W. Andy Tao

Professor W. Andy Tao’s research group focuses on the development and applications of biological mass spectrometry for functional proteomics. Examining changes in proteins of interest and their modifications within cells under different physiological conditions will offer insights into understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms that cannot currently be obtained through traditional biological studies that usually focus on the detailed analysis of individual biomolecules. Functional proteomics thus holds significant promise for the discovery of diagnostic or prognostic protein markers, for the detection of new therapeutic targets, and as a powerful tool to further our understanding of basic biological processes and mechanisms.

An REU student working with the Tao group will learn how to use a uniquely designed chemical probe to enrich/isolate proteins of interest from biological samples such as blood, tissue and cells, and then analyzed by high resolution liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry. The resulting large datasets will be compared to genome and proteome database to extract valuable information for further validation and verification. The student will be mentored and working closely with a senior graduate student during the training.