Dr. Jorgenson

Dr. James W. Jorgenson, Ph.D.

Kenan Labs, A308

919-966-5071

Research in our lab concerns harnessing the power of techniques such as capillary liquid chromatography (LC), and mass spectroscopy (MS), to solve problems in complex mixture analysis. Samples of biological origin are usually complex in character, containing many hundreds to thousands of detectable compounds. Mixtures of such great complexity are a challenge to the resolving power of existing analytical methods. For an analytical technique to successfully handle such samples, the technique must have either extreme selectivity for a particular compound of interest, or the technique must provide a great excess of resolution space (peak capacity) into which the compounds may be resolved.

We are currently focusing on the development of ultra high pressure LC, in which we use capillary columns packed with sub-2 micron particles. We are also exploring the possibilities of combining two separation columns to provide much greater chromatographic peak capacity. These two-dimensional separations are done in what we refer to as a “comprehensive” manner; all components of the sample are subjected to full two-dimensional analysis. Such systems permit effective analysis of mixtures containing thousands of detectable compounds. We are also using LC-MS-MS and LC-LC-MS for analysis of complex mixtures. The principle samples of interest to us are complex mixtures of proteins (“proteomics”) and complex mixtures of metabolites (“metabolomics”).