HUPOST Editor: Aleksandra Nita-Lazar | Staff Editor: HUPO Office | December 2025 | | |
It is with great sadness that we learned the passing of Prof. Amos Bairoch on November 29, 2025.
Amos created Swiss-Prot, the reference protein sequence database, first released in 1986 and as such, has been a caring spirit leaning over the cradle of proteomics. An active participant in seed Siena meetings in the 1990’s, he witnessed - and helped shape - the shift from genome to proteome, a term credited to Marc Wilkins whose first post-doc position was supervised by Amos, at the university of Geneva, Switzerland.
Since these early days of proteomics, protein identification software has critically relied on the high-quality data of Swiss-Prot, with key assets being its perennial accession numbers and manually verified sequences and associated information. Today, Swiss-Prot is integrated as the expertly curated component of UniProtKB. Containing hundreds of thousands of protein descriptions, it remains one of the most widely used protein information resources in the world.
Amos’ contribution to the expansion of proteomics was crowned by the HUPO Distinguished Achievement Award in Proteomic Sciences in 2011. He has been honoured in many other instances, the most recent in 2025, by the International Society for Computational Biology, with a Senior Scientist Accomplishment award.
In 2009, he handed over Swiss-Prot in order to focus on the deep curation of human protein data. The following year, the neXtProt knowledgebase was launched. It was gradually enhanced with advanced tools to facilitate the exploration and querying of omics data. From 2011 to 2023, neXtProt has been the primary reference resource for the Human Proteome Project (HPP) and thus, a powerful tool for advancing the understanding of the human proteome and its implications in health and disease.
Amos was a deeply valued and admired colleague. His remarkable blend of enthusiasm, intellect, energy, creativity, humour, and rigour fuelled the numerous initiatives he led. His unwavering work ethic consistently resulted in work of exceptional quality. We say goodbye to a great scientist, colleague, and friend, but his legacy will continue to inspire.
Photo credit: SIB
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As we close out the year, we want to extend our appreciation to everyone who helped make HUPO 2025 in Toronto such an incredible success.
With more than 1,300 attendees, this year marked a record attendance for a HUPO Congress held in North America. The week was buzzing with scientific exchange and community energy, from inspiring talks and packed poster sessions to unforgettable moments at the Gala Dinner and the Early Career Researcher events. And of course, Toronto delivered a true Canadian experience with a surprise visit from the snow—just to keep things authentic!
Relive the highlights: View the HUPO 2025 Image Gallery
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HUPO 2026: Save the Date
We are now looking ahead to the next Congress. HUPO 2026 will take place in Singapore from September 27 to October 1, 2026 under the theme “Proteomics Plus: Transforming Lives.” The Congress will explore how proteomics continues to drive innovation in health, medicine, and well-being. Singapore’s tropic, dynamic and forward-thinking environment will provide an ideal setting for meaningful discussion, collaboration, and discovery.
Save the date and join us in Singapore for HUPO 2026.
Learn more here.
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The HUPO 2025 World Congress in Toronto, Canada, was a truly memorable and inspiring event. It successfully gathered the global proteomics community to share cutting-edge research, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and foster international networking. The congress also highlighted the crucial role of the Early Career Researchers (ECR) Committee in developing future proteomics leaders. We extend our sincere thanks to all participants for making this year's congress a great success!
Interested in joining the HUPO ECR Committee and helping to organize HUPO 2026? Register your interest here.
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ECR Networking Evening: A Canadian Games Success!
The unforgettable ECR Networking Evening was a massive success!
This year, the ECR Networking Evening took us on a tour of Canadian inspired games, offering friendly competition and fantastic conversations. To kickstart the congress, we brought together early career researchers and senior scientists from around the world with a fun, Canada-specific games theme!
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Congratulations to the winner of the HUPO 2025 ECR Manuscript Competition, Dr. Xiang Zheng!
The Early Career Researcher Manuscript Competition was a fierce competition! Our three finalists, Dr. Xiang Zheng (Aarhus University), Dr. Arun Vadivel (SickKids Hospital), and Dr. Julia Bubis (Vienna BioCenter) each gave fantastic talks at the dedicated oral session sponsored by Taylor & Francis. Deciding a winner was no easy feat for our panel of expert judges. In the end, Dr. Xiang Zheng was awarded the first-place winning title of Proteomics Highlight of the Year and a cash prize of $1000. Congratulations to Dr. Zheng and the two runners-up, Dr. Vadivel and Dr. Bubis (cash prize of $500 each)!. Dr. René Zahedi (Taylor & Francis, University of Manitoba) and Roshan Tosh Aggarwal (HUPO ECR Committee member, University of Guelph) chaired the competition.
See more details on the winner and runners-up here.
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We would like to extend a huge thank you to our competition sponsor, Taylor and Francis, for helping to make this competition possible!
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Congratulations to the winner of the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, Ruxandra Bighiu!
The 3MT Competition at HUPO was a truly inspiring showcase of creativity, clarity, and scientific communication. Twelve PhD students embraced the challenge of presenting their complex research in just three minutes, using only one static slide and speaking as if to a lay audience. Their ability to distil intricate proteomics topics into accessible, engaging presentations was remarkable, demonstrating impressive precision, confidence, and dedication. The session captivated everyone in the room and highlighted the strength of the next generation of researchers. A standout moment came from Ruxandra Bighiu, who captivated the audience with the fascinating world of hearing proteins.”
View this year’s winners and runners-up here.
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All prizes are sponsored by Mass Dynamics and will be awarded post-congress: $500 for the Winner and $300 each for two Runners-up, plus an annual subscription to Mass Dynamics software for the Winner and both Runners-up.
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HUPO ECR Poster Competition
In a crowd hungry for knowledge, an intense poster competition has taken place. The contest has never been this close. Please welcome the winners of the ECR Poster Competition 2025! Our two champions and six runners-up should be proud of their outstanding presentations.
This year’s participants left the HUPO World Congress with honourable certificates and winners received prizes sponsored by Pelago Bioscience. Congratulations to all, and we look forward to seeing new rising stars at HUPO 2026 in Singapore!
Explore this year’s award winners and runners-up here.
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Meet the Commissioning Editors at HUPO 2025
One of the highlights of HUPO 2025 in Toronto was the Meet the Commissioning Editors session, which brought together delegates and editors from leading journals in proteomics. This interactive event offered practical guidance on data sharing, manuscript preparation, peer review navigation, and aligning submissions with editorial priorities.
The session was especially valuable for early-career researchers, who gained insights into how to increase the visibility of their work, understand what editors look for in submissions, and build long-term relationships with journals. Importantly, the discussion also touched on the editor role as a potential career path, highlighting the skills and opportunities that come with editorial positions in scientific publishing.
Another key theme was how to become a reviewer. Editors emphasized that reviewing is not only a way to contribute to the scientific community but also an excellent opportunity to sharpen critical thinking and stay current with emerging research.
We extend our sincere thanks to the commissioning editors who participated and generously shared their expertise:
Jennifer Geddes-McAlister,
Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Proteome
Research (JPR), American Chemical Society (ACS)
John Yates III,
Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Proteome
Research (JPR), American Chemical Society (ACS)
James Crosby,
Commissioning Team Manager
Journals, Medicine and Health, Taylor & Francis.
Their contributions ensured that HUPO 2025 delegates left with a clearer understanding of both the publishing landscape and the diverse career opportunities available within it.
| | Highlighting a member of HUPO, we invite a diverse group of researchers from different career stages, disciplines, geographical locations, and ethnicities to submit a profile for our monthly spotlight. This initiative aims to improve visibility of HUPO members, advertise research, and enhance the HUPO community. This month we are featuring: | |
David Britton, UK
What is your current position and location?
I’m the Founder and Director of Global Proteomics Limited, based in the UK, and a Visiting Researcher at King’s College London. I also act as a scientific advisor and consultant for several organisations. My work spans target engagement studies, biomarker discovery, commercial strategy, and the broader translation of proteomic technologies into the clinical setting. Overall, my focus is on developing and applying LC-MS/MS workflows for precision medicine, particularly in oncology and complex disease.
How did you get started in the field of proteomics?
My route into proteomics began during my PhD in breast cancer research (2001–2005), where I focused on oestrogen receptor alpha (ER) phosphorylation using classic techniques like Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and immunoprecipitation. While powerful, these methods were often constrained by antibody specificity, and I became increasingly intrigued by how we might measure protein phosphorylation with greater accuracy and depth.
Towards the end of my PhD, I came across a 2001 JBC paper that mapped phosphorylation sites on the progesterone receptor - one of the first to apply mass spectrometry to receptor post-translational modifications. That study inspired me to attempt to do the same on ER. By sheer luck, I met Christopher Benz at a Tenovus/AstraZeneca workshop in Cardiff. After seeing my poster, he asked if I’d performed the ER immunoprecipitations myself. When I said yes, he invited me to join his lab in California for a postdoc focused on ER PTMs using LC-MS/MS, co-supervised by Birgit Schilling and Brad Gibson at the Buck Institute.
Six months later, I landed in San Francisco with a suitcase and a rucksack, ready to learn mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Over the next three years, we identified several novel phosphorylation sites on ER - including pS154, pS294, and pS559 - alongside the more established pS118 and pS167. We even made the cover of the May 2008 issue of JASMS – still my only claim to fame! That experience cemented my passion for MS-based proteomics and its potential in pharmacodynamics - especially in understanding and predicting drug sensitivity and resistance.
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See the latest job postings here!
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