Thomas P. Forbes

Tom received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University where he was a GSRP Fellow at NASA's Glenn Research Center, and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology for the development and characterization of a novel mechanically-driven droplet-based ion source for mass spectrometric analysis of large biomolecules. The ion source independently controls charge separation and droplet formation, thereby conceptually differing from classical electrospray ionization, and enabling low voltage soft ionization of a variety of analytes and flexibility in solvent choice.  

In 2010 Tom started in the Biochemical Science Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an NRC postdoctoral associate. His research interests at NIST focus on thermal-fluid transport phenomena and bioanalytical devices, specifically, the development of microfluidic platforms and techniques for the isolation, capture, and analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). This research is based on utilizing immunocytochemistry and magnetic bead-based capture techniques to isolate CTCs, shed from a primary or metastatic site, from a patient's peripheral blood. These antibody-functionalized beads preferentially bind with CTCs over-expressing the antigen of interest, in this case, the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). Tom's current work focuses on a continuous-flow microfluidic device, utilizing magnetophoretic streamline switching to enable CTC enrichment for downstream analysis.

Publications

Forbes, T.P., Degertekin, F.L., Fedorov, A.G., (2011) "Droplet charging regimes for ultrasonic atomization of a liquid electrolyte in an external electric field," Physics of Fluids, 23(1), 012104.

Forbes, T.P., Degertekin, F.L., Fedorov, A.G., (2010) "Regime Transition in Electromechanical Fluid Atomization and Implications to Analyte Ionization for Mass Spectrometry," Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 21(11), 1900-1905.

Forbes, T.P., Degertekin, F.L., Fedorov, A.G., (2010) "Electrohydrodynamics of Charge Separation in Droplet-Based Ion Sources with Time-Varying Electrical and Mechanical Actuation," Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 21(4), 501-510.

Forbes, T.P., Degertekin, F.L., Fedorov, A.G., (2010) "Electrochemical ionization and analyte charging in the Array of Micromachined UltraSonic Electrospray (AMUSE) ion source," Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 645(2), 167-173.

Forbes, T.P., Dixon, R.B., Muddiman, D.C., Degertekin, F.L., Fedorov, A.G., (2009) "Characterization of Charge Separation in the Array of Micromachined UltraSonic Electrospray (AMUSE) Ion Source for Mass Spectrometry," Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 20(9) 1684-1687.

Hampton, C.Y., Silvestri, C.J., Forbes, T.P., Varady, M.J., Meacham, J.M., Fedorov, A.G., Degertekin, F.L., Fernandez, F.M., (2008) "Comparison of Internal Energy Deposition of Venturi-assisted Ionization Sources," Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 19(9), 1320-1329.

Forbes, T.P., Degertekin, F.L, and Fedorov, A.G., (2007) "Multiplexed Operation of a Micromachined Ultrasonic Droplet Ejector Array," Review of Scientific Instruments, 78 (10), 104101.

Hampton, C.Y., Forbes, T.P., Varady, M.J., Meacham, J.M., Fedorov, A.G., Degertekin, F.L., and Fernandez, F.M., (2007) "Analytical Performance of Array of Micromachined UltraSonic Electrosprays (AMUSE) Coupled to Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Peptides and Proteins," Analytical Chemistry, 79 (21), 8154-8161.