Impact 150 — Kingston Has Donated $1.8 Million Gift in Kind to IUP
Howard M. “Skip” Kingston
Howard M. “Skip” Kingston, a scholar in residence at Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, IUP, and the IUP Research Institute has won a 2025 R&D 100 Award for a breakthrough that has the potential to advance precision medicine and rural healthcare.
The award is for “Thor’s Hammer,” an innovation developed by Kingston and Applied Isotope Technology; IUP and the IUP Research Institute are co-developers of the project. The IUP Research Institute is an independent, IUP-affiliated entity dedicated to advancing IUP’s research agenda and educational objectives, serving as fiscal and administrative agent for sponsored research and other externally funded projects conducted by the faculty and staff of IUP.
This is Kingston’s fourth R&D 100 Award.
Kingston came to IUP after a distinguished 32-year tenure at Duquesne University. He earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry at IUP (1973 and 1975, respectively) before completing a PhD at American University.
He has gifted state-of-the-art equipment valued at more than $1.8 million to IUP, including the university’s first inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), which allows isotope analyses. This equipment is part of the Kingston Laboratory in IUP’s John J. and Char Kopchick Hall, which is used by faculty and by students for a variety of courses and research projects.
“Providing a gift of state-of-the-art equipment to IUP for use by students and faculty just made sense as a way to give back to the institution that started me on my path to becoming a scientist and teacher,” Kingston said. “I’m very glad to have been able to provide this equipment to IUP, and very honored to have the Kingston Laboratory in Kopchick Hall. It’s my intention that it be a resource for IUP faculty and a place for students to explore their passion for science and research for many years to come,” he said.
The R&D 100 awards program, in its sixty-third year, is sponsored by R&D World and includes entries from all over the world. The panel of judges evaluates submissions based on their novelty, impact, and practical applications in fields including materials science, biotechnology, energy, and others.
“This R&D 100 recognition underscores IUP’s growing role in advancing high-impact research and innovation, including developing industry partnerships that address global scientific and healthcare challenges as part of our commitment to addressing the rural healthcare crisis,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“Dr. Kingston’s gifts of state-of-the-art equipment to IUP and his ongoing work involving our faculty and students provide unique opportunities for teaching and learning. As a scholar in residence, Dr. Kingston offers decades of scientific experience and leadership to our students. He has a true commitment to supporting the next generation of scientists who will make a difference. We are very grateful for his lifetime of commitment to IUP and to science, particularly science that advances health and wellness,” President Driscoll said.
Thor’s Hammer delivers up to a 100-fold increase in sensitivity across all mass spectrometers and makes quantitative dried blood cards a practical alternative to traditional blood draws, according to Kingston.
“Winning the R&D 100 Award means your product is recognized as one of the 100 most technologically significant and innovative products and advancements introduced to the marketplace in the past year,” Kingston said. “It’s an incredible honor, and I am very proud to have Thor’s Hammer selected for the award this year and to have proven the technology at IUP. This has been a team effort, and we will publish the findings in collaboration with IUP,” he said.
“Thor’s Hammer has taken a transformative step for both science and medicine,” Kingston said. “Thor’s Hammer shows how academic research, industry partnerships, and innovation can come together to improve global healthcare.”
“I am so happy IUP is going to be credited in the 2025 awards recognition, as IUP is ultimately responsible for all of my R&D 100 Awards,” he said. “All of my inventions are because of the education that I got at IUP, with faculty who inspired me, helped me grow up, enabled me to really learn the fundamentals of science, supported my endless questions, and fed my curiosity.
“The attributes in the R&D100 awards criteria for 2025 are meant to answer the challenges of life science and medicine for the future, a way to achieve better rural medicine care,” Kingston said.
“I believe that patient measurements and advanced assessments are some of the critical data elements missing at present that are needed to achieve better medicine,” he said. “Thor’s Hammer solves the sensitivity challenges of dried blood spot testing, which opens the door to improved disease monitoring, earlier detection, and broader access to patient care.”
Thor’s Hammer operates using a patented technique based on a novel “molecular amplification stable isotopic spike,” Kingston said. “Thor’s Hammer stands apart by enhancing, rather than competing with, existing mass spectrometry platforms—regardless of type or manufacturer. Unlike other technologies that require proprietary instruments or workflows, Thor’s Hammer integrates seamlessly with any mass spectrometer to dramatically improve sensitivity, accuracy, and precision.
“Unlike incremental improvements typically seen in the field, it delivers a dramatic leap in sensitivity, accuracy, and precision—key performance goals for all mass spectrometry developers and users,” Kingston said.
“Compatible with any mass spectrometer, regardless of type or manufacturer, Thor’s Hammer is simple to implement, robust in execution, and grounded in a patented, scientifically validated methodology. It achieves these results at low cost and without the need for additional equipment. This enhanced detection capability opens new opportunities in early disease diagnostics, precision medicine through companion diagnostics, and improved clinical decision-making.”
As part of his contributions as a volunteer scholar in residence, Kingston actively collaborates with faculty to develop practical lab projects, such as student-driven blood sample analyses, which were part of chemistry faculty member Nate McElroy’s spring Advanced Chemistry Lab.
Not only did this project enrich the learning experience, providing students with the skills needed for research and industry careers, but it was also part of the proof of technology for Thor’s Hammer.
“We are grateful and excited to have Dr. Kingston and his team working with us in the department,” McElroy said. “The state-of-the-art equipment and award-winning analytical methods here now at IUP provide our students and faculty with learning and research opportunities that are usually limited to elite research schools or institutes. Our undergrads will gain unique and invaluable experiences in the classroom and the research labs.”
Kingston’s research extends into exposomics, identifying environmental factors linked to diseases such as cancer and autism. His analytical techniques are reshaping how toxins and biomarkers are detected, with applications in fields ranging from food safety to neurodevelopmental research.
In addition to his work developing Thor’s Hammer, Kingston and his collaborators are working on methods that will allow anyone to have their blood analyzed for POPs and heavy metals, regardless of their location or access to healthcare.
Kingston’s previous work includes five years working with the surgeon general of the US Air Force’s “Green’s Futures” project, helping to predict military medicine for the year 2045. “That work gave me a perspective on the future of medicine technology, needs, and challenges,” Kingston said.
“Being chosen for one R&D 100 Award is an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime honor,” Dean of IUP’s John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Steve Hovan said. “To be selected by international scientists for four of these global awards is unheard of in the scientific community.
“The R&D 100 Award is one of the most prestigious global recognitions for technological innovation and solidifies Dr. Kingston’s legacy as a pioneer in analytical chemistry; his work has shaped the field over four decades,” Hovan said.
“IUP is incredibly fortunate to have a scientist of Dr. Kingston’s caliber and experience, who has chosen his alma mater as the beneficiary of his lifetime commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and entrepreneurship.
“Even before Thor’s Hammer, Dr. Kingston was known globally for his research, but also for his commitment to the next generation of scientists as a professor and mentor,” he said. “We are grateful for his ongoing support for IUP and the impact he has made, and will make, in the lives of our students, and for his collaboration with his faculty colleagues in the Kopchick College,” Hovan said.
Kingston received his previous R&D 100 Awards in 1996, for the development of a specialized isotope dilution mass spectrometry; in 1989, for development of the chelation ion chromatography system, his PhD dissertation invention, resulting in two patents; and in 1987, for development of the microwave dissolution system, and the subject of his two American Chemical Society professional books on the use and application of this new technology.
These projects, and his ongoing work, have advanced methods now used by agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, and NATO for definitive environmental and security analysis, and over the years, he has authored about 200 peer-reviewed publications demonstrating and applying these technologies.
More About Howard M. “Skip” Kingston
While at Duquesne University, Kingston founded the Center of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry and was codirector of the Center of Excellence; he was founder and director of the Center for Microwave and Analytical Chemistry and was founder of the Environmental Science and Management Program. He was professor of analytical chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Environmental Science and Management Program at Duquesne University from 1991 to 2023.
In addition to his work as scholar in residence at IUP, he is the chief technical officer for Lead Quanta Pro, a spin-off company based in Applied Isotope Technologies and QPro patents in Indiana and in Sunnyvale, Calif. He is also the CTO and technical advisor to AIT, the first spin-off company from Duquesne University, based on faculty patents in Pittsburgh and Sunnyvale, California.
He is also the chair of the Science Advisory Board of AIT. He remains active in homeland defense of fugitive agent detection and works with the Canadian Chemical Society and Ministry of the Environment Canada, and the American Chemical Society. He also works on national atomic energy applications with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Los Alamos; National Academy of Sciences; Homeland Defense Department of Defense White House Homeland Security Office; and the Environmental Protection Agency Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Working Groups Methods Program. He works with Milestone Inc. and s.l.r. Italy, working with microwave-enhanced chemistry research contracts.
He has worked as a dissertation advisor or on the dissertation committee for many doctoral students and worked with more than 30 master’s degree students completing their studies. He has also been a volunteer mentor for students in IUP’s Undergraduate Summer Opportunities for Applying Research (U-SOAR). He has hundreds of publications, professional presentations, and lectures to his credit.
While at Duquesne University, he was responsible for generating $25 million in grants, contracts, and gifts, and has generated a cumulative total of more than $70 million from Kingston Intellectual Property over 32 years. He completed a $1.4-million study of children with autism and invented, patented, and developed US Environmental Protection Agency methods.
He has some 50 patents filed, published, or issued worldwide, and many national and international standards and standard methods to his credit.
He developed two professional reference texts for the American Chemical Society on the subject of microwave-enhanced chemistry, sample preparation, and microwave analytical chemistry. These textbooks have been translated into Russian and Chinese.
He served as a Congressional Science Fellow from 1984 to 1985, working to pass the Radon Law. He has also worked on classified projects for the State Attorney General’s Office. He is a veteran of the Vietnam Conflict.
About the Team
Jeremiah Jamrom is the laboratory director of the Kingston Research Lab. He received his doctorate from Duquesne University under the tutelage of Kingston with a focus on isotope dilution mass spectrometry and isotope-enabled quantification.
In his research, he quantified small, organic molecules utilizing triple quadrupole and time of flight mass spectrometers, as well as metals using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. During that time, he focused on accurate quantitation at or below previously established limits of quantification, which were established using calibration curves.
At the IUP Kingston Laboratory, he has worked on detecting and quantifying toxins in blood and river water using a gas chromatography mass spectrometer for organic toxicants and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer for inorganic toxins. He also analyzed 40 volunteers from the Stanford University Blood Bank for inorganic and organic analytes. His results on quantitative dried blood cards and Thor’s Hammer detection enhancement methods were reduced to practice at IUP.
David Iwig is a senior scientist with the IUP Research Institute, bringing extensive experience in biochemistry, mass spectrometry, and technology development. He earned his BS in chemistry from UC Irvine and a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Penn State University, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois, where he advanced high-resolution mass spectrometry methods for protein characterization and natural product discovery.
Iwig has held roles spanning academia and industry, including bioanalytical research supporting ADME-PK studies in drug development, technology commercialization at Alcoa, and senior scientific research at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where he specialized in native protein mass spectrometry, proteomics, metabolomics, and enzyme kinetics. He is passionate about tackling complex scientific challenges through innovative analytical approaches.
Matt Pamukcu, a former scientist turned businessman, is the co-inventor of the technology of Thor’s Hammer patent and has collaborated with Kingston for more than a decade, developing the foundational technologies and the associated patents for AIT, which he cofounded with Kingston. Realizing the size, scope, and needs in healthcare, Pamukcu and Kingston recently formed a spin-off business venture called QuantaPro. Before his partnership with Kingston, Pamukcu was a part of several successful bioscience startups at leadership positions. In his last academic position, Pamukcu formed and ran a core facility for molecular research at Harvard Medical School. “I am very proud of my association with Dr. Kingston and the R&D 100 Award for Thor’s Hammer,” he said.