CASSS is excited to announce the winners of the 2025 Mass Spec Next-Generation Investigator (NGI) Award. The focus of the Mass Spec Symposium is the practical application of mass spectrometry (MS) in the biotechnology industry. Next Generation Investigator Awards are an excellent opportunity for graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and early career industrial scientists to meet, network, and participate in exchanging knowledge with industry peers from across the world with waived registration and grants to offset travel expenses.
The 2025 award winners are Robert D'Ippolito, Merck & Co., Inc., and Cynthia Kuang, Washington University in St. Louis.
Robert D'Ippolito, Merck & Co., Inc.
Robert D’Ippolito received his PhD from the University of Virginia under the mentorship of Dr. Donald F. Hunt, where he focused on implementing a novel protein digestion strategy for bispecific antibodies using a nonspecific enzyme reactor. After defending his dissertation, D’Ippolito expanded his proteomic capabilities to support the NCI RAS Initiative at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, addressing key biological questions related to the RAS signaling pathway. Currently, D’Ippolito is a Senior Scientist at Merck, where he applies his mass spectrometry expertise to advance vaccine development.
Cynthia Kuang, Washington University in St. Louis
Xinyi (Cynthia) Kuang is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, working in the laboratory of Dr. Michael L. Gross. Her research focuses on developing and applying mass spectrometry-based footprinting techniques, including HDX-MS, XL-MS, and covalent labeling to investigate protein higher-order structures and protein interactions in various biological systems. Her current projects span viral immune evasion mechanisms, Alzheimer’s disease aggregation pathways, and redox signaling in cancer metabolism. She is passionate about advancing integrative structural mass spectrometry approaches and aims to continue research in this area after graduation.