Congratulations to Lauren Fields, a postdoctoral fellow in the MacCoss Lab, who has been selected as a 2026 Schmidt Science Fellow! The Schmidt Science Fellowship is a highly competitive program that supports the next generation of science leaders working on the world’s most pressing problems. Fellows are chosen for their potential to make a significant impact through interdisciplinary research.

As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Lauren will use advanced mass spectrometry and protein analysis of clinical blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples to search for earlier diagnostic markers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This work could pave the way for earlier intervention and the development of therapeutics that alter the trajectory of the disease.

Lauren earned her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December 2025, where she worked with Professor Lingjun Li on neuropeptide detection strategies using mass spectrometry. As a Schmidt Science Fellow, she will pivot from analytical chemistry into proteomics and genomics, bringing her expertise in mass spectrometry to bear on one of the most challenging problems in neurodegenerative disease research.

Read more about Lauren’s work in the UW-Madison Graduate School press release and learn about the full 2026 cohort of Schmidt Science Fellows.