Hao Chen
New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ·Chemistry
Many important molecules are hard to measure because they are scarce, short-lived, or hidden inside complex samples. Two projects here build new mass spectrometry methods, which identify molecules by weighing their charged forms, to reach such targets.
- Fields
Chemistry
Earth & Environmental Science
Biochemistry
- Topics
mass spectrometry
nano-DESI
bottom-up proteomics
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Aug 2028
What they work on
- Develop a "bottom-up" mass spectrometry imaging method that identifies tissue proteins from their peptide fragments rather than as intact proteins, aiming to identify far more proteins per imaging experiment.
- Couple nano-DESI sampling, which lifts molecules off tissue with a small flowing liquid bridge, to ultrafast online microdroplet digestion so proteins are cut into peptides directly during imaging.
- Build an in-situ high-resolution mass spectrometry approach able to capture short-lived, low-abundance intermediates formed during PFAS degradation.
- Detect and characterize the transient intermediates produced by thermal and electrochemical breakdown of PFAS to clarify the degradation chemistry of these carbon-fluorine compounds.
More about the research
One maps proteins across tissue slices. The other catches the fleeting chemical steps by which "forever chemicals" break down.
Why it matters
A method that identifies many proteins and their locations within a tissue section could give biomedical researchers a clearer picture of how healthy and diseased tissue differ from region to region. Separately, revealing how PFAS actually break apart could help researchers design more effective ways to remove these persistent pollutants from water and soil, reducing exposures linked to DNA damage and chronic disease.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
David Muddiman
North Carolina State University, NC·Chemistry
Develop new ionization methods, which convert neutral molecules into charged ions for mass spectrometry, and characterize how they work using real biological tissues rather than standards.
Ruixuan Gao
University of Illinois Chicago, IL·Chemistry·Early-career
Develop a tissue polymerization and expansion pipeline that anchors natural lipids to a swellable polymer gel, allowing MALDI mass spectrometry imaging of lipids at subcellular resolution on conventional instruments.
Olga Tsyusko
University of Kentucky, KY·Earth & Environmental Science
Measure halocyclopentadiene (HCPD) disinfection by-products in drinking water collected across the United States using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, to map how widespread they are.
The school
New Jersey Institute of Technology: 12 labs on PI Pages, $172M a year on research, 74 research doctorates a year.
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