Abstract
The HHMI mass spectrometry laboratory on the UC Berkeley campus collaborates with numerous HHMI investigators. The lab is equipped with several mass spectrometers as well as peptide synthesis equipment, and we use a variety of analytical techniques. The lab recently acquired a tandem TOF instrument (ABI 4700), and the talk will mainly describe some of the uses, results and experiences with it. Most of the analyses done are of proteins and peptides, mostly on tryptic digests for the purpose of protein identification. Our work is generally done by hand in a low-throughput fashion. Many samples are from organisms whose genomes are not present in databases, and as a result, many peptides must be sequenced de novo.

The instrument uses high energy collisional activation (1000 eV, lab frame), which generates spectra that are richer, but still not too difficult to interpret, than low energy devices. Our low-throughput operation has the advantage that one can make a trade-off between sensitivity and speed; in general we opt for sensitivity, usually in the form of excellent signal to noise ratio of the spectra obtained. The latter is critical for de novo interpretation.
 

Background
Dr. Falick has been actively involved in biomedical research since 1985, when he joined the Mass Spectrometry Facility at the University of California, San Francisco. He was appointed Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF in 1987. After spending approximately eight years at UCSF, he joined Applied Biosystems in Foster City, California, as Senior Manager of Biospectrometry applications. In January of 2001, he joined the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Mass Spectrometry Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, as Co-director and Senior Staff Scientist. His academic appointment at UCSF has continued and he has taught at UCSF for many years. He is the author or coauthor of over 70 scientific publications, and numerous oral presentations. He was an organizer of the Asilomar Conferences on Mass Spectrometry for six years and is a past chairman of BAMS.
 

Meeting details

Date:	Wednesday	December 10, 2003
Time:	6:00 pm	Social hour, registration (no-host cocktails)
	7:00 pm	Dinner
	8:00 pm	Lecture
Dinner:	Buffet featuring:	Grilled Chicken Breast Toscano,
		Stuffed Petrale Sole
		Penne ala DOminic
	includes	various side dishes & dessert
Cost:	$25.00	BAMS members.  Reservations required by noon on Friday December 5, 2003
	$35.00	Non-members.  Reservations required by noon on Friday December 5, 2003
	$15.00	Students only.  Reservations required by noon on Friday December 5, 2003

Note: 2003 dues need to be paid to obtain member price.  Dues ($20) may be paid while registering for dinner.  Dues paid now will be credited to the 2004 calendar year.

Maps & directions
Dominic’s at Oyster Point
360 Oyster Point Blvd.
South San Francisco, CA  94080
Yahoo map

The Bay Area Mass Spectroscopy Discussion Group will be electing the 2004 officers at the this meeting.  Officer positions include, Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.  Job sharing and other significant support from the BAMS membership is well precedented and greatly appreciated.  Please come to December  meeting and volunteer as a 2004 officer or offer your support to the organization.  If you are unable to attend this meeting or would just like more information contact one of the present officers.

As a service to our members, we post Employment postings.

As a trial service to our members, we are now posting Situations Wanted.  (Note: BAMS isn't a career center and will only post brief positions wanted for BAMS members only).

The San Francisco Bay Area Mass Spectrometry discussion group was formed in 1980 to provide a regular gathering for people interested in mass spectrometry and allied topics. BAMS currently has a membership of about 280 individual and 20 corporate members, and meets 8-10 times per year for a midweek dinner and lecture.  Meetings attract between 30 and 90 people, and are held at a restaurant or hotel in the bay area convenient for our speaker.  We usually convene at 6:00 pm for cocktails, dinner at 7:00 pm, and lecture at 8:15 pm.

If you have suggestions for a meeting topic, or know of a prominent mass spectroscopist who will be visiting the bay area, please contact our program chair.

To become a member, please fill out and mail in a membership form.
BAMS has been fortunate to have had many excellent speakers in our short history.
If you have suggestions for a meeting topic please contact our program chair.
If you have questions or comments about BAMS, please contact one of the BAMS officers.
Please thank our corporate sponsors who help keep BAMS membership and dinner costs low.
Here are some internet links that may be of interest to BAMS members.
 

If you have comments or suggestions for this web site, please email me at hugh-gregg@llnl.gov

Last update: 11/19/2003