Acquisition of an orbitrap astral mass spectrometer system for proteomics and metabolomics facility of cornell university - advanced mass spectrometry (MS) technologies unlock exceptional…

The National Institutes of Health Office of the Director awarded Cornell University $750,000 on July 1, 2026, under the Research Infrastructure Programs (CFDA 93.351) to acquire an Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer system interfaced with a Vanquish Neo ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography system from Thermo Fisher Scientific. The instrument will be housed, operated, and maintained in the Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility (PMF) at Cornell's Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC) in Ithaca, New York, replacing an aging Orbitrap Fusion instrument and expanding facility capacity and capabilities for proteomics and metabolomics research. The Orbitrap Astral system will offer new capabilities not currently available across Cornell campuses and will support analysis of complex samples with limited sample input, including single-cell proteomics and affinity-enriched samples. The BRC will provide administrative support and manage the instrument as a university-wide shared research resource, enabling cost-effective and flexible access for NIH-funded research. Growing demand for proteomics and metabolomics applications at Cornell, evidenced by continuous growth in facility users and processed samples and the recently founded Center for Innovative Proteomics, has driven the need for increased performance and capacity. The period of performance runs through June 30, 2027.

Acquisition of an orbitrap astral mass spectrometer system for proteomics and metabolomics facility of cornell university - advanced mass spectrometry (MS) technologies unlock exceptional opportunities towards transformative applications and groundbreaking discoveries for life science research. We are requesting funding to purchase the latest orbitrap astral mass spectrometer interfaced with a vanquish NEO ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography system from thermo fisher scientific. This state-of-the-art system will be housed, operated and maintained in the proteomics and metabolomics facility (PMF) at the cornell university biotechnology resource center (BRC). The BRC will provide administrative support to the PMF team with a proven track-record in managing shared resources for the biomedical and life science research community. Implementation of the instrument in the BRC as a university-wide shared research resource will enable cost-effective and flexible access to this vital technology for a broad range of NIH-funded research. There is a growing demand for proteomics and metabolomics applications at cornell, as observed by the continuous growth in the number of facility users and processed samples by the facility over the past decade, and evidenced by the recently founded center for innovative proteomics (CIP), which promotes campus-wide collaboration to develop cutting-edge proteomics methodologies for research. The proposed orbitrap astral system will replace the aging orbitrap fusion instrument, offering new capabilities as no such instrument is available across all cornell campuses. IT will also expand the capacity and capabilities of the facility on the existing instrumentation, which is currently utilized at near full capacity. The need for the increased performance and capacity is particularly critical with respect to applications involving analysis of complex samples with limited sample input (e.g. single-cell proteomics and affinity-enriched samples) for many NIH-funded projects, which require fast scan speed, ultra-high sensitivity and resolution, and highly accurate mass measurements. The requested instrument provides >5 orders of magnitude dynamic range, enabling confident identification of peptides from low abundance proteins and low stoichiometry modifications in complex samples. IT will uniquely leverage the PMF's and CIP's expertise to support proteomics discovery studies at the single-cell level by developing and implementing high-throughput single-cell and spatial proteomics technologies, enabling cornell PIS to propose and competitively undertake new research projects that are currently not feasible with our existing instrumentation. The BRC PMF has extensive experience in running LC-MS instruments and providing MS solutions to effectively advance research. The proposed instrument will be readily integrated into the facility's established proteomics pipelines. Placement of the proposed system in the BRC will enable a large group of NIH-funded investigators to undertake research projects that would not otherwise be economically or technically feasible. This proposal describes 31 projects from 15 NIH-funded investigator groups that will utilize the proposed system. The requested instrument will benefit a wide range of current and future NIH-funded projects and other projects.