The Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, established in 1957, is given annually to a researcher who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field of spectroscopy.

Dr. Tycko was selected for the award based on the intellectual depth of his work, as well as its enormous impact on chemistry and now also biology. Over the past 30+ years, Dr. Tycko’s work has had a major impact on magnetic resonance spectroscopy, both through contributions to fundamental aspects of solid state NMR and through seminal applications of novel magnetic resonance methods to a plethora of problems in physical and biological chemistry. A distinguishing feature of Dr. Tycko’s work, which made him an ideal candidate for the Pittsburgh Spectroscopy Award, is how it combines new conceptual insights and experimental approaches with detailed investigations of specific systems that are of central importance to large communities of scientists outside of magnetic resonance.

Biography
Dr. Robert Tycko has made many contributions to modern solid state NMR methodology and its applications to important problems in physical and biological sciences.  Current efforts in his lab focus on novel time-resolved NMR methods, high-resolution MRI at very low temperatures, and structural studies of protein assemblies implicated in neurodegenerative diseases.

The Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award was established to recognize a scientist’s significant contributions to the field of Analytical Chemistry including; introducing of a significant technique, theory or instrument or providing exceptional training or a fertile environment for progress in Analytical Chemistry.

The Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh (SACP) and the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) are pleased to announce that Professor Neil Kelleher from Northwestern University has been named the recipient of the 2023 Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award (PACA), which will be presented to him at a special Award Symposium at Pittcon 2023 in Philadelphia next March. Professor Kelleher is an internationally recognized scholar, leader, mentor, and teacher in modern proteomics and biological mass spectrometry, inventing powerful new methods to analyze and understand how human cells work at the molecular level. He has authored over 400 publications with more than 38,000 citations; he is listed as an inventor on 12 patents, and he has launched three successful entrepreneurial spin- offs. Professor Kelleher notably established and directs the National Resource for Translational and Developmental Proteomics at Northwestern University. Through his Center, he provides unique top-down proteoform characterization to researchers throughout the USA and the rest of the world. His work related to the human proteoform project, histone modifications, and The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics drives many important research projects forward. Neil Kelleher’s amazing creativity, productivity, and influence have redefined the boundaries of what’s possible in modern proteomics and measurement science as they are applied to chemistry, biology, and clinical and translational research. He is most deserving of the 2023 Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award.

Biography
Neil L. Kelleher, PhD, is the Walter and Mary E. Glass Professor of Molecular Biosciences, Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Medicine (Hematology & Oncology) in the Feinberg School of Medicine. Kelleher is the Director of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute and Director of Northwestern Proteomics. He is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Professor Kelleher’s research focuses on the areas of top-down proteomics, natural products discovery, and cancer biology.  Kelleher and his 60 person team drive both technology development and applications of high-performance mass spectrometry in proteomics and microbial natural products.   His contributions have been recognized by multiple awards, including the ASMS Biemann Medal and the Allen Distinguished Investigator Award. 

The Pittcon Achievement Award is presented annually at Pittcon to recognize individuals for outstanding achievements in the fields of analytical chemistry and/or applied spectroscopy within 10 years after completion of their Ph.D. work. This award is supported and administered by the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Jeffrey Dick was selected for the 2023 Pittcon Achievement Award due to the significant impact of his prolific research accomplishments over a 5-year period. Dr. Dick’s research focuses on electrochemical characterization of single species such as enzymes, molecules, single cells and catalytically active metal nanoparticles. He has also developed novel electrochemical deposition strategies to facilitate these efforts. Over this brief period (2018-22) Professor Dick has made significant contributions that are likely to reshape the single particle synthesis and characterization landscape.

Dr. Dick completed his Ph.D. in 2017, with Prof. Allan Bard at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA), and was an NIH CORE Postdoctoral Scholar with Prof. K.M. Miller, also at UTA, before joining the Chemistry Department at The University of North Carolina (2018-2022). Dr. Dick is currently a Professor in the Chemistry Department at Purdue University.

He has over 40 independent referred publications and has received an NSF Career grant, NIH MIRA R35 Outstanding Investigator Award, US Army Core of Engineers Award and an Alfred P Sloan Fellowship.

Biography
Jeffrey Dick earned a BS in Chemistry from Ball State University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Allen J. Bard. Jeffrey began his independent career at UNC Chapel Hill and is continuing that career at Purdue University.

The Ralph N. Adams Award in Bioanalytical Chemistry recognizes significant contributions to the field of bioanalytical chemistry. The recipient will have introduced a significant technique, theory or instrument, or applications thereof, important to thte life sciences, and provided an exceptional environment to educate bioanalytical chemists. Ralph N Adams (1924-2002) exemplified these characteristics as a distinguished professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas.

The 2023 Adams Award winner is Professor Joseph Wang, currently SAIC Endowed Chair, Distinguished Professor of Nanoengineering, and Director of the Center for Wearable Sensors at the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Wang is a pioneer in sensors and has made many innovative contributions to diverse sensor areas. In addition, he has contributed to nanoparticle-based bioelectronics assays, non-invasive glucose monitoring, microfluidic devices, and smart sensors. Dr. Wang has mentored hundreds of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars. Many of them have become the leaders in their research fields of sensors and biosensors around the world. He is always enthusiastic about doing research and promoting younger generations in the community. He is an inspiring role model for many people. Dr. Wang certainly embodies the commitment to creative and scholarly research and effective training of graduate and undergraduate students that Ralph Adams did.

Biography
Joseph Wang is Distinguished Professor, SAIC Endowed Chair, and former Chair of the Department of Nanoengineering at University of California, San Diego (UCSD). His scientific interests and main contributions are in the areas of bioelectronics, wearable biosensors, microrobots, and ultrasensitive bioassays. He published more than 1200 papers, 11 books, and he holds 40 patents.

This symposium will celebrate the 2022 winner of the Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigators in Separation Science, which is given by the ACS Analytical Division Subdivision of Chromatography and Separations Chemistry (SCSC). The award aims to recognize and encourage outstanding contributions to the fields of analytical chemistry by a young analytical scientist. Specifically, the session will focus on cutting edge separation approaches for chromatography and analytical extraction of small molecules, nucleic acids and proteins in complex samples, with emphasis on approaches that allow for in vivo and in situ analysis and point of care diagnostic solutions.

Biography
Emanuela Gionfriddo received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Calabria in 2013. She is the 2022 recipient of the ACS Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigators in Separation Science and the NSF CAREER Award. She is developing green extraction methodologies to analyze complex biological and environmental samples.

This Award recognizes contributions to the theory and application of chromatographic science.

Biography
Luis A. Colón is the A. Conger Goodyear Chair Professor of Chemistry at University at Buffalo (SUNY). He received the B.Sc. degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, the Ph.D. degree in chemistry (analytical) from the UMASS-Lowell and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. His current research focuses on the development and study of materials for use in separation science and chemical analysis, with particular attention to chromatographic media for liquid phase separations and the development of new strategies to separate and analyze complex chemical or biochemical sample mixtures. He also works on issues that advance diversity in graduate education. His has mentored over 50 graduate students.

Colón has received several awards for his work, including the NSF Special Creativity Award, the Benedetti-Pichler Award from the Microchemical Society, the Jacob F. Schoellkopf Medal (ACS-WNY) and the EAS Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science Award. He is Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). Other distinctions include the AAAS Mentor Award, ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, the ACS Stanley C. Israel Award, and the USA Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

Biography
Dr. Craig Prater has been a visionary leader in the development and commercialization of novel scientific measurement techniques for over 30 years. After completing a PhD in physics at the University of California Santa Barbara, Craig spent 15 years in various roles in R&D and leadership, culminating as Chief Technologist, at Veeco Metrology (now Bruker), the market leader in the field of atomic force microscopy (AFM). Craig was heavily involved in the development and commercialization of many AFM technologies and instruments that are now in widespread use in academic and industrial research and have been used in hundreds of thousands of scientific publications. In 2005 Craig was recognized as the first Technology Fellow at Veeco Instruments, the highest technical rank in an organization of ~2000 employees.

Craig joined Anasys Instruments in 2007 and with his colleagues and research collaborators pioneered the commercialization of atomic force microscope based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR), a tool that for the first time provided broadly applicable chemical analysis and topographic imaging with nanoscale spatial resolution. AFM-IR combines nanoscale imaging with the chemical analysis capabilities of infrared spectroscopy. Anasys was acquired by Bruker in April 2018.

Craig, together with the previous Anasys Instruments leadership team of Kevin Kjoller and Roshan Shetty, then formed a new company called Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp (PSC) to develop and commercialize Optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR) spectroscopy. The O-PTIR approach achieves significant performance benefits over conventional IR spectroscopy including >10X better spatial resolution, operation in both transmission and reflection modes without scattering artifacts, and operation in a non-contact mode. The PSC team launched the O-PTIR technique commercially as the mIRage® infrared microscope in 2018. This instrument is now used internationally at many top university and government research laboratories and industrial facilities, including several Fortune 500 companies.

Despite being employed in industry for >30 years, Craig has co-authored 140 scientific and trade publications and patents with over 9200 citations in the fields of scanning probe microscopy, nanoscale infrared spectroscopy, nanoscale materials characterization, and photothermal microscopy.

Biography
Peter Schoenmakers studied in Delft (Netherlands) and Boston, Massachusetts (with Professor Barry Karger). He worked for Philips and Shell, before joining the University of Amsterdam. He focusses on large-molecule separations, multi-dimensional liquid chromatography, and method development. Through COAST he created national honors programs for vocational BSc and academic MSc students.

Biography
Emanuela Gionfriddo received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Calabria in 2013. She is the 2022 recipient of the ACS Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigators in Separation Science and the NSF CAREER Award. She is developing green extraction methodologies to analyze complex biological and environmental samples.

The Pittcon Heritage Award honors those visionaries whose entrepreneurial careers shaped the instrumentation and laboratory supplies community and by doing so have transformed the scientific community at large.

Biography
Fasha Mahjoor is an architect, entrepreneur, visionary, and philanthropist who designs cultures of innovation that lead his scientific companies down the paths of transformative and explosive success.

Mahjoor was the founder and CEO of Phenomenex and CEO of Phenova and InventX, with subsidiaries in 16 countries and 75 distributors and partners around the world. With no background in chemistry, he nevertheless built leading companies in the chromatography world through research and development in manufacturing, and delivering products and customer service to the highest standard of quality.

In 2016, after 34 years at the helm, he sold his companies to Danaher Corporation and founded Neoteryx, LLC, a company focused on the microsampling of biological fluids, particularly blood. In December 2021, Mahjoor sold Neoteryx to Trajan Scientific and Medical.

Mahjoor was a member of the board of directors for the American Red Cross (Los Angeles), a board member of PharmaFluidics (Belgium), a member of the board of trustees for the Outward Bound Trust (U.K.), and an honorary patron of the Royal Grammar School (U.K.). In 2013 he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of the most prestigious awards in the United States, placing his name in the Library of Congress alongside U.S. presidents and Nobel Prize winners. He was also recognized in 2013 by The Analytical Scientist, which featured him on its list of the 100 most influential people in the field of analytical sciences. Early in 2022, Mahjoor became the largest investor in Hone Health, and sits on its Board. Hone is a men’s wellness startup. In July 2022, Mahjoor received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Manchester Metropolitan University for his “major contribution to the analytical sciences and support for a wide range of charitable causes.”

Lane Baker and his group are at the forefront of electrochemical measurement and instrumentation science with a particular focus on the study of ion transport and electron transfer at small scales. Specifically, they have developed innovative tools and methods to address important questions in biology, materials science, and environmental science. In this regard, Prof. Baker is best known for his work with the scanning ion conductance microscope (SICM) and its application to single-entity electrochemistry. Additional areas of enquiry in the Baker lab include surface charge at the nanoscale, new methods of high-throughput analysis, and applications of machine learning for electrochemical data interpretation.

Biography
Lane Baker is the Dr. Carl McAfee ’90 Chair in Analytical Chemistry at Texas A&M University. Baker’s research group focuses on nanoscale electrochemistry, especially scanning ion conductance microscopy. Baker is a Fellow of the ACS and the RSC and received the ACS-ANYL Award in Electrochemistry. Baker is president-elect of SEAC.

Jeffrey Dick and his group work at the interface of chemistry, biology, and nanotechnology, and they are particularly interested in applications of electrochemistry to micro and nanoscale biological systems. They have demonstrated that electrochemistry is a powerful tool to study these systems, and they have shown that nanoelectrode probes can be fabricated with dimensions similar to biological macromolecules (5-15 nm in diameter). Such small electrodes make it possible to study the behavior of single molecules and nanoparticles.

Biography
Jeffrey Dick earned a BS in Chemistry from Ball State University and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Allen J. Bard. Jeffrey began his independent career at UNC Chapel Hill and is continuing that career at Purdue University.