Beyond the Champions League

In the December 2014 issue of The Analytical Scientist, Peter Schoenmakers described analytical chemistry as the Champions League of measurement science. He wrote that an analytical technique cannot enter the League unless the team brings together fundamental researchers, application specialists and instrumentation experts. He also wrote that analytical meetings can only act as showcases for the Champions League when the balance in the room between each specialism is right. I wholeheartedly agree but perhaps couldn’t have put it quite as nicely as Peter.

Speaking as a player from the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, I’d like to take it a step further by including a fourth pillar: regulatory experts. Although we all love analytical science, our techniques are never the aim, rather they are the tools to help us achieve our goals. If we do not recognize what is required of these tools, we cannot develop them in the right direction or score the goals that ultimately win the game.

I believe that good teamwork is needed to attain our analytical goals, so I volunteer for CASSS, a non-profit global scientific community. CASSS strives not only to organize scientific meetings, but also to bring the right people (a diverse team) together in the right way (a culture of engagement) at the right time (up-to-date and scientifically relevant content). With that in mind, we have organized a new event called “Analytical Technologies Europe 2015”. At the symposium, we want to learn about the latest developments and to connect directly to the pulse of the biopharmaceutical industry.

More specifically, we want to gain an in-depth understanding of what our peers are doing and what they need. The meeting will also give us opportunity to interact with each other to create new ideas and to help solve issues. We use the dynamic and interactive “CASSS-format” that you may recognize from our other meetings. It includes round-table discussions, a panel discussion after each session to address each other’s issues and questions, and workshops on practical solutions to specific problems. Such interactions also give you the opportunity to influence next year’s program.

So, come to the new game in town and join our team, whether you are an academic, industrial scientist, regulator, vendor or beyond. Together we can solve real issues in a scientific and pragmatic way, with the ultimate goal of bringing the right medicines to patients who need them more quickly, safely and at lower cost.

Analytical Technologies Europe 2015 takes place March 17–20 in Berlin, Germany. For more information, see www.casss.org/?ATE1500.