QTRAP facility for trace metabolite detection and identification

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Funding is urgently required to replace an essential and heavily used 3200 QTRAP facility (now defunct) for detection of trace metabolites and differentiation of isobaric molecules at the U of Ottawa Core Facility for the Analysis of Natural and Synthetic Environmental Toxins (LANSET). Our researchers frequently need to find the “needle in the haystack” in complex biological or environmental samples, which may range from a toxin in soils, water or fish, to a phytochemical in plants, to a natural product or synthetic drug in animal tissues. In the past decade, the QTRAP facility has been essential to undertake challenging PhD research in our faculty and with many collaborating institutions. In the future the facility will be essential for for our funded programs such as ecotoxicology research on algal toxins in lakes, biomarkers of climate change in freshwater systems, and undesirable phytoestrogen effects in aquaculture, as well as natural product research on Canadian and tropical plants, their anxiolyic and metabolic bioactivities, and risk of pharmacokinetic interactions with drugs and toxins. The proposed 4000 QTRAP technology combines one of the highest selectivity methods of any detector with remarkable sensitivity at an affordable price with the full functionality of both triple quadrupole and ion-trap MS platforms. The QTRAP facility will allow current graduate students, PDFs and research associates to complete their research at an internationally competitive level. In addition, the facility provides essential support to collaborating external researchers and the private sector, including our own (Arnason) spin off company and multiple Canadian and international companies.