A/Prof Ralf Schittenhelm studied Biochemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and completed his PhD in 2009 from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He joined the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) – and later Monash University – to study cell cycle progression, signaling transduction networks and various autoimmune diseases using high-resolution mass spectrometry for which he was awarded several Swiss National Foundation (SNF) fellowships. In 2016, he was appointed as Director of the Monash Proteomics & Metabolomics Facility (MPMF) to provide state-of-the-art mass spectrometric expertise to researchers and the broader community.