Richard Caprioli, Ph. D.
Science Advisor

Dr. Caprioli is a Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University where he serves as the Director of the Mass Spectrometry Research Center. His research interests include investigation of biological processes involving the synthesis, modification, storage and degradation of certain peptides and proteins to follow molecular events. His laboratory uses modern mass spectrometric techniquesincluding electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS).
Dr. Caprioli received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1969.

George McLendon, Ph.D.
Science Advisor

Professor McLendon became dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Duke University in July 2004. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso (BS, magna cum laude, 1972) and Texas A&M University (Ph.D. 1976), he was Russell Wellman Moore Professor and Chair of Chemistry at Princeton University. He was a National Science Foundation Fellow, an A.P. Sloan Research Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He won the 1990 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. Professor McLendon's research focuses on the interaction of large biological molecules, electron transfer in chemical and biological systems, and protein chemistry in such processes as apoptosis, the disintegration and eventual death of cells. His research has direct implications for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, AIDS, and other diseases.