Dr. Peter Nemes

About the author

Peter Nemes holds a PhD in Chemistry from the George Washington University (Washington, DC), where he developed laser ablation electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for in situ and in vivo analysis as well as molecular imaging in two and three dimensions as a PhD graduate student (advisor: Prof. Akos Vertes). He completed postdoctoral training in analytical neuroscience at the University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign (mentor: Prof. Jonathan V. Sweedler), where he developed mass spectrometry technologies to measure small and large molecules in single neurons and to image their spatial distribution. One of these technologies was single-cell capillary electrophoresis, which revealed metabolomic heterogeneity between different neuron types in the central nervous system of Aplysia californica and adoptability of the single-neuronal metabolome to external conditions. Another technology was a custom-built MALDI-C60-SIMS dual ion source mass spectrometer that helped probe the spatial distribution of small-to-large molecules in single neurons. In 2011, Dr. Nemes joined the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, Silver Spring, MD) as a Principal Investigator, where he developed mass spectrometry-based technologies to enable the high-throughput screening of chemical contaminants in regulated drug products and medical devices. There, he developed a mass spectrometry facility and served as the Laboratory Leader of the Laboratory of Chemical Contamination at the Division of Chemistry and Materials Science. In 2013, Dr. Nemes became an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the George Washington University. His research develops high-sensitivity mass spectrometry platforms to assess the spatiotemporal evolution of metabolic and proteomic processes. Current work in the Nemes laboratory elucidates molecular mechanisms by which (i) cells acquire different fates in the developing vertebrate embryo and the central nervous system and (ii) respond to external stimuli such as drugs of treatment and toxins. Prof. Nemes has authored 30 peer-reviewed publications, 6 book chapters, and 80+ presentations, and holds 4 licensed patents.  He received the 2008 International Research Fellowship award by the Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation (Luzern, Switzerland), the 2009 American Institute of Chemists prize in Chemistry by the American Institute of Chemists (Washington, DC), the 2010 Science and Technology Innovation Award by Baxter Healthcare Corporation (Chicago, IL), the 2011 Special recognition by the FDA (Silver Spring, MD), and the 2016 Arthur Findeis Award for Achievements by a Young Analytical Scientist by the American Chemistry Society. Prof. Nemes is a Beckman Young Investigator by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.

Global Medical Discovery featured article: Single-Cell Mass Spectrometry for Discovery Proteomics: Quantifying Translational Cell Heterogeneity in the 16-Cell Frog (Xenopus) Embryo