Richard M. Caprioli (born 12 April 1943) is an American chemist known for his contributions to

mass spectrometry imaging Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a technique used in mass spectrometry to visualize the spatial distribution of molecules, as biomarkers, metabolites, peptides or proteins by their molecular masses. After collecting a mass spectrum at one spot, ...

Career and research

Caprioli was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1969 with a PhD, studying under David Rittenberg. He then moved to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

to work with John Beynon, where he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in 1970. In 1975, he moved to

University of Texas Medical School The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a public academic health science center in Galveston, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the oldest medical school in Texas, and has about 11,000 employees. In Feb ...

where be became full professor. In 1998 he moved to

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

where he was appointed the ''Stanford Moore Professor of Biochemistry'' and is the director of the Mass Spectrometry Research Center. During his graduate work, he developed continuous-flow fast atom bombardment, that allowed coupling of

fast atom bombardment Fast atom bombardment (FAB) is an ionization technique used in mass spectrometry in which a beam of high energy atoms strikes a surface to create ions. It was developed by Michael Barber at the University of Manchester in 1980. When a beam of high ...

with a continuous flow for the first time. Later, he worked on engineering nanoflow electrospray ionization, which became a standard technique in mass spectrometry. More recently, another major contribution to the field of mass spectrometry was his application of

MALDI In mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) is an ionization technique that uses a laser energy absorbing matrix to create ions from large molecules with minimal fragmentation. It has been applied to the analysis of ...

mass spectrometry for imaging of biological samples. First published in 1997, the technique has been widely adopted and has been used to visualize proteins, peptides, drugs and other small molecules in tissue and other biological materials. Caprioli served as president of the

American Society for Mass Spectrometry The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) is a professional association based in the United States that supports the scientific field of mass spectrometry. As of 2018, the society had approximately 10,000 members primarily from the US, bu ...

from 2000 to 2002 and has been the editor in chief of the

Journal of Mass Spectrometry The ''Journal of Mass Spectrometry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of mass spectrometry including instrument design and development, ionization processes, mechanisms and energetics of gaseous ion reactions, spectroscopy ...

since 1990 and a founding board member of the US arm of the

Human Proteome Organization The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) is an international consortium of national proteomics research associations, government researchers, academic institutions, and industry partners. The organization was launched in February 2001, and it promotes ...

. He has published over 300 scientific papers and three books, holds over 10 patents. He has received the Thomson Medal and the John B. Fenn Award, an honorary degree from the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

, the 2006 Field and Franklin Award from the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

, the 2010 Eastern Analytical Society Award for Achievements in Mass Spectrometry and the 2010

HUPO The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) is an international consortium of national proteomics research associations, government researchers, academic institutions, and industry partners. The organization was launched in February 2001, and it promote ...

Distinguished Achievement Award in Proteomic Sciences. Caprioli has a son and a daughter.

References

External links

* * https://www.vanderbilt.edu/chemistry/faculty/caprioli.php * * American chemists 20th-century chemists 1943 births Living people Thomson Medal recipients {{US-chemist-stub