Advanced Instrumentation Workshop 2026

The Gallagher Lab was excited to welcome undergraduate students from universities across Texas and the surrounding region to Baylor University for our annual Advanced Instrumentation Workshop (AIW) on October 9th-10th! During the workshop, undergraduate students gained hands-on experience with instrumentation while visiting professors got to learn tips and tricks for the grant writing process. This year we debuted a new workshop alongside our proteomics workshop and had a great turnout! We also got to see Jacob Hatvany (Dr. H.), as he attended AIW as a faculty member from Harding University!!

Pedro, Rabin, and Brett hosted a workshop called “Proteomics: Sequencing Proteins with Mass Spectrometry” where the students:

  • Learned parts of the Orbitrap Fusion Tribrid MS instrument and how they are used in experiments

  • Practiced dilution calculations

  • Prepared an unknown peptide sample in the lab

  • Ran experiments on the unknown peptide

  • Identified fragments on a mass spectrum using Roepstorff’s nomenclature

  • Walked through a proteomics workflow

  • Chatted about graduate school

Maddie, Lyssa, Holly, Monir, and Stewart hosted a workshop called “Flying Elephants: How do we get biomolecules into the gas phase for mass spectrometry? ” where the students learned:

  • Learned who John B. Fenn is and what his contributions to Electrospray Ionization were

  • Talked through the three most common ionization mechanisms

  • Performed mass spectrometry of native and denatured proteins AND unmodified and permethylated carbohydrates

  • Played “Guess that Mechanism” for relevant biomolecules

  • Calculated charge states and adduct profiles

  • Chatted about graduate school and research as an undergraduate

We had a great time teaching everyone about all the things you can do with mass spectrometry, and we look forward to next year! Take a look at some of the photos from the workshop below!

 
 
Lyssa Garber