Birgit Schilling is the Director of the Mass Spectrometry Core and a Professor at The Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Dr. Schilling studied Chemistry at the University of Hamburg and received her Doctorate (PhD) from the University of Clausthal, Germany. Dr. Schilling obtained additional research training as a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, and joined the Buck Institute in 2000. She is also Adjunct Professor at University of Southern California and is teaching at the Buck Institute as part of the joined Buck Institute/USC PhD program.

Dr. Schilling and the Mass Spectrometry Core provide expertise in mass spectrometry to efficiently analyze biological samples, for example to determine changes in protein expression or protein modifications as a result of a disease or other biological conditions. Collaborative research projects investigated at the Mass Spectrometry Core comprise projects related to neurodegenerative diseases, aging, cancer, muscle atrophy, protein posttranslational modifications, mitochondrial damage, biomarker research, and many other scientific areas. Specific areas of interest are a sarcopenia project deciphering underlying causes and biological pathways of muscle atrophy, as well as the role of sirtuins on posttranslational modifications of proteins.