Alexander Makarov was born in a Siberian town of Irkutsk in 1966 and went to study in Moscow Engineering Physics institute where he also obtained his PhD. After 2 post-doc years at Warwick University, he joined a small high-tech company HD Technologies in Manchester (UK) and started his work on the Orbitrap mass analyser.

Following the acquisition of the firm by Thermo Electron Corp. in 2000, Alexander provided scientific leadership of the Orbitrap research and development. Thousands of high resolution mass spectrometers of four families operating worldwide since 2005 enabled major advances in multiple fields such as elucidation of protein pathways of major diseases, complex post-translational modifications, the first draft of human proteome (2014) as well as trace and targeted analysis in biopharmaceutical, metabolomics, environmental, food, safety applications.

He has received multiple awards, including Award for Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry of American Society for Mass Spectrometry, Thomson medal of International Mass Spectrometry Foundation, Science and Technology Award of Human Proteome Organization. His hobbies include travelling, mountain skiing and rollerblading.