Postdoc of the month - April 2023
Meet Dr. Pei Su! He is postdoc in Prof. Neil Kelleher’s lab.
How would you introduce yourself?
I grew up in Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China with a unique local culture developed over just slightly above a century. I spent my college time at Fudan University in Shanghai, where I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 2015. I spent my summer with Prof. Richard Weiss at Georgetown University in 2014 as a undergraduate researcher funded by Fudan University Pilot Program Research Fellowship. This experience had motivated me to pursue a PhD degree in the United States and landed me at Purdue University, West Lafayette with Prof. Julia Laskin. I was defended in December 2020 and during my time at Purdue, I won the Ching Siang Tang Yeh Fellowship and Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, and was named as a Thomas W. Keough Graduate Scholar. In March 2021, I started my journey at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. Neil Kelleher.
How has your experience at Northwestern University been?
Northwestern embraces an extraordinarily diverse and vibrant research community among universities worldwide. I feel extremely fortunate to be part of the “Purple Team” to spearhead challenging research frontiers. As an academic-track postdoc, I’m very thankful to be able to access the plentiful research resource here for training and collaborations. Being part of a big research group was a challenge for me as a fresh PhD graduate. However, two years down the road, it all boils down to growth and evolution that are critical and invaluable for my career development.
Tell us about your recent publications or research awards.
I have recently led the development of proteoform imaging mass spectrometry (PiMS) to image and identify hundreds of proteoforms, the key molecular effectors, directly from human tissues (https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abp9929). Proteoform localizations in tissues not only entail the functionality of the spatially distinct units, but also reveal and demarcate healthy and disease tissue regions. Thanks to the high molecular resolution enabled by PiMS, many of the proteoforms are imaged for the first time in human tissues in this work. Moreover, we in the group like to see PiMS as a “highly-multiplexed molecular histology” approach thinking about the number of images obtained from a single thin section of tissue compared to traditional immunohistochemistry. The benefits of PiMS have started to be appreciated by the clinical research community and have already nurtured a few Feinberg collaborations.
When you’re not busy with research, what do you like to do?
Travelling has always been my favorite hobby especially with adventures in big cities. I’m still excited about my subway tour in Moscow during which I visited >30 stations that day. I’m also dedicated to bringing my authentic hometown style dishes to my friends here, which are almost nowhere to find in the States. I love museums and art as well. Folks, don’t forget you get free admission to the Art Institute all year round!
How can we reach you on social media/professional platforms?
I have an academic-focused Twitter account with my past role as a student ambassador for International Journal of Mass Spectrometry. You can find me on Linkedin and by email (pei.su@northwestern.edu) for professional connections. I’ve always found it challenging to step out of my comfort zone and reach out to people to ask for a career-related favor, but I’m always amazed by how enthusiastic people are about passing useful information along. I hope some of my professional experience may be a fruitful resource so please feel free to reach out.