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Insight from Customer

Interview with Prof. Kevin A. Schug

We interviewed with Dr. Kevin A. Schug, Associate Professor and Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical
Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington). His
research is mainly on the separation of bioactive chemical compounds with mass spectrometry techniques. Also, he is
currently undertaking one of the most extensive investigations of the potential impact of industrial processes, such as
unconventional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, on our environment. He and Shimadzu started collaborative work in
2012 when the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry was established.

Dr. Schug, we greatly appreciate you taking time to talk state-of-the-art instrumentation. Shimadzu would gain an active
with us. partner performing cutting edge research using their instrumentation.
At first, could you tell us the background of this My laboratory could expand into a variety of different areas where
collaborative research? Why did you choose Shimadzu as some opportunities for research were present – namely, in trace
your partner? analysis of compounds from biological fluids, using CoSense and triple
quadrupole mass spectrometry, and into assessing the potential
environmental impact of unconventional natural gas and oil processes,
First, thank you for this opportunity to speak with you. It has been a using a wide range of instrumentation. Clearly, one of the main
real pleasure to work with Shimadzu, and I sincerely appreciate your reasons why our partnership has been successful is due to the
efforts to tell our story. My interactions with Shimadzu actually began personal relationships and support provided.
way back in 2000, when I was a graduate student at Virginia Tech.
Our analytical group, headed by Prof. Harold McNair, regularly
administered American Chemical Society short courses in gas
chromatography, liquid chromatography, sample preparation, and Then could you outline the research and let us know what
other topics. Shimadzu was always willing to put instruments on site discovery and achievement have been made so far?
for these courses, and I was able to build a good relationship with a
number of their technical and sales employees. In the end, I Our research on trace quantitative analysis from biological fluids
completed my dissertation research on the topic of adduct ion began through a collaboration with a local medical school, where
formation in electrospray ionization, using a Shimadzu QP8000α they were piloting the clinical use of estrogens for the treatment of
single quadrupole mass analyzer. traumatic brain injury. They could use an immunoassay to quantify
After my post-doctoral stay at the University of Vienna, I joined the the level of estrogens in plasma, but no such validated method
faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at U.T. existed for trace quantification of estrogens in cerebrospinal fluid.
Arlington. Within a year or two, contact was made back to Shimadzu, We began with a traditional liquid-liquid extraction off-line sample
and we were able to organize the acquisition of an LCMS-ITTOF, in preparation technique, but learned quickly that the workflow took
2007, through the Shimadzu Equipment Grants for Research Program. too long to effectively handle a large number of samples. At that
It was only one of a handful of such systems available in the country time, we were introduced to Shimadzu CoSense, which features the
at that time, so we had a unique opportunity to perform cutting edge use of restricted access media for on-line sample preparation. We
research that others could not, based on the powerful features of the assembled the set-up in the lab with the help of Shimadzu personnel
instrument. Not long after that, we began discussions of a larger and set about developing more efficient methods. We have been
partnership. Much of the success of establishing what would successful in developing ultra-sensitive methods (low
ultimately be the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry parts-per-trillion detection limits) for detection of estrogens in
and the Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies at U.T. cerebrospinal fluid and in plasma. We have also carried out some
Arlington was due to our forward looking administration. It became fundamental studies on how best to optimize trapping efficiency on
quickly clear to those involved, that this partnership would be a big the MAYI trap restricted access media offered by Shimadzu.
win for all involved. U.T. Arlington would acquire a wide range of Our research on groundwater quality is unique. By this point, we
have taken and analyzed over 800 well water samples in proximity
to unconventional drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities. This is
the largest effort to date of this kind. In 2011, we realized that very
little work had been done to assess potential environmental impacts
of this industrial activity, which has been so very important to the
United States economy. It has been our goal to be objective and
simply collect data that no one else was collecting. As an academic
entity, we could remain wholly unbiased, and in fact we have done
much of our work without outside support, beyond some funds
provided by the University, and the availability of a large suite of
analytical instruments based on the Shimadzu partnership. We have
developed a core set of analytical techniques based on Shimadzu
GC-MS, headspace GC-FID/BID, ICP-OES, and TOC/TN analyses.
These methods borrow best practices from standard methods, but
also build in a combination of targeted and untargeted strategies to
allow for a comprehensive evaluation of water quality. In an early

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