Aston Labs
We think of mass spectrometry as the science and technology of ions. Our interests therefore involve the construction and modification of mass spectrometers, fundamental studies of microdroplet chemistry as well as ion reactions and collision processes, and mass spectrometry applications to medicine, biochemistry, organic chemistry, and drug discovery.
News
Coming soon! Prof. Cooks will deliver a lecture on "65 Years of Mass Spectrometry" at the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) 65th Anniversary Session. EAS will take place on November 15-18, 2026, at the Crowne Plaza Conference Center (Plainsboro, NJ). The 65th Anniversary Session is scheduled for Monday, November 16, at 1:30 pm. More information about EAS 2026 can be found here.
Coming soon! The 2026 Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development (CAID) Workshop will take place on November 11-13, 2026, at Purdue University. The meeting will offer hands-on workshops highlighting novel analytical instrumentation and methods developed at Purdue Chemistry. For registration and more information, click here.
08/2026 We say goodbye to Prof. Evandro Piccin after a year-long visit!
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Research
A central current interest is in ambient ionization mass spectrometry and its application in drug discovery, tumor resection guidance, therapeutic monitoring in biofluids, and microorganism biotyping. Each of these experiments involves minimal sample workup. Another strong interest is in preparative mass spectrometry, both by soft landing ions onto surfaces in vacuum to generate new materials and also by collecting the products of accelerated reactions occurring in microdroplets. This accelerated chemistry also provides unique insights into the prebiotic origin of biomolecules and chirality. In situ analysis using miniature mass spectrometers coupled to ambient ion sources for environmental, clinical, and public safety applications is of interest. So, too, is online reaction monitoring and high-throughput experimentation.
Check out the Cooks Group Research Poster for the latest research!
Publications
On Serine Octamer Substitution Reactions. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. DOI: 10.1002/rcm.70182
Plasma-Assisted Functionalization of Hydrocarbons for Enhanced Mass Spectrometric Detection. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. DOI: 10.1021/jasms.6c00269
Metabolite ratiomics: Rapid diagnosis and classification of gliomas for intraoperative application during brain surgery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2616216123
High-Throughput Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Untargeted Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing. Analytical Chemistry. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6c04112