Livia S. Eberlin

Mentors: Justin Du Bois and Richard Zare

Project Title: Probing Drug Distribution with Mass Spectrometry

Biography
Livia S. Eberlin received her BS in Chemistry in 2007 from the State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Brazil. She performed undergraduate research at the Thomson Laboratory for Mass Spectrometry, UNICAMP, and at the Aston Laboratories for Mass Spectrometry, at Purdue University. She completed her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, in 2012, under the direction of Prof. R. Graham Cooks. Her research focused on developments and applications of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging in cancer research. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in the laboratory of Prof. Richard Zare. Her current research focuses on applying novel mass spectrometry techniques in biomedical research.

Research Summary
Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging (DESI-MSI) is one of a recently developed group of ambient ionization techniques in mass spectrometry in which samples are examined in the ambient environment with minimal pretreatment. DESI-MSI has been increasingly explored in many different fields of science due to its outstanding capability of providing spatial information on the distribution of molecules with the specificity and the sensitivity that are characteristic of mass spectrometry. The ease of execution and versatility of the technique allows a variety of experiments to be rapidly performed in the open air.

One of the most prominent applications of DESI-MSI is in the area of biomedical research for drug distribution imaging. In this CMAD research project, we are using high mass resolution/high mass accuracy DESI-MS imaging to investigate the transdermal penetration and distribution of topically applied sodium channel blockers. The compounds being investigated are neurotoxins and novel synthetic analogs that have the potential to be used as pain therapeutics and topical anesthetics. Nevertheless, little is known about the efficacy of these compounds in penetration human skin barrier necessary to produce the desirable analgesic effects. To solve this problem, this collaborative, interdisciplinary project between Prof. Justin Du Bois and Prof. Richard Zare research groups includes efforts in both the synthesis of novel sodium channel blockers that have enhanced skin permeability, and in the development of novel methodologies to investigate and visualize their efficacy in penetrating human skin.