Our long-term goal is to catalyze the progress of biomedical, analytical and forensic
research through the development of mass spectrometric instruments and techniques
. We currently have several major projects under way:
Tyler was one of three recipients from more than 100 applicants by a panel
of judges for his oral presentation at the 2020 AAFS Annual Meeting in Anaheim,
CA. His presentation was titled
“On the Fragmentation Behavior of Fentanyl and Its Analogs in Electrospray
Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS).”
Tyler recently defended his PhD dissertation and will among the first graduates
of the PhD program in Forensic and Investigative Science at WVU.
Dr. Jackson again served as the FACSS photographer at the recent
SciX conference in Palm, Springs, CA. Video montages of the conference are
available on the
SciX YouTube channel
Dr. Jackson also: 1) served as
co-chair for the mass spectrometry section, 2) served as chair of the session
titled "Forensic applications of mass spectrometry", 3) gave two oral presentations
on the topic of seized drug analysis using mass spectrometry, 4) served as a
judge for the mass spectrometry posters, 5) oversaw the selection and presentation
of the inaugural Elsevier Forensic Chemistry awards, and 6) attended numerous
FACSS committee meetings as
FACSS Secretary.
The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (
ASCLD) recently designated Forensic Chemistry as a preferred journal of
their society. As Co-Editors-in-Chief of
Forensic Chemistry, Profs Almirall and Jackson are proud to be recognized
by one of the leading organizations of the forensic practitioner community
as a valuable provider of new knowledge in forensic chemistry.
Dr. Jackson gave the opening address at NIST's
Research Innovation to Implementation workshop. The workshop was held on
June 19-20 to address the questions: What can the forensic science community
do differently so that new technologies come online faster? and How can we
reduce the obstacles to successful innovation? A webcast of the first day's
presentations can be found on
YouTube.
(Click photo for
full resolution
)
Congratulations to Sam for her receipt of the 2019 EAS Student Research Award.
Sam received an all-expenses paid trip to the EAS conference in Princeton, NJ
to present her research. The photo (left) was taken at the conference in November
2019.
MAYARA MATOS GRADUATES WITH PHD (MAY 2019)
NEW REVIEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED (MAR 2019)
Tyler's article titled "Comparison of Measured and Recommended Acceptance Criteria
for the Analysis of Seized Drugs using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)"
was featured on the cover of Volume 10 of
Forensic Chemistry
(Aug 2018).
- New ways of fragmenting gas-phase bio-ions in tandem mass spectrometers using
kiloelectronvolt helium ions. We use the term charge transfer dissociation
(CTD-MS) to describe the mechanism of activation. (example publications for
peptides,
glycosaminoglycans and
HPLC-CTD-MS of oligogalacturonans)
- New forensic applications of isotope ratio mass spectrometry, including hair,
nails and blow flies. We use both LC-IRMS and GC-C-IRMS to analyze the
13C abundances of the different amino acids in proteinaceous material.
(Example publications for
hair and
blowflies)
- Understanding the mass spectrometric fragmentation behavior of novel psychoactive
substances (NPSs) and fentanyl analogs. (example publications for
cathinones and
fentalogs)
- Development of new algorithms for mass spectral comparisons. (not yet published)
- Developing experimental and theoretical approaches to understand the evaporation of ignitable liquids at elevated temperatures (e.g. 210 °C). (example publication)
Click on the publications tab in the menu bar to
see all our recent publications.
The Jackson group's most recent
publication, a collaborative project with Prof.
Jon Amster at the University of Georgia, is featured on the front cover
of the
Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. The work describes
the ability to determine the structure of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on a bench-top
3D ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with charge transfer dissociation (CTD).
The results are compared with EDD of the same standards on an FTICR mass spectrometer
at Georgia Tech. The work was funded by NSF and features Praneeth (Mario) Mendis
and Zachary Sasiene. (Click image to see
full resolution)
Latest News
DR. JACKSON PRESENTS WEBINAR ON MS OF EMERGING DRUGS (MAR 2021)
On Friday, March 5th, Dr. Jackson presented a 1-hr webinar
titled
Structural Characterization of Emerging Synthetic Drugs using Mass Spectrometry to
more than 200 attendees. The webinar was hosted by RTI's Forensic Technology Center
of Excellence (FTCOE) and is viewable at this archive link. The webinar describes the use of isotope
labeling, multi-stage mass spectrometry (MSn), ion spectroscopy, and accurate
mass measurements with high resolution mass spectrometry to demonstrate some
important—and previously unidentified—rearrangement mechanisms in the spectra
of cathinones and fentanyl analogs. Although many of the employed instrumental techniques
are not available to practitioners, the results provide compelling evidence
to support the fragmentation mechanisms and pathways observed every day by
practitioners.
CTD MANUSCRIPT FEATURED ON THE COVER OF JASMS (OCT 2020)
The Jackson group's most recent
publication, a collaborative project with Prof.
Jon Amster at the University of Georgia, is featured on the front cover
of the
Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. The work describes
the ability to determine the structure of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on a bench-top
3D ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with charge transfer dissociation (CTD).
The results are compared with EDD of the same standards on an FTICR mass spectrometer
at Georgia Tech. The work was funded by NSF and features Praneeth (Mario) Mendis
and Zachary Sasiene. (Click image to see
full resolution)
DR. JACKSON PRESENTS POSTER ON THE HISTORY OF FORENSIC MASS SPECTROMETRY AT THE 2020 ASMS REBOOT (JUN 2020)
In his role on the history committee for ASMS, Dr. Jackson coauthored the first "historical applications" poster for the history committee. PDFs of the two-panel poster and accompanying references are on the ASMS website or here. The history committee is now following up with additional specialized posters, like the history of environmental applications.
J. TYLER DAVIDSON FIRST TO GRADUATE WITH A PHD IN FORENSIC SCIENCE FROM WVU (MAY 2020)
Congratulations to Tyler for successfully defending his dissertation titled,
"Structural Characterization of Emerging Synthetic Drugs". Tyler was featured
in a "
meet the grads" video, and started his independent careers as a tenure-track
assistant professor in the forensic science program at Sam Houston State University
in August 2020. We wish Tyler all the best, and we look forward to seeing his
career evolve.
SAM MEHNERT NAMED ONE OF WVU'S OUTSTANDING GRADUATES (APR 2020)
Congratulations to Sam for being named a "WVU Foundation Outstanding Graduate" by the Honors College. Sam will be starting a PhD in Chemistry at Purdue University in the fall.J. TYLER DAVIDSON WINS FORENSIC SCIENCE FOUNDATION (FSF) EMERGING FORENSIC SCIENTIST AWARD (APR 2020)
Tyler was one of three recipients from more than 100 applicants by a panel
of judges for his oral presentation at the 2020 AAFS Annual Meeting in Anaheim,
CA. His presentation was titled
“On the Fragmentation Behavior of Fentanyl and Its Analogs in Electrospray
Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS).”
Tyler recently defended his PhD dissertation and will among the first graduates
of the PhD program in Forensic and Investigative Science at WVU.
Tyler also one first place for the best oral presentation at WVU's online
forensic graduate symposium on May 1st. The symposium was attended by more
than 170 participants, including more than 80 practitioners from across the
US.
Congratulations to Sam for presenting her poster titled "Development of
a Flexible Algorithm for Substance Identification Using Mass Spectrometry"
at Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) in Plainsboro, NJ. Sam also received
an
EAS student research award at the meeting. Dr. Jackson spoke in a special
session recognizing his former colleague at OHIO,
Dr. Peter Harrington, who received the 2019
EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Chemometrics.
Several members of the Jackson group volunteered to run an activity station at the
14th Annual Cheat Lake Elementary Science Fair. With thanks to the National
Science Foundation (NSF) for providing the supplies, The group taught ~80 elementary
students how to write in secret code with invisible starch solutions, then
make them magically appear using iodine. Many members of the
Forensic and Investigative Science (FIS) Club ran a
fingerprinting activity station and helped to judge the poster presentations.
This year marks the 5th and final year that Dr. Jackson has chaired the science
fair.
J. TYLER DAVIDSON WINS WVU FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP (DEC 2019)
Congratulations to Tyler for his recent receipt of the 2019
WVU Foundation Distinguished Doctoral Scholarship. Tyler is currently
completing his third and final year of his PhD in Forensic and Investigative
Science at WVU.
The
Scholarship provide $5,000 to doctoral students who have been admitted
to doctoral candidacy and who are working toward the completion of their
dissertations during the Spring 2020 term.
SAM MEHNERT AND DR. JACKSON PRESENT AT EAS (NOV 2019)
Congratulations to Sam for presenting her poster titled "Development of
a Flexible Algorithm for Substance Identification Using Mass Spectrometry"
at Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS) in Plainsboro, NJ. Sam also received
an
EAS student research award at the meeting. Dr. Jackson spoke in a special
session recognizing his former colleague at OHIO,
Dr. Peter Harrington, who received the 2019
EAS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Chemometrics.
GROUP PARTICIPATES IN STEM OUTREACH (NOV 2019)
Several members of the Jackson group volunteered to run an activity station at the
14th Annual Cheat Lake Elementary Science Fair. With thanks to the National
Science Foundation (NSF) for providing the supplies, The group taught ~80 elementary
students how to write in secret code with invisible starch solutions, then
make them magically appear using iodine. Many members of the
Forensic and Investigative Science (FIS) Club ran a
fingerprinting activity station and helped to judge the poster presentations.
This year marks the 5th and final year that Dr. Jackson has chaired the science
fair.
SciX 2019 IN PALM SPRINGS, CA (OCT 2019)
ASCLD DESIGNATES FORENSIC CHEMISTRY AS A PREFERRED JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY (OCT 2019)
DR. JACKSON ATTENDS MEETINGS IN FRANCE (SEPT-OCT 2019)
Dr. Jackson traveled to France to participate in two different events: 1) to
give
plenary lecture at the joint meeting on the French Society of Mass Spectrometry
(SFSM), the Electrophoresis and Proteomic Analysis (SFEAP) and the Mass Spectrometry
and Proteomics Analysis (SMAP) congress in Strasbourg, France, and 2) to conduct
additional experiments with our collaborators, Dr. David Ropartz and Dr. Helene
Rogniaux at INRA in Nantes, France.
(Click photo for
full resolution
)
GROUP HOSTS RESEARCHERS FROM PROF. MECHREF'S GROUP (JUL 2019)
We welcomed Yifan Huang and Wenjing Peng from
Dr. Mechref's group at Texas Tech. U. to conduct some on-line CTD experiments
of different glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). The exchange of information between
the two groups was very fruitful, and we look forward to conducting some follow-up
experiments to demonstrate the value of CTD for the analysis of N-linked glycans.
(Click photo for
full resolution
)
DR. JACKSON GIVES PLENARY LECTURE AT NIST'S RI2I WORKSHOP (JUN 2019)
Dr. Jackson gave the opening address at NIST's
Research Innovation to Implementation workshop. The workshop was held on
June 19-20 to address the questions: What can the forensic science community
do differently so that new technologies come online faster? and How can we
reduce the obstacles to successful innovation? A webcast of the first day's
presentations can be found on
YouTube.
(Click photo for
full resolution
)
SAM MEHNERT WINS EASTERN ANALYTICAL SYMPOSIUM (EAS) STUDENT RESEARCH AWARD (MAY 2019)
Congratulations to Sam for her receipt of the 2019 EAS Student Research Award.
Sam received an all-expenses paid trip to the EAS conference in Princeton, NJ
to present her research. The photo (left) was taken at the conference in November
2019.
MAYARA MATOS GRADUATES WITH PHD (MAY 2019)
Congratulations to Dr. Matos for the receipt of her PhD. We wish you all the
best for your postdoctoral position at the FDA.
SAM MEHNERT WINS ACS ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY AWARD (APR 2019)
Congratulations to Sam for her receipt of the 2019 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry
Award for an outstanding junior. Sam will be recognized at the Annual Banquet
of the Northern West Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society on Wednesday,
May 1 at the Bridgeport Conference Center, where she will present an invited
poster presentation, receive a certificate from the Section and a gift certificate
to ThinkGeek.com. Sam will be gaining some practical lab experience in the
Drug Chemistry Section of the New Jersey State Police this summer during her
required internship.
SAM MEHNERT WINS ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP FROM CBD-IAI. (MAR 2019)
Congratulations to Sam for her receipt of the 2019 George H. Robinson Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarship recognizes undergraduate students in forensic science and
criminal justice. Sam will receive an academic scholarship in the amount
of $1000 and a certificate of recognition. Her award will be presented at
the Spring Educational Conferences of the
Chesapeake Bay Division of the International Association for Identification
(
CDB-IAI), which will be held in Morgantown on April 4-5, 2019. Sam recently
presented her research on a new algorithm for drug identification using mass
spectrometry at the at the
2019 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
(AAFS) in Baltimore, MD in February. This story is also covered by
WVU Today.
NEW REVIEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED (MAR 2019)
Congratulations to Mayara for her
recent publication in
Forensic Chemistry
. Her review is titled "Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry in Forensic Science
Applications" and contains exactly 300 citations. The article is
available online and will appear in the next volume of
Forensic Chemistry
.
NEW LC-IRMS MANUSCRIPT PUBLISHED (OCT 2018)
Congratulations to Mayara for her
recent publication (
PDF) in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (
ABC). Her work, titled "Analysis of the
13C isotope ratios of amino acids in the larvae, pupae and adult stages
of
Calliphora vicina blow flies and their carrion food sources" is a collaboration
with
Dr. Rachel Mohr, a board certified entomologist and faculty member in
Forensic and Investigative Science at WVU.
SPECTROSCOPY IN THE HOT SEAT (OCT 2018)
This
Analytical Scientist column offered readers an insider's view of what to
look out for at
SciX 2018 Conference in Atlanta, GA, Oct 21-26, 2018. As the co-chair for
the mass spectrometry section, Dr. Jackson offered highlights of the five Mass
Spectrometry sessions on offer at SciX. Dr. Jackson also serves as the Secretary
of the
FACSS Governing Board, which is responsible for organizing SciX conference
each year. For the third year in a row, Dr. Jackson has also served as the
FACSS photographer for SciX Conference. Video montages of the 2018 meeting
can be found on the
SciX 2018 GPJackson Youtube Channel. Videos of the separate days are here:
Sunday,
Monday,
Tuesday,
Wednesday (Incl. Gala event),
Thursday.
