Michael P. Napolitano

Senior Research Associate

Affiliations

Senior Research Associate, Monell Chemical Senses Center

Education

PhD, Analytical Chemistry; University of Florida

Laboratory Of

Dr. Bruce Kimball
The George Preti Research Support Core for Analytical Chemistry

Research Summary

Mass spectrometry is arguably the most important analytical technique considering its selectivity, sensitivity, and informing power, among other qualities. I have sought to apply mass spectrometry’s capabilities throughout my various research endeavors, which include analyzing pigments and dyes from works of art, absolute quantitation of food extracts, and lipid profiling. With my postdoctoral experience at the Hollings Marine Laboratory, I honed my interests on lipids by incorporating the relatively new field of untargeted analyses using high resolution mass spectrometry to decipher the entire lipidome of various biological samples (plasma, muscle, liver, brain) for aquatic specimens (saltwater fish, sea turtles) and marine mammals (bottlenose dolphins, Florida manatees). Lipidomics may provide unparalleled structural information regarding the content of intact lipids of a sample across lipid category (e.g., glycerophospholipid), class (e.g., phosphatidylcholine, PC), and species (e.g., PC 16:0_18:1). An additional interest of mine is fatty acid profiling, which uses a gas chromatograph with either a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) or mass spectrometer (GC/MS) to provide increased structural information of fatty acids (i.e., double bond position and cis/trans conformation). I am excited for my prior skills to be combined with untargeted metabolomics and analysis of volatiles, among other techniques, at the new George Preti Research Support Core for Analytical Chemistry.

Keywords

liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), analytical chemistry, lipidomics, metabolomics

Representative Publications

Griffin, E K, Costa, KA Aristizabal-Henao, JJ, Napolitano, MP, Hunter, ME, Ferrante, JA, Bowden, JA. (2021) Lipidomics reveals specific lipid molecules associated with cold stress syndrome in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Marine Biology 168, 81. doi: 10.1007/s00227-021-03879-y

Watson, AW, Napolitano, MP, Schock, TB, Bowden, JA, Frost, J, Yost, J, Denson, MR. (2020). Evaluation of graded levels of soy oil as a fish oil replacement in high soy protein feeds for juvenile red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Aquaculture 529, 735627. doi: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735627

Koelmel, JP, Napolitano, MP, Ulmer, CZ, Vasiliou, V, Garrett, TJ, Yost, RA, Prasad, MNV, Godri Pollitt, KJ, Bowden, JA. (2020) Environmental lipidomics: understanding the response of organisms and ecosystems to a changing world. Metabolomics 16, 56. doi: 10.1007/s11306-020-01665-3

Napolitano head shot portrait First Choice June 2021

Contact Information

(267) 519-4929
mnapolitano@monell.org