What’s happening on Day 2 of ASMS?
Celebrating women in mass spec with Jenny Brodbelt, Susan Richardson, and FeMS
Markella Loi | | 4 min read
What you won’t want to miss today is the John B. Fenn Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry Award lecture. The award was established to honor the 2002 Nobel Prize winner, John B. Fenn – for this work on the development of electrospray ionization. This year’s recipient is Jennifer Brodbelt, Rowland Pettit Centennial Chair in Chemistry and Larry R. Faulkner Departmental Chair for Excellence in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. What led her to this moment was the development and applications of UltraViolet PhotoDissociation (UVPD) as a powerful ion fragmentation tool for analysis of various biomolecules.
“As soon as my first mass spectrometer arrived and was unpacked in the lab, I knew I would enjoy my first years as an assistant professor. But the real clincher was when a couple of brand-new grad students joined the lab and I witnessed first-hand how ideas can propagate and veer off in new directions,” she revealed in an interview in 2023.
The prizes don’t stop here though… Iain D. G. Campuzano, Russell P. Grant, and Melvin Park will also be honored with the Al Yergey MS Scientist Awards as the “unsung heroes” contributing to mass spectrometry.
Life's full of tough choices, isn’t it? And with the ASMS agenda full as usual, choosing which talks to attend can be tricky. So, if you are still unsure, check out our picks for today and tomorrow below!
See you at the show!
Today’s Must See
8:30–10:30 pm (Room 210ABC /Level 2): Metabolomics: Untargeted Profiling (Chaired by Jessica Prenni)
“Mass spectrometry is indispensable for the high-throughput and high-resolution analysis of metabolites,” said Gary Siuzdak in a recent article. “This technique allows us to quantitatively analyze the chemical composition of biological samples with an extraordinary level of detail,” So you definitely don’t want to miss this session. Jessica Prenni welcomes experts from the field of metabolomics to share their latest research – including Haoqi Zhao’s 3D molecular cartography of the International Space Station.
3:10–3:30 pm (Room 207ABC/ Level 2): Rapid high-throughput screening of prohibited substances by coated blade spray-mass spectrometry for doping control (Wei Zhou)
“Mass spectrometry is used at the Olympics to find out if people are doping, and to fight counterfeiting in cosmetics, food, pharma, and even money [...] Once you have the foundations, you can apply mass spectrometry to so many different areas,” noted Ben Garcia recently.
The countdown to the 2024 Summer Olympics has begun and I’m sure there will be a scandal or two – highlighting the need for effective anti-doping analytical methods. Here, Wei Zhou introduces a rapid screening of prohibited small molecular substances by direct coupling of SPME and MS.
3:50–4:10 pm (Room 304CD/ Level 3): Guarding drinking water safety against harmful algal blooms: Could UV/Cl2 treatment be the answer? (Susan Richardson)
Back in 2019, Susan Richardson, Arthur Sease Williams Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, USA, wrote a feature for The Analytical Scientist discussing her work on disinfection by-products (DBPs) – and the threat they pose to our health, wildlife, and environment. And earlier this year, she explained why her recent DBP discoveries are (even more) cause for concern.
Today, Susan is presenting her recent work on harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their toxins – another emerging water-borne danger.
Tomorrow’s Planner
9:30–9:50 am (Room 210ABC/Level 2): Multi-Site Reproducibility Trial of MALDI-IHC Multiplexed Targeted Protein Imaging using a 33-Organ Tissue Microarray (Amanda B. Hummon)
2:30–2:50 pm (Room 304AB /Level 3): Celebrating Jack Beauchamp’s Career upon the Advent of his Retirement (Nathan Dalleska)
3:50–4:10 pm (Room 304CD/ Level 3): A Limited Sample Deep Learning Model for LC-MS to Authenticate Consumer Products (Lalin Theverapperuma)
1:00–2:30 pm (Hall D/ Poster-Exhibit Hall): Networking Session: Hispanics and Latinx in MS (Ben Garcia, Livia Eberlin, Facundo Fernandez)
Thought of the Day
“Our main aim with Females in Mass Spec (FeMS) – a community-led initiative to create a network of support for women in the field of mass spectrometry – was to create a truly useful resource. Organized loosely via a website, a monthly newsletter, and a LinkedIn group, we have grown into a buzzing international initiative – a network of close to 2,000 members, spanning academia, hospitals, governmental agencies, and industry. And I am very pleased to report that 10–20 percent of our members are men. At events, I sometimes joke, “Look around you. This is how us women typically feel!” It’s fun to flip the perspective, creating awareness and sensibility for shifted group dynamics. We all benefit from hearing different voices – trying to understand different perspectives and challenges, whether they are gender-specific or not.” – Anne Bendt
FeMS’ networking session “Networking for Scientists: Celebrating Women Mass Spectrometrists is taking place today from 1–2:30 pm (Hall D/ Lobby Level)
Aprés-Sci
To save you some time and effort from searching… Yes, there is more to Anaheim than just a Disneyland resort!
If you are a sports fan like me – or if you just want to immerse yourself in American culture, you should check out the Angel Stadium of Anaheim! Only a nine minute drive away, you can find yourself watching the Los Angeles Angels playing against the San Diego Padres in the much-anticipated derby. Grab your baseball cap, a hotdog, perhaps a local beer, and enjoy the game!
Associate Editor, The Analytical Scientist
