Every year at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference, awards are presented to honor veteran and newcomer researchers making notable contributions in the field of mass spectrometry (MS). Example of these awards are the research awards (1). These awards promote the research of academic scientists within the first four years of joining the tenure track or research faculty of a North American University at the time the award is conferred. The awards are presented annually and fully funded by Bruker, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Waters Corporation. This year, one of the Research Award winners was Tian (Autumn) Qiu of Michigan State University.
Qiu is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University (2). She received her bachelor’s degree and PhD, both in chemistry, from Peking University and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, respectively. After receiving her degrees, she was a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research focuses on using analytical chemistry, toxicology, microbiology, and neuroscience, to elucidate the chemical basis of environment-host-microbe interactions. Her research group investigates molecular interactions between environmental exposures, microbial metabolism, and host animal responses using mass spectrometry (MS) methods, particularly matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-MS for MS imaging and high-throughput profiling, together with animal models, biochemical analyses, and toxicological assays.
Recently, we sat down with Qiu to learn about her career and how she got to where she is now. In the second part of our interview, Qiu discusses her laboratory's research into the relationship between microbes and their environments (mainly the gut lumen), and how mass spectrometry-based techniques have aided in these efforts.
Please stay tuned for more videos from our time with Qiu! If interested in other ASMS 2025 award winners, we also have interviews with Vilmos Kertesz, Michael Shortreed, Jennifer Geddes-McAlister, and more!
(1) Research Awards. American Society for Mass Spectrometry 2025. https://www.asms.org/about-asms-awards/research-awards (accessed 2025-5-29)
(2) Tian (Autumn) Qiu. Michigan State University 2025. https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty-research/faculty-members/qiu-autumn.aspx (accessed 2025-6-9)
