ROBERT J KOBELSKI, PHD: PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST

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Dr. Kobelski’s career as an analytical chemist has spanned more than 35 years in a variety of roles and environments.  From bench positions in private industry to a leadership role in government he has been driven by his desire to solve problems through chemical analysis and transfer the techniques and technologies for problem solving to others.  At CDC he was responsible for developing high throughput clinical analysis methods, creating a mechanism for training more than 40 public health laboratories in the performance of those methods and establishing and maintaining a proficiency testing program to demonstrate the lab network’s capability.

CHROMATOGRAPHER

1973 - Present

Dr. Kobelski began his experience with gas chromatography (GC) using packed columns in graduate school in 1973 and as an analytical chromatographer working for Buffalo Color Corporation using capillary columns in 1981.  His experience with liquid chromatography (HPLC) also began at Buffalo Color in 1981.  He has developed both GC and HPLC methods for Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Hewlett-Packard (HP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). His innovative work with quantitative headspace GC lead to the development of unique odor control products at J&J’s Personal Products Company.

MASS SPECTROMETRIST

1982 - Present

Dr. Kobelski operated his first modern mass spectrometer, a Hewlett-Packard HP-5895B in 1982; first developing GC-MS methods and then LC-MS methods to solve industrial problems. His use of GC-MS continued at J&J Personal Products where he introduced that technology to that to solve product related problem. He developed  and applied novel thermal desorption techniques to address manufacturing problems at HP’s Inkjet Supplies Business Unit. He expanded his skillset at CDC developing trace analysis methods from volatile organic chemicals in human clinical samples.

TEACHER

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1988 - Present

In 1988 Dr. Kobelski joined HP’s Analytical Education Center where he was responsible for the development and delivery of customer education courses.  He split his primary responsibilities between GC and MSD training and, working with Prof. Jack Henion, developed expertise in the interpretation of mass spectra, an expertise which lead to the development of one-day and multi-day training course.  He also developed a task focused “Techniques of GC-MS” in 1989 which he updated in 2000.  After leaving HP he continued with his technical training activities developing and delivering courses for: CDC’s Laboratory Response Network, the Minnesota Chromatography Forum, Mass Spectrometry Applications to the Clinical Laboratory, and his local American Chemical Society section.