Professor Helen J. Cooper

The Professor and the Student .. but which is which? !

Earlier this year, I had the great pleasure of delivering my Inaugural Lecture at the University of Birmingham. All Professors are asked to give an Inaugural Lecture in recognition of their appointment, and they are a great opportunity for the Professor to tell colleagues, friends and the public about their research. I was especially delighted that my former Chemistry teacher, your very own Mr Dave Waistnidge, was able to attend. Dave taught me Chemistry for both my O-level and A-level and really sparked my interest in the subject.

After leaving KEVICC, I went to the University of Warwick to read Chemistry. On completing my BSc, I stayed at the University of Warwick to study for a PhD. I had always been more interested in physical chemistry and my PhD focused on understanding the gas-phase ion chemistry inside a mass spectrometer  – and this has been at the centre of my research since those days. I stayed on at Warwick where they were lucky enough to get funding for the most powerful mass spectrometer available. This was capable of analysing large biomolecules such as proteins, and so began my move towards to the biosciences, although always (and to this day) with one foot still in physical chemistry.

In 2000, I had the opportunity to move to Florida State University to work in the lab of the inventor of that very powerful mass spectrometer.  This was a wonderful time for me – I was working in one of the biggest laboratories in the world, with access to fantastic kit and the brightest colleagues, and the sun always shone!

In 2003, I came back to the UK to the University of Birmingham. I have set up a research programme aimed at developing novel approaches, using mass spectrometry, for the analysis of biomolecules directly from their natural, or actual, environment. I am particularly interested in proteins. The Lecture I gave recently, entitled 'From surface to structure: Exploring the molecular world', marks the culmination of my career to date. I’m looking forward to continuing my research, and exploring the chemistry that underlies it all.               

Professor Helen J. Cooper
Professor of Mass Spectrometry and EPSRC Fellow
University of Birmingham

It was such an honour to go up to Helen’s inaugural lecture as a newly appointed Professor of Chemistry at Birmingham University. The day was fantastic, right from Helen showing me around the lab she works in, to meeting her family, Mum and Dad and younger sister Fiona (who I also taught A-level chemistry) and her family. I even impressed myself by understanding (most) of Helen’s lecture on her research; although the photo of me with her A level chemistry group all those years ago came as a bit of a surprise!        

Dave Waistnidge