Mass spec is everywhere – not just ASMS!

“I’m a mass spectrometrist at heart. So I’m driven by a (perhaps naïve) view that MS can answer all sorts of questions in biology. I’m constantly asking, what’s the next big question we can answer with MS? Is there a question we never even thought about answering with MS?” – Albert Heck.

The MS enthusiast is not wrong! Take a look at today’s program and you will see that mass spec is indeed everywhere. Trying to advance synthetic polymers? Safeguard our food and water? Create a new fragrance? Analyze artifacts? You can do it all with mass spec. 

So, if that’s what you’re looking for, my recommendation for the day would be the poster exhibition – you can get a better grasp of all the different MS applications and also give a chance to all the early career scientists to share their passion for research. 

If you are looking for something more clinically oriented, you can attend Heck’s presentation “Hybrid mass spectrometric approaches on Orbitrap and timsTOF platforms aimed at deciphering human antibody repertoires” today at 9:30 am in ballroom AB (Level 3). 

And if you’re still indecisive, check out our suggestions below. 

See you at the show!

Today’s Must See

8:30–10:30 am (Room 210ABC/Level 2): Clinical Analysis: Innovations (Chaired by Kara Lynch)
 

No other technique prevails in the clinic quite like mass spec. In this session, chaired by Kara Lynch, experts working on innovative applications of MS for clinical diagnostics present their work – from rheumatoid arthritis proteoforms to the latest adaptation of Livia Eberlin’s MasSpec Pen for minimal invasive mouth cancer screening. 

2:30–2:50 pm (Room 304AB /Level 3): Celebrating Jack Beauchamp’s Career upon the Advent of his Retirement (Nathan Dalleska)
 

Nathan Dalleska’s opening presentation to the session on “Fundamentals: Ion Structures, Energetics, and Reactions,” is the swan song to Jack Beauchamp’s career. Before the mass spectrometrist hangs up his white coat, the community remembers all his contributions to the field. 

4:45–5:30 pm (Hall C/ Lobby Level): Biemann Medal Lecture + Research Awards Presentation 
 

“The Biemann Medal was a wonderful surprise – I probably incoherently babbled to Julia Laskin, the current ASMS President, for a while when she told me last year! Recognition through awards like this is always extremely gratifying, but I really feel like a spokesperson for the researchers in my lab and the broader mass spec community, who, in my view, are the real reason our work gets any recognition at all. It’s been an absolute pleasure to see how this dynamic and exciting field has developed over the past 20 years, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!” – Brandon Ruotolo, 2023 Biemann Medal winner.

Fast forward to this afternoon where Gary J. Patti, Michael and Tana Powell Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St Louis, will receive the 2024 ASMS Biemann Medal for his pioneering work in the field of metabolomics.

Tomorrow’s Planner

8:30–10:30 pm (Room 303ABCD /Level 3): Fundamentals: Native MS and Structures of Large Ions

1–2:30 pm (Hall D/ Poster-Exhibit Hall): Networking Session: SAMs (South Asians in Mass Spec)

2:30–3:30 pm (Room 303ABCD /Level 3): Ion Mobility: Instrumentation & Method Development (Honoring Dick Smith)

4:45–5:30 pm  (Hall C/ Lobby Level): ASMS Meeting – Presentation of the ASMS Postdoc Career Development Awards and the JASMS Ron Hites Award

Aprés-Sci

If the morning session on “Food Safety & Chemistry: Foodomics, Allergens, Bacteria, Foods, and Supplements” did not scare you and you have managed to retain a large appetite, I have just the right place for you. The Anaheim Packing District – what once housed an orange processing plant – has now turned into a food hall with flavors from all over the world. (It’s also worth visiting if you’ve simply worked up a thirst…)