Congratulations to our 2025 awardees and one late-breaking 2024 awardee!
Julia Danischewski
Shelley Laboratory, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Agilent / ACS Analytical Graduate Research Fellowship
My thesis research aims to identify and characterize the novel behaviors of gas-phase ions in acoustic fields at atmospheric pressure. During the fellowship period, I will characterize the interactions of a wide variety of analyte classes with standing acoustic waves. In particular, I will seek to understand how ion properties like charge state, collision cross section, and mass-to-charge ratio impact the efficacy of acoustic ion manipulation (AIM). This work will help lay a theoretical foundation for the newly discovered AIM phenomenon, as well as expand AIM’s utility as an inexpensive and user-friendly technique for ion analyses.
Mousumi Saha
Cooks Laboratory, Purdue University
Eli Lilly and Company / ACS Analytical Graduate Research Fellowship
My research focuses on advancing mass spectrometry (MS) as an analytical and synthetic tool for trace analysis, drug modification, and enzymatic assay development. I have combined ambient-MS with accelerated reactions in microdroplets generated during ionization to enable rapid, high-throughput bioanalysis without any sample preparation. My future work will include characterizing drug-drug interactions in microsomes, utilizing the capabilities of desorption electrospray ionization (DESI)-MS analysis. I also aim to leverage microdroplet chemistry to functionalize drugs (that is to use MS for chemical synthesis instead of analysis), accelerate enzymatic processes, and follow them by DESI-MS in high throughput fashion, utilizing an automated platform that integrates screening, synthesis, and bioanalysis for drug discovery.
Prakash Aryal
Henry Laboratory, Colorado State University
ThermoFisher Scientific / ACS Analytical Graduate Research Fellowship
During the fellowship period, my research will focus on developing a portable, on-site digestion system with battery-powered thermal processing for the rapid and user-friendly identification of water contaminants, including heavy metals and PFAS. This work aims to address the need for accessible, low-cost, and sensitive analytical methods for environmental monitoring. Specifically, I will integrate a preconcentration system with a paper-based colorimetric sensor to enhance the detection of trace contaminants. By optimizing dye interactions and preconcentration mechanisms, I aim to improve detection sensitivity while maintaining ease of use for non-specialist users. This research will contribute to advancing real-time, on-site water quality assessment tools, making contaminant monitoring more feasible in resource-limited settings.
Gwendylan Turner
Simpson Laboratory, Purdue University
Eastman / ACS Analytical Graduate Research Fellowship
The spatial resolution of infrared spectroscopy limits effective subcellular spatiochemical characterization. During the fellowship period, I will advance fluorescence-based photothermally-detected infrared spectroscopic measurements to overcome these barriers. Along with piloting fundamental advancements in the technique, I will use photothermal infrared spectroscopy to investigate biological systems of interest. More specifically, I will detect and characterize the effects of microplastics in cell culture and investigate metabolic changes in the brain associated with neurodegenerative disease.
Daniel Reddy
Oleschuk Laboratory, Queen’s University
Pittcon / ACS Analytical Graduate Research Fellowship
My research intersects with related Sustainable Development Goals like #3, “Good Health and Well-Being,” and #12, “Responsible Consumption and Production,” and aims to address global change-drivers by providing accessible techniques to minimize sample volumes and leverage the sensitive characterization power, both qualitative and quantitative, of microfluidics combined with analytical techniques like mass spectrometry. My work proposes micro-solutions, in particular microdroplets, in response to today’s mega-challenges, as viewed through the lens of green(er) analytical chemistry while considering the supply chain through systems thinking. During the fellowship, I will complete work in support of a project to develop an improved (paper) substrate for preparing dried matrix spots and their subsequent analysis with liquid microjunction – surface sampling probe – mass spectrometry aided by computer vision. Additionally, I will continue work in support of projects using laser-micromachining to improve the physicochemical/surface properties and functionalities of different microfluidic device substrate materials, as well as work to pair microfluidic devices such as the “NanoWand” with ambient ionization mass spectrometry techniques in collaboration with Dr. Jacob Shelley’s laboratory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York USA).
Honorable Mention
Benjamin Blakley, McLean Laboratory, Vanderbilt University
Rahuljeet (RJ) Chadha, Wei Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Jaskiran Kaur, Kenttamaa Laboratory, Purdue University
Linda Lieu, Fornelli Laboratory, University of Oklahoma
Mahmoud Mator Abed, Haynes Laboratory, University of Minnesota
Late-Breaking 2024 Awardee
Congratulations to Zachary Miller, co-recipient of the 2024 Eli Lilly and Company/ACS Analytical Graduate Fellowship with Lauren Fields.
Zachary Miller
Williams Laboratory, University of California – Berkeley
Eli Lilly and Company/ACS Analytical Graduate Fellowship
I am currently a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in Professor Evan Williams’ Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. My research is centered around developments and applications of charge detection mass spectrometry (CDMS). For one of my projects, I am prototyping an in-vacuum electrospray ionization interface that will extend the high mass limit of current CDMS technology to gigadalton (GDa) and teradalton (TDa) analytes. Particles in the GDa-TDa mass range are typically measured in micrometers and include large enveloped viruses, bacteria and intact cells. Extending CDMS to these incredibly high mass analytes enables a range of exciting new applications, like characterizing infectious disease directly from human breath or high performance quality control for vaccines that utilize inactivated viruses and bacteria