emmott’s lab. Emmott’s lab uses and develops proteomic methods to study how positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses replicate and interact with the host.

Leandro has a background in applying mass spectrometry-based proteomics in the context of infectious diseases and oral cancer, for the discovery and quantification of biomarkers and therapeutic targets. In his current project, Leandro studies proteolytic processes during SARS-CoV-2 and murine Norovirus infection.

2022 award recipients

Recipient 1: $11,000

Dick Zijlmans headshot

Dick Zijlmans, Department of Molecular Biology of the Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Dick is a PhD student in Michiel Vermeulen’s lab. The Vermeulen lab employs interaction proteomics to study the molecular processes governing stem cell regulation and maintenance. Using proximity-based labeling, the lab has characterized a local proteome for numerous epigenetic regulatory complexes involved in stem cell biology. Dick is currently using Thermal Proteome Profiling (TPP) and its derivatives to study the effect of protein complex perturbation on its local proteome.

Recipient 2: $11,000

Stephen Holmes in lab coat

Stephen Holmes, Centre for Proteome Research, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology at the University of Liverpool, UK

Stephen is a PhD student in Edward Emmott’s lab. The Emmott’s lab mainly focuses on viral post translational modifications at the single cell level. Stephen's research focuses on analyzing single-cell proteomes using mass spectrometry, with a particular interest in viral proteolysis. He primarily studies positive-sense RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and murine norovirus.

2021 award recipients

Recipient 1: $11,000

Owen Hovey

Owen Hovey, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Owen Hovey is a Ph.D. student in the Lab of Dr. Shawn Li at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. His work focuses on the resistance of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Using a method developed by the Li lab for the enrichment of phosphotyrosine, Owen's work includes monitoring changes in phosphotyrosine signaling using mass spectrometry.

Recipient 2: $11,000

Xi Zhang

Xi Zhang, University of California, San Diego, USA

Xi Zhang is a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Palmer Taylor's lab at UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She is interested in deciphering the chemical nature of life, the dynamic 3D arrangement of proteins and associates by proteomics. Xi started in structural biology with membrane protein complexes research using top-down MALDI-TOF MS and crystallography in graduate school and developed structural proteomics tools for neurotransmitter receptors GPCRs and ion channels as a post-doc at Massachusetts General Hospital and Scripps Research. Recently Xi developed light-gated 3D proximity proteomics to bridge imaging with proteomic readout, and TMT Click-Phos is one way to read life’s 3D architecture with quantitative phosphoproteomics.

2020 award recipients

Gold level recipient: $10,000

Suzan Stelloo

Suzan Stelloo, Radboud Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, The Netherlands

Dr Stelloo works in the lab of Professor Michiel Vermeulen at the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS) in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The Vermeulen lab combines quantitative proteomics and genomics technologies to study the molecular signaling pathways that drive stem cell differentiation in various models (e.g., intestinal organoids and gastruloids). Suzan is currently setting up high-throughput single cell proteomics to capture protein expression changes during embryonic development.


Silver level recipient: $7,500

Samuel David Whedon

Samuel David Whedon, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, USA

Sam is a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Phil Cole at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The Cole Lab focuses on protein regulation by post-translational modification, and Sam is working on regulation of chromatin by post-translational modification of the histones. Sam has a background in developing chemical methods for probing enzymatic removal of post-translational modifications. He is currently investigating new proteomic methods for characterizing the epigenomic changes accompanying healthy and pathological cell fate transitions.


Bronze level recipient: $5,000

Kevin Klann

Kevin Klann, Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Germany

Kevin is currently a PhD student in the lab of Christian Münch at the Institute of Biochemistry at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. His research focuses on the systems biology of proteome dynamics. For comprehensively measuring protein dynamics, he and the lab recently developed multiplexed enhanced protein dynamic profiling (mePROD), enabling the deep measurement of transient changes in protein synthesis. Using this new technology combined with degradation and post-translational modification profiling by mass spectrometry, his research strives to dissect the changes in protein networks upon perturbation of protein homeostasis.

2019 award recipients

Gold level recipient: $10,000

Amirata Saei Dibavar

Amirata Saei Dibavar, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Amir is currently a postdoc with Prof. Roman Zubarev at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He holds a doctorate in pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Medical Science. His research relates to the development of novel technologies for deconvolution of drug/biomolecule targets and mechanisms. Examples include the ProTargetMiner approach for drug target deconvolution, Proteome Integral Stability Alteration (PISA) assay for high-throughput thermal profiling, and System-wide Identification of Enzyme Substrates by Thermal Analysis (SIESTA). He is currently working on expanding ProTargetMiner applications and extending SIESTA for discovery of protein substrates for kinases and other disease-relevant enzyme systems.

Silver level recipient: $7500

Anna Andrejeva

Anna Andrejeva, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Dr. Andrejeva is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cambridge Centre for Proteomics directed by Prof. Kathryn Lilley, University of Cambridge. The group has been on the forefront of method development and established protocols for proteome-wide subcellular localisation (hyper LOPIT and LOPIT-DC) and recently a highly efficient unbiased method for quantitative RNA binding proteome identification (OOPS). Anna completed her PhD in Physical Chemistry and now applies mass spectrometry to biological challenges. She is engaged in the research of post-translational modification dynamics utilising bottom-up proteomics, especially related to subcellular localisation as well as their effect in the RNA-binding proteome, aiming to understand their impact in protein interactions and location.

Bronze level recipient: $5000

Paula Díez

Paula Díez, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

Dr. Díez is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion at Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands). She works in the Immune Monitoring Group (headed by Prof. Jacques JM van Dongen) developing highly standardized approaches for the microproteomics profiling of small immune populations. Specifically, she is focused on characterizing the human monocyte-macrophage maturation pathway (from bone marrow to tissues) applying different -omics strategies. Additionally, she is interested in the evaluation of lysosomal protease contents of phagocytic cells to define protein digestion patterns.

2018 awards recipients
Gold level recipient: $10,000
David-Paul Minde

David-Paul Minde, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Dr. Minde works as postdoc in the Cambridge Centre for Proteomics with Prof. Kathryn Lilley in the Department of Biochemistry. His research explores protein dynamics using a variety of techniques. During his PhD on cancer-related Wnt signaling scaffolds, he developed a fast proteolysis assay (FASTpp) to determine protein stability and validated a 2000 residue large predicted disordered region in APC in vitro. Subsequent in singulo optical tweezers studies contributed to a paradigm shift in understanding possible cellular roles of Hsp70 chaperone systems. His current work focuses on in vivo dynamics of membrane proteins in the bacterial cell envelope specifically under poisoning conditions as part of the BBSRC-funded DETOX consortium.

Silver level recipient: $7500
Sandipan Ray

Sandipan Ray, Francis Crick Institute and University College London, London, UK

Dr. Ray is a postdoctoral research associate at the UCL Institute of Neurology and a visiting scientist at The Francis Crick Institute, UK. He is working in the Biological Clocks and Sleep Group headed by Prof. Akhilesh B. Reddy. He has substantial expertise in cutting-edge proteomics technologies and big-data analysis skills with a very solid record of scientific publications in reputed journals. His current research interests are to understand the cross-talks among circadian clocks, sleep-wake cycles, and diverse signaling networks using systems-level approaches. By combining multiplexed quantitative proteomics and Thermal Proteome Profiling (TPP) he is investigating mechanisms of action of circadian period altering drugs in mammalian cells. This is critical in clearly defining molecular targets in order to modulate daily rhythms for therapeutic benefit (e.g. in shift work disorder, jet lag and sleep disorders).

Bronze level recipient: $5000
Sarah Peck

Sarah Peck, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN

Sarah is a graduate student in the lab of Amber Mosley in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine. The Mosley lab utilizes both proteomic and genomic approaches to study the regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sarah is currently developing a quantitative proteomics approach that couples an adapted cellular thermal shift assay to high resolution mass spectrometry to profile the thermal stability of proteins with missense mutations. This application provides a high throughput method to characterize the impacts of disease-associated missense mutations in proteins on the global proteome.

Bronze level recipient: $5000
Edward Emmott

Edward Emmott, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Dr Emmott is working in the quantitative biology group headed by Dr Nikolai Slavov at Northeastern University. The group currently studies ribosome heterogeneity and the refinement of single cell mass spectrometry methods (SCoPE-MS). Ed has a background in applying mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics to the study of virus-host interactions. His current research covers the interaction between the immune system and ribosomes, as well as helping develop SCoPE-MS for the investigation of post-translational modifications. He is also an ASAPbio and eLife ambassador, supporting the use of preprints in the life sciences, and initiatives to aid data reproducibility and reuse.

2017 awards recipients
Gold level recipient: $10,000
Roman Fischer

Roman Fischer, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Dr. Fischer leads the Discovery Proteomics Facility and is a principal investigator at the University of Oxford, UK. His lab focusses on proteomic strategies to access the deep proteome from minimal sample materials, such as cells harvested by laser-capture-microdissection. Employing a series of recently published techniques (GASP, CHOPIN) they aim at not only comprehensive proteome-, but also proteome sequence coverage to detect protein isoforms and PTMs in the context of tumor biology and drug target.

Silver level recipient: $7500
Kathryn Lilley

Kathryn Lilley, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Dr. Lilley is a research group leader in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK. She is also the Director, Cambridge Centre for Proteomics and Head of Cambridge Systems Biology Centre. She has been at the forefront of technology development enabling mapping of the spatial proteome. Her current work investigates the implications of where transcripts are translated upon the spatial proteome and protein structure and how this process is controlled. 

Bronze level recipient: $5000
Kilian Huber

Kilian Huber, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Dr. Huber is a Principal Investigator at the Structural Genomics Consortium and Target Discovery Institute at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine. His research laboratory uses a combination of chemistry and biology to develop small molecule tool compounds to explore protein function and probe cellular signaling networks related to human disease research. A second key area of interest is the development of chemical biology approaches to investigate the mechanism of action of drugs and other pharmacologically active compounds to identify future novel therapeutic targets.

Bronze level recipient: $5000
Ashok Reddy

Ashok Reddy, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR

Dr. Ashok Reddy is the associate director of the Oregon Health & Sciences University Proteomics Shared Resource, and is responsible for managing proteomics projects across the entire university. He has 15 years of experience conducting cancer research and proteomics/biomarker discovery studies in human body fluids. He has managed these proteomics projects from conception to discovery as demonstrated by the discovery of candidate biomarkers of infection for pre-term birth, preeclampsia, and neonatal sepsis. His research interests are in discovery and validation of disease biomarkers in body fluids, tissues and exosomes.

2016 award recipients
Gold level recipient: $10,000
Dr. Noah Dephoure

Noah Dephoure, Weill Cornell Medical College,
New York, NY

Dr. Dephoure is an Assistant Professor at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College. His lab develops and refines proteomic tools and uses them to study signaling events that underlie basic cellular biology and human disease research. A long-term goal of the lab is to understand the complex roles of posttranslational protein modifications (PTMs) in cellular growth and proliferation. By combining multiplexed quantitative and temporal analysis of PTMs with novel methods for studying changes in protein interactions and subcellular localization, they are decoding the mechanisms by which these simple chemical changes impact oncogenesis and tumor progression.

Read more about Dr. Dephoure in "Solving the protein puzzle"

Silver level recipient: $7,500
Dr. Domitille Schvartz

Domitille Schvartz, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Dr. Schvartz is working in the Translational Biomarker Group headed by Pr. Jean-Charles Sanchez at the University of Geneva. The group has conducted studies over the years for the discovery of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of brain injuries using proteomic approaches on body fluids. She has applied many “omics” approaches to her own research projects, mainly on type 2 diabetes. She is also the chair of a worldwide initiative of the Human Proteome Organization, gathering researchers in the field of diabetes and proteomics. She is now involved in a project aimed at discovering early biomarkers of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) by quantitative “omics”.

 Poster: Plasma-derived microparticle biomarkers of paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity

Bronze level recipient: $5,000
Dr. Sina Ghaemmaghami

Sina Ghaemmaghami, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

Sina Ghaemmaghami is an assistant professor of biology at the University of Rochester. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of cellular protein folding and degradation with a special focus on neurodegenerative disorders. He has authored more than 30 publications in journals such as Science, Nature, and PNAS. His laboratory has developed a number of commonly used proteomic methodologies for global analyses of cellular protein homeostasis.  

2015 award recipients

Matthias Trost, University of Dundee, Scotland

His lab focuses on using proteomics to understand cell signaling via phosphorylation and ubiquitylation in vesicle trafficking in macrophages. They use their expertise in this area to characterize molecular mechanisms in Parkinson’s disease. Recently, they started developing mass spectrometry tools for identification of potential drug targets and drug discovery.

Jun Qu, SUNY, Buffalo, NY

His lab develops and applies LC/MS-based strategies for research in the fields of proteomics and pharmaceutical analysis, involving high-resolution and large-scale expression profiling of pathological proteomes (e.g., for cardiovascular diseases, colon cancer, and infectious diseases) for the discovery of disease/therapeutic biomarkers; identification, localization, and quantification of post-translational modifications in complex proteomes; and targeted quantification of regulatory marker proteins for research study.

Jon Reed, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL

His MS lab uses integrative -omic approaches (proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics) as well as DMPK analyses to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of several neurodegenerative diseases, and to facilitate the development of therapeutic approaches.  The use of stable isotope tagging such as the TMT reagents is integral to day-to-day operations, owing to the increases in throughput and assay standardization observed relative to other techniques.

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