Jo Simpson, Mass Spectrometry Specialist

I translate the biological questions researchers want to ask into analytical questions - so, something we can measure in samples like tissues or plasma – and then I devise methods to make those measurements using mass spectrometry.

We measure a wide range of molecules in a real variety of samples, and we specialise particularly in absolute quantification of those molecules: quantifying them against certified reference standards.

For example, we do a lot of work measuring steroid hormones like cortisol, which we know can impact health across a lot of areas. We also look at drugs and the biological pathways they act on. The aim is to identify new drug targets or understand drug dosage to improve treatments. Sometimes that includes tracer studies where patients are given isotopically labelled molecules such as glucose in diabetes studies, to allow us to monitor what is happening in the body.

Using and maintaining our instruments needs a lot of specialist knowledge so we work with research colleagues in a number of different ways, depending on their skills. Sometimes I am the technical expert involved throughout the research, whilst other times I am there as a teacher/support for a PhD student with a research question that relies on using mass spectrometry.

What I do changes day to day, which is one of the things I really enjoy about my job. Most of my time is spent in the lab. I do a lot of method development to keep improving how we use mass spectrometry to address the research questions we want to answer. Day to day I am also often busy logging in samples, training students, attending talks and meetings with researchers, as well writing up and processing data.

I did my undergraduate degree in Forensic Science as I was struggling to choose between biology and chemistry. I really enjoyed the analytical chemistry subjects and did my final year project developing a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method to identify the origin of red dyestuffs in Egyptian artifacts. Since graduating, mass spectrometry has been a common theme in my work life.

I’ve always been excited by technology and new capabilities of the instruments, and I like how mass spec can be used to answer so many different types of questions.