Chemical Separation and Detection Techniques and Their Wide Ranging Applications

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Our program aims to develop advanced chemical separation and molecular characterization technologies for biomedical and biopharmaceutical research. These technologies will also be used in advancing environmental science by providing new tools to identify and fingerprint the source of pollution, tracking their movement and quantify complex multi-component pollutants. With the solid track record in developing high impact technologies in the last 6 years, we will focus our effort mainly on developing improved continuous electro fluid dynamic purification systems and on-line sample enrichment technologies that are urgently needed in biopharmaceutical and biomedical research. New designs of electro fluid dynamic devices that are simpler to operate and capable of handling real biological samples will be developed to purify bio-active molecules in free solution. On-line pre-concentration devices based on capacitive ion enrichment principles will be designed and constructed to improve the sensitivity of high performance detectors such as mass spectrometer, so that low abundance components in complex samples can be determined with reduced requirement for extensive sample clear-up, and previously hard to detect compounds can be easily observed and characterized. A more robust and more sensitive capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry based analytical platform will be created for the characterization of post translational modifications of proteins, as well as exploring the details of structure and function of complex carbohydrate molecules that are attached to the proteins. We will strive to make one of the most coveted analytical method in biopharmaceutical industry, capillary isoelectric focusing coupled to MS, a reality, so that the source of bio-variation of genetically engineered bio-therapeutics can be identified timely without interrupting production. The technologies will also be used to solve the mysteries of in vivo cell surviving mechanisms and in developing protection method to improve patient safety in open heart surgeries. The wide ranging technologies developed in this area are essential for many of the research and industry activities in Canada and around the world. One of the major concerns for Canadians is the environmental impact of the oil sands bitumen production in Northern Alberta. Because of the complexity of oil sands acids, the toxic by-products of the bitumen recovery process, there are still no regulations regarding to the limit of these compounds released to the environment. We will develop reliable analytical methods to identify representative species and quantify the amount correlating to the total amount of toxic compounds released to the environment, thereby providing critical information needed by regulatory agencies to implement policies that will protect the environment while allowing reasonable industrial activities.