Waters Selects Metabolomics Laboratory at University of North Texas for Center of Innovation Program Honors

MILFORD, Mass., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At a ceremony officiated by University of North Texas (UNT) Provost Warren Burggren, Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) welcomed UNT's Metabolomics and Metabolic Signaling Pathway Research Laboratory into the Waters Centers of Innovation Program. The laboratory directed by Professor Vladimir Shulaev is known worldwide for research in the field of metabolomics, the study of all cellular metabolites produced by living organisms. His laboratory is part of UNT's Plant Signaling Cluster, a team of researchers who collaborate to improve the understanding of cellular communication in plants to find solutions related to energy, agriculture, nutrition and medicine.

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In addressing an audience of students, faculty and staff, UNT Provost Warren Burggren, a Ph.D. biologist, said, "I'm really proud to be representing UNT here to celebrate the opening of this exciting Center of Innovation. This is a university-corporate partnership at its very best. To use a biology metaphor, we look forward to a long, close symbiotic relationship between UNT and Waters; it's a natural fit, a really natural fit, and we'll each benefit tremendously." 

Addressing the audience, John Gebler, Centers of Innovation Program General Manager, said, "Waters wants to put technology in the hands of individuals who are going to be really successful with it. Our hope for you is that your discoveries may help improve your lives and the lives of the next generation that comes along. For Waters to be successful, we have to partner with individuals who can take our technology and make the best out of it."

Prof. Vladimir Shulaev said, "Two years ago, when I first arrived on campus, the idea of a state-of-the art metabolomics laboratory at UNT was a dream. With the hard work, enthusiasm, and belief by a lot of people we have seen that dream come true. And it is investments in the development of new instrumentation by companies like Waters that drives science to the cutting edge. Our new Metabolomics and Metabolic Signaling Pathway Research Laboratory will put UNT on the map in metabolomics research and create a facility for everyone to be proud of."

Central to Prof. Shulaev's work is mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography.  "Advanced liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry is, in many ways, what makes metabolomics possible," Shulaev noted.  Shulaev refers to the laboratory's Waters SYNAPT® G2 system as "the workhorse of our high-throughput metabolite profiling."  Also, like many leading laboratories around the world, Prof. Shulaev's laboratory has recently taken delivery of a Waters® ACQUITY  UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography™ (UPC²™) system, which will be used primarily for lipidomics research.  "Lipidomics is a large focus of the lab now – studying the structural lipids, as well as signaling lipids involved in a variety of signaling networks in plants and animals," he explained.

Convergence chromatography is a new category of separation science which promises to rival liquid chromatography (LC) and gas chromatography (GC) in importance for the analytical laboratory.

Compressed carbon dioxide (CO₂), the primary mobile phase for convergence chromatography, offers numerous major advantages over liquid mobile phases or carrier gases that are used with LC and GC. For one, CO₂ alone, or in combination with a co-solvent, is a low viscosity mobile phase that achieves higher diffusion rates and enhanced mass transfer than HPLC liquids. For another, when compared to GC, CO₂ allows separations to occur at a much lower temperature.

For institutions and laboratories with sustainability goals to meet, CO₂ replaces toxic and volatile organic solvents that are very expensive to purchase and dispose.

For Prof. Shulaev, teaching the use of analytical instruments is another critical part of his work.  "It's very important to train the next generation of scientists, especially in mass spectrometry, which is one of the big deficiencies now," he said.  "We need to have a big pool of people who understand mass spectrometry and technology – and not just understand it in theory, but in practice."

With nearly 30 years of experience in metabolic biochemistry and plant and animal biology, Prof. Shulaev's research is at the cutting edge of a wide range of important scientific developments, including crop protection, cancer treatments and nutrition. Among his accomplishments, Prof. Shulaev is credited with helping to identify methyl salicylate as a new volatile plant hormone involved in plant immunity. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Prof. Shulaev has been an investigator on research projects totaling about $9 million.

About Waters Centers of Innovation Program

Waters Centers of Innovation Program recognizes and supports the efforts of scientists facilitating breakthroughs in health and life science research, food safety, environmental protection, sports medicine and many other areas.

Prof. Shulaev joins 18 other researchers and research centers recognized by Waters' Centers of Innovation Program. The others include Professor Jeremy Nicholson, Imperial College London; Professor John Engen, Northeastern University, Boston, Mass.; Professor James Scrivens, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK; Professor David Cowan of Kings College London; Professor Arthur Moseley of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Professor Julie Leary of the University of California – Davis; and Professor Albert J. Fornace, Jr., Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, D.C.; Professor Marcos Eberlin, University of Campinas, Brazil; Professor Ganesh Anand, National University of Singapore; Dr. Konstantinos Petritis, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona; Dr. Joseph Dalluge, University of Minnesota; Prof. Sarah Trimpin, Wayne State University; Dr. Frank Gonzalez, National Cancer Institute; Dr. Devin Peterson, University of Minnesota; Caroline West and Eric Lesselier, University of Orleans;  Professor Burt van Bavel, Orebro University; Professor Pauline Rudd, National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training; and Dr. Amit Kumar Mandal, St. John's Research Institute, Bangalore, India.

These leading scientists, in partnership with Waters, are using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to help shape the future of scientific research and unlock the mysteries of science.

About the University of North Texas (www.unt.edu)

As the nation's 26th largest public university and the most comprehensive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, UNT is dedicated to providing an excellent educational experience to its 36,000 students while powering the North Texas region, state and nation through innovative education and research. A student-focused public research university with an emphasis on sustainability, UNT has 12 colleges and schools offering 97 bachelor's, 82 master's and 35 doctoral degree programs, many nationally and internationally recognized.

About Waters Corporation (www.waters.com)

For over 50 years, Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) has created business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering practical and sustainable innovation to enable significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, and water quality worldwide.

Pioneering a connected portfolio of separations science, laboratory information management, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis, Waters technology breakthroughs and laboratory solutions provide an enduring platform for customer success.

With revenue of $1.85 billion in 2011, Waters is driving scientific discovery and operational excellence for customers worldwide.

Waters, ACQUITY, Synapt and UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography are trademarks of Waters Corporation.

SOURCE Waters Corporation