Neil Kelleher, Ph.D

Professor of Chemistry, Northwestern University
BMBCB and Feinberg School of Medicine
Director, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute
Walter and Mary Elizabeth Glass Professor in the Life Sciences
Director, Northwestern Proteomics
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Feinberg School of Medicine

Digitizing Proteoform Biology with Single Molecule & Single Cell Mass Spectrometry 

Abstract

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, much has been made of the need to bridge the gap from genes and traits. As a key nexus for the many interacting ‘-omes’ (genome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, etc.), the proteome should offer a tight link between genotype and phenotype. Proteoforms, or all of the precise molecular forms of a protein, capture all sources of variability in protein composition (i.e., SNPs, isoforms, post-translational modifications), and thus provide crucial insights into regulation and function. Now, “single ion” mass spectrometry is poised to convert genes to proteoform signatures at a far faster rate.  Recently we developed proteoform imaging mass spectrometry (PiMS), with individual ion mass spectrometry. This platform has been extended now to single-cell Proteoform imaging Mass Spectrometry (scPiMS), boosting cell processing rates by >20-fold in the field while detecting proteoforms from single cells. 

Biosketch

After finishing his joint graduate work with Tadhg Begley and Fred McLafferty at Cornell University in 1997, Neil Kelleher moved to the laboratory of Christopher T. Walsh at Harvard Medical School.  This training in high performance mass spectrometry and enzymology led to a decade at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and in 2010 the Kelleher Group relocated to Northwestern University. Main areas of research include top-down proteomics, proteoform measurement and chromatin biology.  Dr. Kelleher has been successful in driving both technology development and applications of very high-performance mass spectrometry in both chemistry and biology. He has 450 publications, an H-factor of ~100, and provides ProSight software to over 2000 labs around the world.  The core of the Kelleher Team is built around expertise in technology development for targeted applications in proteomics and metabolomics. Kelleher is the Founding President of a Consortium calling for the Human Proteoform Project, the analog of the Human Genome Project involving sequencing of full-length proteins.

Date
Date(s) - September 23, 2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Emplacement / Location
Université de Montréal - Campus MIL (Beer and pizza at 18h, conference at 19h in A-4502)