Peaks of Interest

ESA Biosciences awarded NIH grant to further metabolomics research

ESA Biosciences, Inc. (Chelmsford, Massachusetts) announced that it has been awarded a "Roadmap Initiative" grant from the National Institutes of Health to accelerate ESA's ongoing work in metabolomics research. Under this grant, ESA will extend and integrate electrochemical and MS technologies to facilitate a range of metabolomics studies.

ESA will work with a number of collaborators in its research, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tennessee), Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX (Foster City, California), Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Cornell University Medical School (Ithaca, New York), and Burke Medical Research Institute (White Plains, New York). The company's research will be conducted by Ian Acworth and Paul Gamache and will be overseen by Wayne Matson, principal investigator and director of systems biochemistry at the Bedford VA hospital (Bedford, Massachusetts).

Chromatography Market Profile Thin-Layer Chromatography

Restek West opens in California

Restek Corporation (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) celebrates continued growth in 2005 with the opening of the Restek West research and development lab in Shingle Springs, California.

Roy Lautamo, director of innovative research chemistries, will manage the facility that will focus on research and development for Restek's main product lines. Lautamo has more than 27 years of experience in the chromatography field.

PerkinElmer appoints Katherine O'Hara senior vice president and general counsel

PerkinElmer, Inc. (Shelton, Connecticut) announced its appointment of Katherine A. O'Hara to senior vice president and general counsel. O'Hara will lead the company's legal and compliance functions.

O'Hara served as vice president and associate general counsel for Avon Products, Inc., a global consumer beauty products company. During her 11 years at Avon, O'Hara led various initiatives related to worldwide legal and regulatory compliance, corporate finance, and corporate governance.

Agilent Technologies sells equipment and services to CDC

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (Palo Alto, California) announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, Georgia) has ordered Aglient GC-MS equipment and services as part of a grant program to build state and local preparedness for chemical terrorism.

Agilent plans to distribute the instruments to state health laboratories as part of the CDC's effort to develop its chemical terrorism laboratory network, a nationwide response network for chemical terrorism and other public health threats.

"We are honored that the CDC has chosen to make a significant investment in Agilent equipment," said Mike McMullen, vice president and general manager of Agilent's chemical analysis and solutions unit.