2013 Young Investigator Award Nominee: JinZhi Song
Nominee:
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Supporting Comments:
What drove you to choose a career in bioanalysis?
The main reason to work in bioanalysis is the general approach of bioanalytical MS,which has become a dominant force in the analysis of small-molecular weight compounds for drug development and the challenges associated with this endeavor are very significant.While carrying out my undergraduate summer project on pharmacological screening, I used to wonder if I could measure the candidate drug concentration in biological system in real time changes in the intensity of pharmacological effect while keeping an eye on the fate of the oral-administered. After completion of my MS (Pharm.), my strong enthusiasm for the bioanalytical field led me to join the PK and Metabolism Division at the Tianjin medical university, working on new drug discovery and development.
Describe the main highlights of your bioanalytical research, and its importance to the bioanalytical community both now and in the future.
I have learned and employed approaches to address the major problem of various new chemical entities from marketed drugs with their metabolites, herbal components/fractions from extracts/multicomponent herbal preparations and herbal nutraceuticals in different biological matrices, for studying their fate in biological systems using in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo and in situ assays in bioanalytical MS. I am fortunate enough to work in an intellectually scintillating environment with my professor having more than 20 years experience in the field of bioanalysis in drug research. My projects mainly involves around the application of LC–MS/MS technology to analyze multiple protein as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. This represents a very promising approach for understanding and improving dementia diagnosis, mechanisms and possible drug treatments. I am very excited about my most recent results and the potential for these assays to contribute to the advancement of future therapies for Alzheimer’s disease.
Where do you see your career in bioanalysis taking you?
Bioanalysis is an indispensable component in both regulatory as well as exploratory components of new drug discovery and delivery research. I have come a long way in my scientific development in a short period of time and I am confident that I will continue to be successful as a bioanalytical scientist and become one of the most respected innovators in quantitative bioanalytical MS in the pharmaceutical sciences. Accumulation of trace metabolites and/or impurities is also of interest to me. I also foresee myself studying physiological, pathophysiological and pharmacological alterations in biomolecules in biological systems (metabolomics/metabonomics) with my favorite tool of the near future, mass spectrometric imaging. Working on challenging bioanalytical projects will provide me opportunities for continuous learning at a fast pace and I am highly motivated to provide solutions to human health problems in this very competitive, challenging and technologically advanced field.
How do you envisage the field of bioanalysis evolving in the future?
Pharmaceutical discovery and development, including preclinical and clinical studies, are responsible for the fast pace of the world’s community in discovering new drug treatments to cure diseases, such as cancer, AIDS and dementia, and improvingquality of life. Obtaining accurate and precise bioanalytical data is of ever-increasing importance in these fields. In the time to come, frommy viewpoint,gains in assay sensitivity, specificity and cost–effectiveness will continue to be very important as drugs become more potent and economic considerations more critical. There is a need for some revolutionary innovations in the reliable toxicokinetic and pharmacokinetic data, makingbioanalysis an attractive field for a young researcher, such as myself, to contribute to future drug and clinical development, and help to the world’s community progress to a better and brighter future.
