The Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigators in Separation Science

Tom Linz is the 2023 recipient of the ACS Analytical Division. Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigators in Separation Science. This award recognizes and encourages outstanding contributions to the field of separation science by a young chemist or chemical engineer from academia, industry, or national laboratories. It is presented each year at Pittcon. Tom Linz earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas in 2013 under the mentorship of Professor Susan Lunte. He then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow with Professor J. Michael Ramsey at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tom is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Wayne State University. The Linz laboratory is focused on the development of novel lab-on-a-chip technologies capable of performing superior biochemical measurements compared to conventional instrumentation. These microfluidic devices integrate sample preparation/preconcentration and microchip electrophoresis, gel electrophoresis, or immunoassays into a single platform to quantify analytes of interest. These novel bioanalytical strategies are being used to study fundamental biological processes involved in disease pathogenesis to help elucidate biomedical information that cannot be gathered using current state of the art instrumentation. In addition to Prof. Linz, speakers in the session are planned to include: Professor Susan Lunte, University of Kansas “Applications of Microchip Electrophoresis to Understanding Oxidative Stress and Neurodegeneration” Professor Robert Kennedy, University of Michigan "Exploring Brain Chemistry using Deep Metabolomics and High-Throughput Assays" Professor Lisa Holland, West Virginia University "Enzyme-based Capillary Separations with Biocompatible Gels" Professor Scott Martin, Saint Louis University "3D Printed Devices for Improving Cell Culture and Analytical Measurements"