Speaker: Elizabeth Neumann, University of California, Davis
Topic: Spatial Multiomics towards Understanding Neurological diseases
Date: Monday, March 9, 2026
Time: 6:15 pm Dinner, 7:15 pm Presentation
Location: University of Maryland College Park, Chemistry (Directions)
Dinner: Please RSVP to Sheng Feng (SFeng@som.umaryland.edu) by Friday, March 6 if you will be attending the dinner.
Abstract: Organ systems are composed of unique cell types that actively coordinate to enable higher order functions. Even slight deviances in the molecular or cellular states of these systems can result in debilitating disorders whose severity, treatment course, and overall treatment outcome vary widely from patient to patient. This level of complexity likely contributes to promising therapeutics failing within clinical trials and, thus, require further exploration. Thus, the Neumann lab focuses on developing and applying multimodal imaging and profiling techniques to study complex human diseases, such as renal cell carcinoma, Alzheimer’s Disease, and spina bifida. Beyond disease, we also develop methods for spatially assessing exogenous agents, including pharmaceuticals, toxins, and plastics, within organ and whole animal models.
Lightning Talk
Stellar MS: Redefining targeted proteomics with a quadrupole, collision cell and linear ion trap architecture
Romain Huguet, Ph.D.
Nominal Mass Product Management team, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Targeted mass spectrometry is traditionally applied at the final stage of the biomarker discovery pipeline for the quantification of limited numbers of candidate analytes. While targeted MS delivers superior quantitative accuracy, precision, and specificity, its broader application in upstream discovery and verification studies has been constrained by limited multiplexing capacity and throughput. The new Stellar MS platform integrates a quadrupole mass filter, collision cell, and radial ejection linear ion trap architecture that expands the practical range of targeted proteomics. Hardware and instrument control advancements, combined with a real-time Adaptive Retention Time (RT) algorithm that compensates for chromatographic shifts, enable substantially narrower acquisition windows. This approach supports the targeting of 5,000–8,000 peptides per hour, enabling robust high-plex quantitative workflows.
For low-plex applications, this platform further enhances specificity and sensitivity through an MS³ acquisition strategy, reducing interference and increasing quantitative confidence for small, high-value peptide panels.
By unifying high-multiplex throughput and low-plex analytical rigor within a single system, this platform extends the utility of targeted MS across discovery, verification/ validation, and translational proteomics applications
