Richard Caprioli, Ph.D.
Caprioli’s mass spectrometry work lauded
The American Chemical Society has selected Richard Caprioli, Ph.D., to receive the 2006 Frank H. Field and Joe L. Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry.
The award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the development or application of mass spectrometry, consists of $5,000, a certificate and support for travel to the ACS meeting, and will be presented at the annual meeting in Atlanta in March.
Caprioli, director of the Vanderbilt Mass Spectrometry Research Center, has played a key role in the development of new mass spectrometry techniques to the fields of biochemistry and medicine, including the use of mass spectrometry to image biological molecules in tissue.
This technique, called imaging mass spectrometry, can provide a physician with 'molecular fingerprints' of a patient's tissue, which could help diagnose disease, individualize treatment, and follow the patient's response to therapy.
Caprioli is currently collaborating with other Vanderbilt faculty to apply imaging mass spectrometry to the identification of biomarkers in certain cancers.
Throughout his career he has made seminal contributions to this field as indicated by 10 U.S. patents issued, six others pending and more than 230 research publications.
A leader in the field, Caprioli served as president of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry from 2000-2002 and has received numerous awards.
In 2003, he received the Thomson Medal from the International Mass Spectrom-etry Society.
In 2005, Caprioli was presented with an honorary degree from the Second University of Naples, Italy for his achievements in mass spectrometry and its applications to the study of bio-molecules and biological processes.
A profile of Caprioli's life and the work that garnered the award recently appeared in the Jan. 23 edition of Chem-ical and Engineering News (http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/84/i04/html/8404awards.html).
Caprioli is the Stanley Cohen Professor of Biochemistry