Dr. Ri Wu received his B.Sc. in 2013 from Qian Weichang College, Shanghai University, under the supervision of Dr. Zhen Zhou. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019, mentored by Prof. Dominic Tak Wah Chan. His doctoral research focused on developing differential ion mobility spectrometry (DMS) with enhanced ion transmission efficiency and separation capacity, applying it to the analysis of isomeric and anomeric species in natural products and glycopeptides.

From 2019 to 2025, he was a postdoctoral researcher and senior scientist at ETH Zurich, working with Prof. Dr. Renato Zenobi. His research focused on advancing bioanalytical mass spectrometry techniques by integrating fluorescence spectroscopy, ion mobility spectrometry, and ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry, with applications in dynamic structural analysis of biomolecules and their noncovalent interactions.

In February 2025, he joined Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) as an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator, jointly affiliated with Center for Advanced Light Source and Department of Chemistry. His independent research focuses on developing novel mass spectrometry methodologies and instrumentation.

To date, he has pioneered the development of gas-phase fluorescence-mass spectrometry techniques, including:

1. The construction of a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer, including ion optics, a Penning ion trap, and associated data acquisition and control systems, enabling laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements of mass-selected ions.

2. The introduction of a hybrid bioanalytical approach that integrates Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) with native ion mobility mass spectrometry, providing structural insights into peptide/protein dynamics and transient interactions. This method enables multi-dimensional analysis—from donor-acceptor distances, collision cross-section, and microsolvation effects—offering new perspectives on metal ion-mediated misfolding, early-stage oligomerization, and drug structure-activity relationships.

Over the past five years, he has published multiple first-author or co-corresponding-author papers, including: J. Am. Chem. Soc. (3), Nat. Commun., Anal. Chem. (2), J. Phys. Chem. Lett., and holds eight granted Chinese patents.

Open Positions

The group is actively recruiting Master and Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, and research assistants. Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact wuri@sustech.edu.cn.

Research Interests

1. Advancing mass spectrometry methodologies integrated with cutting-edge photon sources, with a particular focus on "MS + FRET" techniques. This approach synergizes with native MS, ion mobility spectrometry, native top-down MS (e.g., CID, ECD, UVPD), chemical crosslinking, and hydrogen-deuterium exchange to investigate biomolecular dynamics and functional correlations.

2. Developing innovated FT-ICR MS, "MS + fluorescence spectroscopy," and ion mobility spectrometry instrumentation and methodologies.

Selected Publications

1. Benzenberg, L. R.‡; Katzberger, P.‡, Wu R.*, Metternich, J. B.; Riniker, S.*, and Zenobi, R.* Probing the Stability of a β-Hairpin Scaffold after Desolvation. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2024, 15, 5041–5046.

2. Wu, R.‡; Svingou, D.‡; Metternich, J. B.; Benzenberg, L. R.; Zenobi, R.* Transition Metal Ion FRET-Based Probe to Study Cu(II)-Mediated Amyloid-β Ligand Binding. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 2102–2112.

3. Wu, R.‡; Metternich, J. B.‡; Kamenik, A. S.‡; Tiwari, P.; Harrison, J. A.; Kessen, D.; Akay, H.; Benzenberg, L. R.; Chan, T.-W. D.; Riniker, S.*; Zenobi, R.* Determining the Gas-Phase Structures of α-Helical Peptides from Shape, Microsolvation, and Intramolecular Distance Data. Nat. Commun. 2023, 14, 2913.

4. Wu, R.‡*; Benzenberg, L. R.‡; Svingou, D.; Zenobi, R.* The Structure of Cyclic Neuropeptide Somatostatin and Octapeptide Octreotide in the Presence of Copper Ions: Insights from Transition Metal Ion FRET and Native Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 10542–10547.

5. Wu, R.; Metternich, J. B.; Tiwari, P.; Benzenberg, L. R.; Harrison, J. A.; Liu, Q.; Zenobi, R.* Structural Studies of a Stapled Peptide with Native Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry and Transition Metal Ion Förster Resonance Energy Transfer in the Gas Phase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 14441–14445.

6. Wu, R.; Metternich, J. B.; Tiwari, P.; Zenobi, R.* Adapting a Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer for Gas-Phase Fluorescence Spectroscopy Measurement of Trapped Biomolecular Ions. Anal. Chem. 2021, 93, 15626–15632.