Chris Ashwood
@cashwood.proteaglyco.com
1.4K followers 890 following 1.2K posts
Director of Protea Glycosciences Accelerating glycoscience research
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Given the influx of people at bsky, thought I would formally introduce myself 👋
I'm Chris, an Australian glycoscientist who has studied the field for >10 years now (across both AU and US), starting (MRes and PhD) in the lab of Prof. Nicki Packer.
I believe LC-MS glyco still has a lot to discover.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Congrats! Looks great in person, a big design advance on the Thor labs heater.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
The focus and aperture scroll wheels on the side of the source look pretty interesting, maybe another move to make it more user friendly?
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Yeah, direct mass technology was a big release, I think that's the one I was thinking of as possibly the first.
I think an ELIT is going to be cheaper than an Orbitrap detector.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
"different configurations of monosaccharides which would mean that fucose should be yellow (L-Galactose configuration).
The attempt to make this change from a red symbol for fucose was met with howls of protest from many, who did not wish to modify their existing personal slide sets."
Red won.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Big problems in glyco-world:
"When the use of symbols was started by Kornfeld and colleagues, most were symmetrical, and their appearance did not change with rotation. The exception was the triangle representing 6-deoxyhexoses such as fucose, and complaints from the community emerged."
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Agreed, I was expecting the work you were referencing to use a timstof flex rather than ESI.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
I think the Live aspect differentiates it, plus it was originally described in 2019 for MS imaging of live cells.
Source: BMSS in 2019
www.bmss.org.uk/media/resour...
www.bmss.org.uk
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Maybe people have expanded their horizons enough and have a list of people to contact via DM instead of open posts?
It's certainly fun to connect online with people on the other side of the world from me, US and Europe, but nothing beats in person.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Spec sheet is pretty barebones (technically not even a spec sheet) but the tech notes has more info:
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Not sure if this is THE first charge detection commercial MS release from a major vendor, but it’s certainly one of the first.

Analyses macromolecules from 100 MDa and beyond. No charge state deconvolution necessary.

www.waters.com/nextgen/au/e...
Xevo CDMS: A New Era in Mass Spectrometry
YouTube video by Waters Corporation
www.youtube.com
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Oh damn, this looks like a pretty big advance in the LIT space.
“This novel parallel processing scheme improves the instrument’s duty cycle while simultaneously reducing space-charge effects, leading to a ∼10-fold enhancement in detection sensitivity.”
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
I think a lot of peak science social media came from Covid effects.
People can now attend conferences in person and get more effective conversations.
Though there is always value in social media.
Reposted by Chris Ashwood
glyco.me
One of the best bits of advice I received was to develop a niche and explore it fully. The trick is to find niche that is not obvious or difficult for others to participate in. The latter is important to handle the hypercompetitive space. You need a bit of breathing room to try crazy ideas.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
I agree with you on it actually. mzMLb is a VERY similar format, just missing the sample metadata aspect (which I’m unsure how they’ll achieve consistency).
But if this needs a big push for it to become a successor for mzML, so be it.
The data is becoming too big.
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
Wrapping up the 2025 Skyline Online Small Molecule course! Fantastic instructors and presenters, including Haley from the Baker lab with an insightful ion mobility crash course.

Great discussion and interaction from participants this year—looking forward to next year! #teammassspec
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
If there was a certain vendor developing a brand new ion mobility instrument and is in the process of choosing a file format, this is timed incredibly well for them to catch the wave.
handle.invalid
I'm a huge fan of this proposal!

If we can get vendor buy-in to an open, common format, it could bring more computational folks into the field. How can these folks be excited about #proteomics when its hard to even read the already complicated data?

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
mzPeak: Designing a Scalable, Interoperable, and Future-Ready Mass Spectrometry Data Format
Advances in mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation, including higher resolution, faster scan speeds, and improved sensitivity, have dramatically increased the data volume and complexity. The adoption of imaging and ion mobility further amplifies these challenges in proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics. Current open formats such as mzML and imzML struggle to keep pace due to large file sizes, slow data access, and limited metadata support. Vendor-specific formats offer faster access but lack interoperability and long-term archival guarantees. We here lay the groundwork for mzPeak, a next-generation community data format designed to address these challenges and support high-throughput, multidimensional MS workflows. By adopting a hybrid model that combines efficient binary storage for numerical data and both human- and machine-readable metadata storage, mzPeak will reduce file sizes, accelerate data access, and offer a scalable, adaptable solution for evolving MS technologies. For researchers, mzPeak will support complex workflows and regulatory compliance through faster access, improved metadata, and interoperability. For vendors, it offers a streamlined, open alternative to proprietary formats. mzPeak aims to become a cornerstone of MS data management, enabling sustainable, high-performance solutions for future data types and fostering collaboration across the mass spectrometry community.
pubs.acs.org
Reposted by Chris Ashwood
Reposted by Chris Ashwood
rdunwin.bsky.social
ECR with <3yrs postdoc experience?

The University of Manchester @officialuom.bsky.social is offering THREE Bicentenary Fellowships.

3yrs salary + £30k pa funding

If you have a project involving mass spec, biomarkers and human disease, get in touch!

www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/research/sup...
Bicentenary Early Career Research Fellowships | Biology, Medicine and Health | University of Manchester
Find out about and apply for a Bicentenary Early Career Research Fellowship.
www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk
cashwood.proteaglyco.com
#glycotime
stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social
𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 fans take note 👇

"𝘗. 𝘢𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘢 senses EPS trails using type IV pili and adhesins during biofilm formation"

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky
figure from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-025-02087-4
Reposted by Chris Ashwood
glyco.me
employment.ku.dk/faculty/?sho...

Hi all! We’re hiring at our brand new Center for Glycocalyx Research, across all areas - but I am also looking for postdocs to join my group specifically!
Postdoc at the Copenhagen Center for Glycocalyx Research at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
employment.ku.dk
Reposted by Chris Ashwood
sydneyprotein.bsky.social
Thompson Prize 2025 — deadline in two weeks!

The 2025 Thompson Prize will take place at Macquarie University on the afternoon of Friday the 28th of November. Winner will receive a cash prize of $1000.

Check the [email protected] email for further event details :)