Professional Society Honors PNNL Scientist - Julia Laskin Receives Biemann Medal For Achievements In Mass Spectrometry

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 16 Jun 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory chemist Julia Laskin has received the Biemann Medal, the highest honor granted to a young scientist by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Laskin accepted the award at the ASMS annual conference June 3 in Denver, where she also delivered a lecture on her research to the nearly 7,000 scientists attending the conference.

The international award recognizes Laskin's contributions to better understanding the activation, fragmentation and deposition of large molecules when they collide with surfaces. Her research is of interest to the broad scientific community and directly advances Department of Energy goals to develop biomaterials and biological processes for clean energy production, as well as to create biologically inspired systems, novel catalysts and biosensors. Other findings by Laskin and her collaborators provide fundamental insights into the analysis of complex molecules present in biofuels, petroleum and aerosols.

"Julia is a leader whose research is expanding the frontiers of science and contributing to vital DOE missions in energy, environment and national security," Laboratory Director Mike Kluse said. "Her accomplishments exemplify the dedication and impact of our outstanding young scientists."

Laskin also received the Department of Energy's Office of Science Early Career Scientist and Engineer and the Presidential Early Career Achievement Award in fall 2007.

Laskin earned a master's degree in physics from the Physico-Mechanical Division of the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute in Russia in 1990, and a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel in 1998. She joined PNNL as a postdoctoral research associate in 2000 and earned the laboratory's M.T. Thomas Award for outstanding postdoctoral achievement in 2002. She is now a chief scientist.

Laskin's work is funded by DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences and takes place at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE scientific user facility at PNNL. EMSL is one of the world's foremost resources for mass spectrometry experts and instruments.

PNNL is a DOE Office of Science national laboratory that solves complex problems in energy, national security and the environment, and advances scientific frontiers in the chemical, biological, materials, environmental and computational sciences. PNNL employs 4,200 staff, has a $750 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965.

Technical references:

J Laskin, JH Futrell: Activation of large ions in FT-ICR mass spectrometry. Mass Spectrometry Reviews 24 (2005) 135-67.

Laskin, J., Energy and Entropy Effects in The Gas Phase Dissociation of Peptides and Proteins, in Principles of Mass Spectrometry Applied to Biomolecules, J. Laskin and C. Lifshitz, Editors. 2006, John Wiley & Sons., Inc.: Hoboken, NJ.

J Laskin, P Wang, O Hadjar: Soft-landing of peptide ions onto self-assembled monolayer surfaces: an overview. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 10 (2008) 1079-90.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

American Society for Mass Spectrometry