We’re starting strong with Alexander Makarov on the latest in LC-MS – a must-see from one of mass spec’s biggest names. Then, Tivadar Farkas, this year’s Uwe D. Neue Award winner, shares insights from a career in industrial separation science.
Later, Steven Ray Wilson returns to the topic of organ-on-a-chip systems, and Jennifer Van Eyk closes the day with a look at HPLC’s role in the proteomics-driven future of precision medicine.
Read on for today’s highlights, tomorrow’s picks, and a suggested scenic canal ride.
Today’s Must See
08:30-08:55 (Auditorium A+B, Level 1) – Frontiers of High-Resolution Accurate Mass Analysis for LC/MS (Alexander Makarov)
Tuesday starts strong with a talk from mass-spec legend and Orbitrap pioneer, Alexander Makarov. When we asked Makarov in 2023 about the most important developments in mass spectrometry over the past decade, he cited “large improvements in liquid chromatography.” So, two years later, we’re looking forward to seeing what he has to say about the current frontiers in LC-MS analysis.
08:55-09:15 (The View, Level 4) – Chiral Stationary Phases Based on Polysaccharide Derivatives and Superficially Porous Silica – Present and Future (Tivadar Farkas)
From there, it’s a quick hop over to The View for Tivadar Farkas’s talk on chiral stationary phases. Farkas the 2025 Uwe D. Neue Award winner, and in an article published today, he reflects upon the key lessons learned across a career spanning three decades in separation science.
“Comparing industry to academia, it’s fair to say both worlds have their own share of challenges. Scientists in industry work exclusively on unmet needs, with limited bandwidth to work on ‘pet projects,’” he says. “Furthermore, we’re restricted to the pursuit of specific innovations that are essential to progress or commercial success; there’s no option to walk away from a project if it seems too difficult. On top of all this, limited dialogue with industry peers or academia makes industrial research quite a challenging task.”
11:10-11:30 (Foyer, Level 3) – Fewer animals, Less Waste: Automated Analysis of Organoids and Organ-on-a-Chip Systems (Steven Ray Wilson)
In 2021, our April cover feature, Of Mice and Monkeys, explored the analytical advances and new technologies paving the way to reduce – maybe even one day eliminate – our reliance on living creatures for research and development.
“The advent of organ-on-a-chip technologies shows great promise,” said Steven Ray Wilson. “These systems can be very representative of human functionality and they can be automated with high throughput and precision. They certainly represent a very attractive alternative to animals, but I don’t think that we can completely replace them just yet.” We’ll be checking out Wilson’s talk to find out how things have progressed over the past half-decade.
17:00 (Auditorium A+B, Level 1) – HPLC: A Critical Component of Proteomics in Precision Medicine (Jennifer Van Eyk)
The most recent print issue of The Analytical Scientist explored what proteomics-powered precision medicine might look like in 2050 – bringing together four leading experts: Ying Ge, Neil Kelleher, Lingjun Li, and Mike Snyder. We also spoke with Van Eyk about this very topic as part of an interview set to go live in the near future (watch this space). Here’s a sneak preview:
“Even among cells that are supposedly the same type, say cardiomyocytes, not every cell responds the same way to a given drug. Whether this is replicated in vivo is still to be seen, but it could explain some of the variability in therapeutic responses. For instance, a drug might be working well for a patient overall, but perhaps it’s only effective for half of the target cells, while the other half are in a non-responsive state. This variability is something we’ll need to address, especially for major, prevalent diseases.”
Tomorrow’s Planner
08:30-10:15 (The View, Level 4): Industry Stories 1 (Chaired by Amanda Guiraldelli and Stefan Lamotte)
14:40 (Foyer, Level 3): 3D Printed Microfluidic Chromatography Systems (Adam Woolley)
16:30 (Auditorium A): Analysis of Diastereomers of Oligonucleotides: Strategies and Technologies (Kelly Zhang)
17:15 (The View, Level 4): Modern Chromatography for Non-Target Screening and (statistical) Data Handling Concepts (Thomas Letzel)
Thought of the Day
“Yes, industrial scientists are often overshadowed by academia – and for the wrong reasons too. I personally have experienced occasions of neglect. The most distressing of these were instances when our company developed excellent new products, which were then handed over to third parties. These parties then got to present and publish our products, and our achievements, and receive praise as if they were theirs. Simultaneously, when presented by the inventing team the same information was often received mildly, or with reservations. I found this unfair and the reservations unjustified.” – Tivadar Farkas
Aprés-Sci
Evening canal tours? Yes, please. Bruges glows at twilight, and there’s nothing quite like floating past fairy-tale buildings while the city winds down. Bonus: No need to fight crowds – the ducks are very respectful.
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