Benjamin Blakley, Ph.D.

Analytical Chemistry

Postdoctoral Fellow

Hometown

Scott County, Tennessee

Education

Ph.D. in Chemistry, Vanderbilt University (2026)

Advisor: John A. McLean

B.S. in Chemistry, Carson-Newman University (2021)

Advisor: Christine N. Dalton

Contact

LinkedIn

b.blakley@ufl.edu

Ben grew up in Scott County, Tennessee and completed his B.S. in chemistry at Carson-Newman University in 2021, where he conducted undergraduate research with Dr. Christine Dalton investigating phthalate leaching from plastic food containers using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. He continued his mass spectrometry studies at Vanderbilt University, earning his Ph.D. under Dr. John A. McLean in 2026, where he developed ion mobility spectrometry-based methods for chiral drug separations. Ben joined the Prentice group in 2026.

Awards

• 2025: Honorable Mention—ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Fellowship
• 2024 Graduate Student Research Award, Eastern Analytical Symposium
• 2024: Outstanding Vanderbilt Chemistry Teaching Assistant
• 2023: Honorable Mention—NSF GRFP
• 2021: Outstanding Graduate—Carson-Newman Department of Chemistry

Publications

1. May, J.C.; Zlibut, E.; Blakley, B.K.; Wood, C.S.; Wei, Y.; Showalter, B.; Dybeck, E.; Remish, E.R.; Guidolin, V; Bernat, B.A.; McLean, J.A.* Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Strategies to Elucidate the Anhydrous Structure of Noncovalent Guest:Host Complexes. Anal. Chem. 2024. 96 (30), 12453-12462. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c02056
2. Blakley, B.K.; Zlibut, E.; Gupta, R.M.; May, J.C.; McLean, J.A.* Direct Enantiomer Differentiation of Drug and Drug-like Compounds via Noncovalent Copper-Amino Acid Complexation and Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 2024. 96 (31), 12892-12900. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c02710. (Selected for supplemental cover.)
3. Shepard, H.S.; Zlibut, E.; May, J.C.; Blakley, B.K.; McLean, J.A.* Structural Characterization of Cyclodextrin and Maltodextrin Alkali-Metal Coordination via Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry and Computational Modeling. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2025. 27, 19006-19015. DOI: 10.1039/D5CP01748C