Speaker: Trevor Glaros, US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center

Topic: Mass Spectrometry for the Warfighter

Date: Monday, March 19, 2018

Time: 6:15 pm Dinner, 7:15 pm Presentation

Location: Shimadzu Scientific Instrument, Inc. Training Center 7100 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD 21046 (Directions)

Dinner: Please RSVP to Stefani Thomas (sthoma92@jhmi.edu) before Friday, March 16th if you will be attending the dinner.

Abstract: The United States Army is widely recognized as the world's premier fighting force. Presently, there are roughly 1.3 million active duty soldiers across all branches of the armed forces. However, supporting these soldiers, behind the scenes or sometimes shoulder to shoulder, are nearly 3.6 million federal civilians and defense contractors. For every one active duty soldier there are nearly three non-uniform civilians or contractors supporting their mission. To those outside of the Department of Defense, it may seem like mass spectrometry is just a common research tool frequently employed at various institutes or universities throughout the world. However, this could not be farther from the truth. The U.S. military has been heavily invested in the miniaturization of these instruments, pushing this technology into the field for more than 40 years. Over the past decade our craft has seen major advances in both hardware, analytics, and supporting systems. More than ever before, the U.S. Army is investing heavily in the development of instrumentation as well as research programs which rely on this core technology. The BioScience Mass Spectrometry facility at the U.S. Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center focuses on utilizing mass spectrometers for forensic purposes, in addition to applying mass analysis techniques to better understand complex living systems, utilizing both proteomics and metabolomics. The Army is a multifaceted organization that embraces science and technology, including mass spectrometry, to stay one step ahead of our adversaries.