I would like to acknowledge Christopher Johnson, Thomas Leiker, and Charis Uhlson for the many original tandem mass spectra of lipids in this monograph. Their skill and dedication is gratefully appreciated. The tandem quadrupole mass spectrometers employed to generate these tandem mass spectra were AB Sciex API 3200, 4000, and 5500 instruments. The high resolution tandem mass spectra were recorded on a quadrupole time-of-flight instrument, Waters G2S. Many lipid samples were kindly provided by Walter Shaw at Avanti Polar Lipids and eicosanoids by Kirk Maxey at Cayman Chemical Company. The critical review of various chapters by Robert Barkley, Joseph Hankin, Miguel Gijón, Karin Zemski Berry, and Simona Zarini were exceedingly helpful and their professional insight into biochemical mass spectrometry is reflected in this book. Deborah Beckworth, who has been my assistant for over 25 years, endured my dictations and produced the first written draft of the entire book. Her considerable skills make this monograph possible and I thank her for her loyalty and hard work.

Over the course of forty years as a faculty member of the University of Colorado, my research into lipid biochemistry has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, which made possible the acquisition of mass spectrometers and research into the ion chemistry of various lipids. These grants included R01-HL25785-35, P01-HL34303–30, R01-ES022172, and most importantly U54-GM069339-10. I would like to thank Dr. Jean Chin, Program Director at NIH General Medical Science Division for her support, guidance and friendship as the LipidMaps grant administrator.