Renã A. S. Robinson

Renã A. S. Robinson
Born Rena A. Sowell
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.[1]
Residence U.S.
Nationality United States
Fields Analytical chemistry, Proteomics
Institutions University of Pittsburgh
Alma mater University of Louisville, Indiana University
Doctoral advisor David E. Clemmer
Notable awards Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award 2017

Renã A. S. Robinson is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is the principal investigator for the RASR Laboratory. She is on the faculty of the Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.[2]

Robinson is recognized as an emerging leader in proteomics and the study of Alzheimer's disease and aging. She has developed a novel multiplexing strategy for quantitative proteomics called cPILOT.[1] She has received a number of awards, including the 2017 Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award.[3][4]

Education and early research

Born Rena A. Sowell,[5] Renã A. S. Robinson is married and has two children.[6] Robinson completed her B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Louisville in 2000.[3] She received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 2007 from Indiana University Bloomington where she worked with David E. Clemmer.[2] While still a Ph.D. student, she did pioneering work which combined techniques for ion-mobility spectrometry and time-of-flight mass spectrometry and used them to identify proteins in fruit flies and study aging.[1][7] These proteomics methods were used to identify over 1,600 proteins. Results indicated connections between metabolic and defense-response proteins and aging.[8]

Robinson then worked with Allan Butterfield at the University of Kentucky, receiving two postdoctoral fellowships: the Lyman T. Johnson fellowship and the UNCF/Merck Postdoctoral Fellowship.[3][2] With Butterfield, she used proteomics methods to study Alzheimer's disease in animals and humans.[3][2] Her research was important in the laboratory's discovery that free radical oxidative stress affects Alzheimer's brains.[6]

Further career

External video
"Renã Robinson, Proteomics Provocateur", Chemical & Engineering News

In 2009, Robinson accepted a position at the University of Pittsburgh, where she now leads the RASR Laboratory.[3] She is also a faculty member of the Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine[2] and the University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer Disease Research Center.[9]

Robinson is interested in how changes in the brain and the rest of the body are related in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.[1][10] One reason for her interest is that black and Hispanic populations develop Alzheimer's at a rate two to three times higher than Caucasians.[6] One of the questions she studies is whether changes external to the brain, such as oxidative stress or metabolic alterations, occur before or after changes within the brain.[1][10]

Proteins are involved in major functions throughout the body, including communication between cells. Changes in protein function, or in expression level of a protein, may cascade from one protein to another throughout a system. Protein behavior changes as people age, but scientists do not yet know why: is it a result of incremental damage over time, from oxidative stressors or other causes; or is there some inherent signal that triggers changes with age, and if so, what purpose does it serve? By studying immunosenescence, Robinson hopes to relate early changes in the immune system to changes in molecular systems and the development of Alzheimer's and other age-related diseases.[8]

Robinson continues to develop novel equipment and techniques for Ion-mobility spectrometry (IMS) and mass spectrometry (MS).[8] She develops new proteomics techniques which are used to study the molecular basis of aging[11] throughout the body, particularly the production of Amyloid precursor proteins and Amyloid beta peptides in organs beyond the central nervous system.[12][13] Robinson has developed a novel multiplexing strategy for quantitative proteomics called "combined precursor isotopic labeling and isobaric tagging" or cPILOT, that can examine 12 or 16 samples at a time.[1][13][14][15] By replacing specific precursor atoms by their isotope, monitoring reactions, and tracking the passage of an isotope within the body, Robinson identifies proteins that have been modified.[1][14] Better understanding the changes that take place in Alzheimer's disease, may lead to the development of new treatments.[1]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Codename: Proteomics Provocateur". C&EN's Talented Twelve. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dr. Renã A. S. Robinson". RASR Laboratory. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Conn, Pete (December 12, 2016). "Pittcon Announces 2017 Award Recipients for Outstanding Achievements in Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy". Pittcon 2017.
  4. ↑ Evans, Adam R.; Robinson, Renã A. S. (November 2013). "Global combined precursor isotopic labeling and isobaric tagging (cPILOT) approach with selective MS acquisition". PROTEOMICS. 13 (22): 3267–3272. doi:10.1002/pmic.201300198. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Rena A. Sowell, Ph.D.". Chemistry Tree. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Erdley, Debra (September 5, 2016). "Pitt lab director Robinson lauded for Alzheimer's research". TribLive. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Myung, Sunnie; Lee, Young Jin; Moon, Myeong Hee; Taraszka, John; Sowell, Rena; Koeniger, Stormy; Hilderbrand, Amy E.; Valentine, Stephen J.; Cherbas, Lucy; Cherbas, Peter; Kaufmann, Thomas C.; Miller, David F.; Mechref, Yehia; Novotny, Milos V.; Ewing, Michael A.; Sporleder, C. Ray; Clemmer, David E. (October 2003). "Development of High-Sensitivity Ion Trap Ion Mobility Spectrometry Time-of-Flight Techniques:  A High-Throughput Nano-LC-IMS-TOF Separation of Peptides Arising from a Protein Extract". Analytical Chemistry. 75 (19): 5137–5145. doi:10.1021/ac030107f. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 "The Mysteries of Aging: Renã Robinson, Pitt assistant professor of chemistry, targets proteins in her research to determine why we age". Pitt Chronicle. February 8, 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to ADRC, Dr. Renã Robinson Joins ADRC Faculty" (PDF). Pathways. Winter (University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer Disease Research Center): 11. 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  10. 1 2 Robinson, Renã A. S.; Amin, Bushra; Guest, Paul C. (2017). "Multiplexing Biomarker Methods, Proteomics and Considerations for Alzheimer's Disease". In Guest, Paul C. Proteomic Methods in Neuropsychiatric Research. Springer International Publishing. pp. 21–48. ISBN 978-3-319-52478-8.
  11. 1 2 Reid, Gavin E. (3 March 2015). "2015 ASMS 'Emerging Investigators' Focus Section". Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry. 26 (4): 538–539. doi:10.1007/s13361-015-1100-7. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Miksch, Joe (February 1, 2016). "Pursuing Alzheimer's Disease from the Periphery". Pitt Chronicle. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  13. 1 2 Ren, Ru-Jing; Dammer, Eric B; Wang, Gang; Seyfried, Nicholas T; Levey, Allan I (2014). "Proteomics of protein post-translational modifications implicated in neurodegeneration". Translational Neurodegeneration. 3 (1): 23. doi:10.1186/2047-9158-3-23. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  14. 1 2 Robinson, Renã A. S.; Evans, Adam R. (5 June 2012). "Enhanced Sample Multiplexing for Nitrotyrosine-Modified Proteins Using Combined Precursor Isotopic Labeling and Isobaric Tagging". Analytical Chemistry. 84 (11): 4677–4686. doi:10.1021/ac202000v. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  15. ↑ Evans, Adam R.; Gu, Liqing; Guerrero, Rodolfo; Robinson, Renã A. S. (October 2015). "Global cPILOT analysis of the APP/PS-1 mouse liver proteome". PROTEOMICS - Clinical Applications. 9 (9-10): 872–884. doi:10.1002/prca.201400149. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Seijo, Bibiana Campos (March 13, 2017). "Live from Pittcon". Chemical & Engineering News. 95 (11): 4.
  17. ↑ "Chemical & Engineering News celebrates 'The Talented 12': Young science trailblazers". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  18. ↑ "Introduction to the 2016 Emerging Investigators themed issue". The Analyst. 141 (12): 3463–3463. 2016. doi:10.1039/C6AN90039A. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
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