Translating Pre-Clinical Research to Clinical Patient Care™
MSACL 2016 USPalm Springs: Feb 21-25 |
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Short Courses
MSACL hosts a diverse offering of Short Courses. These will be posted soon following instructor confirmation.
Short Courses cover 1 to 2 days, depending on the course, for the first two days of MSACL (Sunday February 21 and Monday February 22).
- Courses will be staggered in groups (not yet assigned) over the period from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
- Group A: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
- Group B: 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
- Group C: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
- Two day courses are NOT the same courses replicated on two separate days. They are single courses that span two days.
Clinical MS Review |
A Comprehensive Review of Clinical Mass Spectrometry Technology & Techniques, including Miniaturization
Jack Henion, PhD
Level: 2-3 (Intermediate - Advanced)
Length: 2 Days (Sunday - Monday)
Data Science |
Breaking up with Excel: A Newbie's Introduction to the R Statistical Programming Language
Daniel Holmes, MD & Stephen Master, MD PhD (TA: Shannon Haymond, PhD)
Level: 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate)
Length: 2 Days (Sunday - Monday)
General Interest |
How to Maximize Your Influence Through Creating Compelling Presentations
Karen Mahooti, MBA
Level: 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate)
Length: 1 Day (Sunday)
LC-MS |
Intro to Clinical MS Method Development
Robert Kobelski, PhD
Level: 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate)
Length: 2 Days (Sunday - Monday)
Getting Started with Quantitative LC-MS/MS in the Diagnostic Laboratory
Judy Stone, PhD, Lorin Bachmann, PhD & Grace Van Der Gugten
Level: 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate)
Length: 2 days (Sunday - Monday)
Understanding and Optimization of LC-MS/MS to Develop Successful Methods for Identification and Quantitation in Complex Matrices
Robert D. Voyksner, PhD
Level: 2 (Intermediate)
Length: 2 Days (Sunday - Monday)
Practical LC-MS Maintenance and Troubleshooting
J. Will Thompson, PhD, Erik J. Soderblom, PhD & Chris Shuford, PhD
Level: 2 (Intermediate)
Length: two days (Sunday - Monday)
Development and Validation of Quantitative LC-MS/MS Assays for Use in Clinical Diagnostics
Russell Grant, PhD & Brian Rappold
Level: 3 (Advanced)
Length: 2 Days (Sunday - Monday)
MALDI |
Practical Considerations for MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry
Michelle Reyzer, PhD
Level: 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate)
Length: 2 Days (Sunday - Monday)
Quantitative MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry for Clinical Applications
Marvin Vestal, PhD,
Mark Duncan PhD,
Ken Parker, PhD &
Steve Hattan, PhD
Level: 2 (Intermediate)
Length: 2 Day (Sunday - Monday)
Metabolomics |
Metabolomics
Gary Patti, PhD
Level: 3 (Advanced)
Length: 1 Day (Monday)
Proteomics |
Introduction to Quantitative Proteomics
Mike MacCoss, PhD & Michael Bereman, PhD
Level: 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate)
Length: 1 Day (Sunday)
Clinical Proteomics
Andy Hoofnagle, MD, PhD & Cory Bystrom, PhD
Level: 2-3 (Intermediate - Advanced)
Length: 1 Day (Monday)
Sample Preparation |
Practical Introduction to Sample Preparation for Clinical LC/MS/MS
Hesham Ghobarah
Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Length: 1 Day (Monday)
Toxicology |
General Toxicology
Jeffery Moran, PhD
Level: 1 (Beginner)
Length: 1 Day (Monday)
A Comprehensive Review of Clinical Mass Spectrometry Technology & Techniques, including Miniaturization
| Instructor(s): | Jack Henion, PhD |
| Level: | 2-3 (Intermediate - Advanced) |
| Length: | 2 Days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: Students who sign up for this advanced course should either have five years or more of personal LC/MS/MS experience and familiarity with the scientific literature or have taken one or more introductory courses which cover atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques as well as the basics involved in routine LC/MS and LC/MS/MS analyses.
Overview: This two-day course presents a comprehensive overview of technology and techniques of analytical mass spectrometry and from that foundation extends into exciting recent developments.
- Sample preparation
- Topics: Types of extraction, Objectives of extraction, Prefractionation techniques, Sample types, Issues to consider, Protein precipitation, Liquid-solid extraction, Liquid-liquid extraction, Solid-phase extraction, 96-well format SPE, Mixed mode SPE, On-line SPE, Automation, Micro SPE (pipette tip-based), Ultrafiltration, Affinity techniques, Electrophoretic extraction, Quechers, SISCAPA, Dried blood spots (DBS)
- Advanced separation techniques
- Topics: HPLC, HILIC, Porous Graphite Carbon, UPLC NanoHPLC, Capillary Electrophoresis (CE), Differential Mobility Spectrometry (DMS)
- Ionization techniques for MS
- Topics: Electrospray ionization (ESI), Nano ESI, Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), Atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI), LAESI, Direct analysis in real time (DART), Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI), Atmospheric sampling analysis probe (ASAP)
- To Discuss: New ionization techniques which may be used with or without on-line separation science technology such as HPLC, UPLC or capillary electrophoresis (CE). This area has evolved into ambient ionization techniques such as DESI, DART, ASAP, etc. -- examples and comparisons of the potential and pitfalls associated with these techniques will be explored.
- Mass Analyzers
- Quadrupoles, Ion traps, Time-of-Flight (TOF), Orbitraps, Hybrid mass analyzer systems, Ion mobility spectrometers, FTMS
- To Discuss: Developments and improvements in mass analyzers including linear ion traps, FTMS, time-of-flight (TOF), orbitraps, and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), the latter currently being applied to micro-dosing experiments by the pharmaceutical industry. Issues such as full-scan acquisition rates, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), the importance and usefulness of exact mass measurements for qualitative and quantitative analysis, and the analytical merits compared with modern SRM LC/MS experiments will be discussed with many practical examples and applications. The latter will include clinical chemistry issues as well as pharmaceutical, food safety, environmental and industrial examples.
- Imaging and profiling by MS
- Topics: MALDI, DESI, LAESI, LES
- To Discuss: The technique of MALDI and its applications to tissue imaging as well as liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA) employing nano-electrospray. Chip-based nanoscale HPLC separations coupled with the benefits of nano-electrospray with a focus on modern strategies to obtain lower detection limits with the benefits of reduced matrix suppression and more uniform analyte response.
- High resolution MS
- Topics: Fundamentals, Mass Defects, Isotopic patterns, Mass axis calibration, Types of HRMS systems, Qual/Quan Analysis, Data mining processes, Future directions
- Miniaturization in MS
- Topics: Purdue University "Mini 11", Torion, Microsaic, Advion expression
- Synergistic Integration
- To Discuss: Developing technologies are likely to be important aspects of modern mass spectrometry and its expansion to new future applications. Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and portable mass spectrometers could lead to point-of-care applications in due time. A relevant lecture includes an introduction to the interpretation of CID mass spectra employing a combination of MS/MS data and full-scan exact mass assignments which demonstrates the complimentary benefits of these combined data.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Instructor: Jack Henion, PhD
Jack Henion is Professor Emeritus of Toxicology at Cornell University in the Analytical Toxicology Section of the Diagnostic Laboratory within the College of Veterinary Medicine. He is also a co-founder, Chairman and CSO of Advion BioSciences (ABS), Inc., located in Ithaca, New York. Dr. Henion's work in LC/MS relates to the analysis of real-world samples common to pharmaceutical, environmental, and biochemical problems. The instructor has published extensively in the areas of conventional capillary GC/MS as well as LC/MS, SFC/MS, IC/MS, and CE/MS using atmospheric pressure ionization (API) technologies with quadrupole, ion trap, and time-of-flight mass spectrometers.
Breaking up with Excel: A Newbie's Introduction to the R Statistical Programming Language
| Instructor(s): | Daniel Holmes, MD & Stephen Master, MD PhD (TA: Shannon Haymond, PhD) |
| Level: | 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate) |
| Length: | 2 Days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites:
- knowledge of Excel
- able to bring a laptop
- able to pre-install software on their laptop...Namely: R and R-studio
- willingness to break up with Excel
Overview: Have you ever tried to do Deming regression in Excel only to discover that it is not available? Have you had your figure rejected by a journal because the resolution was not good enough? Have you wished that you could figure out a way to stop manually transcribing your LC-MS/MS results into the LIS?
Well, your wait is over because this year at MSACL we will be offering a course for complete programming newbies that will help you get going analyzing real data related to LC-MS/MS assay development, validation, implementation and publication. The only background expected is the ability to use a spreadsheet program. The skills that you will acquire will allow you to take advantage of the many tools already available in the R language and thereafter, when you see that your spreadsheet program does not have the capabilities to do what you need, you will no longer have to burst into tears. You will be empowe-R-ed.
The course will be run over two days and time will be evenly split between didactic sessions and hands on problem solving with real data sets. Drs Holmes and Master will adopt a “no student left behind policy”. Students will be given ample time to solve mini problems taken from real life laboratory work and focused on common laboratory tasks. All attendees will need to bring a laptop with the R language installed R Studio interface installed. Students may use Windows, Mac OSX or Linux environments. Both R and R studio are free and open-source. No cash required.
Students should be prepared for learning what computer programming is really like. This may involve some personal frustration but it will be worth it.
Obtaining the Software
Instructions for installing the R language are here: http://cran.r-project.org/
Instructions for installing R Studio are here: http://www.rstudio.com/
Course Description
The course will cover:
- The major types of R variables: vectors (numerical, character, logical), matrices, data frames and lists.
- The important classes: numeric, character, list and changing between them
- Importing data from Excel
- Dealing with non-numeric instrument data: the “<10”s and “>1000”s.
- Manipulating your data: sub-setting, which, match, sort, unique, cut
- Simple statistical tests: mean, median, quantiles (normal ranges), t-tests, ANOVA, Wilcoxon.
- Data merges: matching rows between sets
- Exporting data to Excel-like format.
- Regressions: Ordinary Least Squares,Passing Bablok, Deming, weighted regressions.
- Non-linear regressions
- Looping: Doing things repeatedly
- Writing your own functions
- Making highly customized graphs: scatter plots, regression lines, histograms, box plots, qq-plots
- Putting it all together projects:
- Preparing method comparison regression and Bland Altman plots
- Preparing mass spectrometry data for upload to LIS.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Co-Instructor: Daniel Holmes, MD
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia
Daniel Holmes did his undergraduate degree in Chemical Physics from the University of Toronto with a focus on Quantum Mechanics. He went to medical school at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where he also did his residency in Medical Biochemistry. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC and Division Head of Clinical Chemistry at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. Interests include laboratory medicine statistics, clinical endocrinology, clinical lipidology and clinical mass spectrometry. Assay development efforts in the last two years have focused on assays specialized endocrine testing.
Co-Instructor: Stephen Master, MD PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
Stephen Master received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, and subsequently obtained his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After residency in Clinical Pathology at Penn, he stayed on as a faculty member with a research focus in mass spectrometry-based proteomics as well as extensive course development experience in bioinformatics. He is currently Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, where he serves as Director of the Central Lab and Chief of Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Services. One of his current interests is in the applications of bioinformatics and machine learning for the development of clinical laboratory assays. He would play with R for fun even if he weren't getting paid, but he would appreciate it if you didn't tell that to his department chair.
Teaching Assistant: Shannon Haymond, PhD
How to Maximize Your Influence Through Creating Compelling Presentations
| Instructor(s): | Karen Mahooti, MBA |
| Level: | 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate) |
| Length: | 1 Day (Sunday) |
Prerequisites: Working knowledge of presentation software. While this course uses PowerPoint, the methods taught can be used with almost any presentation software.
Overview: You have brilliant ideas with great potential. But it doesn't matter what you know; it matters what you communicate! Knowing how to create and deliver clear and compelling presentation documents can unlock influence and opportunity in your career. And the good news is that because there are so many bad presentations out there, armed with the skills in this course, it will be easy for you to stand out in a good way.
This class teaches you how to develop compelling presentations using storyboarding - a method used by professionals in major management consulting firms and some of the largest companies in the world. This versatile method will work for you whether you are in academics, business, government, or a non-profit and whether your audience is executives, students, investors, or employees.
While the course has a LOT of very practical information and tips, it is not a collection of sound bites and "top 10 tricks." It is a complete, proven process for creating solid, memorable, persuasive presentations. It shows you step by step exactly how to:
- Structure your content to flow smoothly and logically from start to finish in a way that is highly influential
- Design professional quality slides that make your key points jump off the page. Visual polish goes a long way in establishing credibility. And yes, YOU can do this, even if you are not a graphic designer!
- Deliver your presentation in a way that fully engages your audience with your ideas.
Many presentation courses are designed for the person giving a keynote address in front of a large auditorium. But most presentations are created for everyday settings: executive or team meetings, classrooms, and client discussions. And these presentations have very different challenges, which are the focus of this course. They must organize and communicate much larger amounts of information, but in a way that is still engaging and easy to follow. In addition, while they may serve as visual aids for an oral presentation, they must also stand on their own two feet and be clearly understood whether or not you are there to narrate them.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $50 | $60 | $75 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $150 | $180 | $225 |
| Commercial / Industry | $250 | $300 | $375 |
Instructor: Karen Mahooti, MBA
Karen holds an MBA from the Yale University School of Management and is founder and principal at Articulate Consulting. Karen has provided training in presentation development skills to professionals around the world from executives and managers to analysts, consultants, and graduate students. In addition, over her career as both a management consultant and a marketing professional for a Fortune 20 company, Karen has created a multitude of clear and compelling presentations to help senior executives and board members of large companies make better strategic decisions. She understands first-hand the challenges of creating presentations when the stakes are high and clients' expectations are even higher. Karen's style is both visionary and practical. She seeks to inspire others to have confidence in what they can accomplish with their presentations, and also to give them the concrete know-how and tools they need to immediately begin creating presentations that give them the influence they desire.
Intro to Clinical MS Method Development
| Instructor(s): | Robert Kobelski, PhD |
| Level: | 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate) |
| Length: | 2 Days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: None
Overview: This course is designed for the person who will be responsible for implementing, improving, or developing clinical analysis methods using hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques. It will emphasize the basic science associated with chromatographic separation and detection using mass spectrometry with an emphasis on applying that science to produce valid, reliable and robust clinical analysis methods.
The course will cover:
- Fundamentals of separation
- Chromatographic theory
- Gas chromatography and how to optimize separations
- Liquid chromatography (HPLC & UHPLC) and how to optimize separations
- Fundamentals of mass spectrometry
- Quadrupole mass analysis
- Time-of-Flight mass analysis
- Orbi-trap mass analysis
- Tandem mass spectrometry (triple quad and Q-TOF)
- Qualitative analysis
- Quantitative analysis
- Quality control and assurance.
Critical analysis of published and hypothetical analysis methods will be used to highlight proper integration of the various aspect of clinical MS analysis.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Lead Instructor: Robert Kobelski, PhD
Bob Kobelski earned a PhD in analytical chemistry from SUNY at Buffalo in a past millennium. He has held positions at DuPont, Johnson & Johnson's Personal Product Company and Hewlett-Packard's Analytical Products Group and Inkjet Supplies Business Unit. He has been active in clinical mass spectrometry since 1997 and has recently retired as Lead Chemist and program officer for the chemical component of the Laboratory Response Network at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where he is responsible for method development, training, quality assurance and control for a network of 55 emergency response clinical chemistry laboratories. Bob is currently the Principal Scientist of Resolution Sciences LLC providing training and consulting in chromatography as well as analytical and clinical mass spectrometry.
Getting Started with Quantitative LC-MS/MS in the Diagnostic Laboratory
| Instructor(s): | Judy Stone, PhD, Lorin Bachmann, PhD & Grace Van Der Gugten |
| Level: | 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate) |
| Length: | 2 days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites:
Overview: Is your laboratory under pressure to purchase an LC-tandem MS or is the ROI you wrote last year haunting you now? This short course is designed for attendees implementing quantitative LC-tandem MS for patient testing who have laboratory medicine experience but no mass spectrometry training - CLS bench analysts, supervisors, R&D scientists, and laboratory directors. Theoretical concepts necessary for a robust implementation of clinical mass spectrometry will be presented – but the emphasis is on practical recommendations for:
- LC-MS/MS system purchasing
- site preparation and installation
- defining preliminary MSMS and LC parameters for your first method
- selecting and optimizing sample preparation for your first method
- choosing internal standards, solvents, and water, making reagents and calibrators
- adjusting sample preparation, LC and MSMS parameters to achieve the desired assay performance
- establishing data analysis & review criteria and an interface to the LIS
- pre-validation stress testing and method validation
- preventative maintenance and troubleshooting
- maintaining quality in production.
Our goal is to present just enough theory so you can report high quality results, while opening a window to the depth and complexity of clinical mass spectrometry such that your appetite is whetted to learn more.
Previous exposure to the principles of clinical method validation, either didactic or practical, is assumed. A glossary of common LC-MSMS terms/acronyms, and diagrams delineating basic LC and MSMS instrument components and functions will be emailed to attendees a week prior to the beginning of the course. This material will also be addressed at the beginning of the course, but the initial learning curve can be steep and review prior to the course will be beneficial if you have absolutely no previous exposure with LC-MSMS.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Co-Instructor: Judy Stone, MT (ASCP), PhD, DABCC
Judy is Sr. Technical Specialist in the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego Health Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine. Her research is focused on small molecule method development, interfacing and automation for clinical LC-MSMS. She was faculty chair for the 2009 AACC certificate program “Using Mass Spectrometry in the Clinical Laboratory” and she teaches a workshop at the annual AACC meeting on “Troubleshooting for LC-MSMS”.
Co-Instructor: Lorin Bachmann, PhD, DABCC
Lorin is Associate Professor of Pathology and Co-Director of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. Dr. Bachmann’s areas of interest include implementation of LCMS in the clinical laboratory and laboratory test standardization. She routinely contributes to development of laboratory practice guidelines and has provided many lectures on practical implementation of clinical mass spectrometry.
Co-Instructor: Grace Van Der Gugten
Grace is LC-MS/MS Applications Development Specialist at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver BC. She is passionate about developing the most user friendly and streamlined LC-MS/MS assays as possible for routine use in the Special Chemistry Mass Spec Lab. She loves troubleshooting, especially when the cause of problem has been discovered and the issue solved!
Co-Instructor: Josh Akin
Josh Akin is a CLS Specialist in the Clinical Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine at UC, San Diego Health System. His research interests include clinical mass spectrometry, ICP-MS analysis, and clinical trial design. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Clinical Research at UC San Diego. He also enjoys troubleshooting LC-MSMS instruments and methods and has found that a youthful fascination with fixing cars is excellent preparation for fixing LC-MSMS instruments.
Understanding and Optimization of LC-MS/MS to Develop Successful Methods for Identification and Quantitation in Complex Matrices
| Instructor(s): | Robert D. Voyksner, PhD |
| Level: | 2 (Intermediate) |
| Length: | 2 Days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: General knowledge of laboratory techniques associated with HPLC and mass spectrometry and some hands-on experience with running an LC/MS system.
Overview: This course is designed for the chromatographer / mass spectrometrist who want to be successful in developing methods, method optimization and solving problems using LC/MS/MS. The course covers the atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques of electrospray, pneumatically assisted electrospray and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and atmospheric pressure photo ionization (APPI) using single quadrupole, triple quadrupole, time-of-flight and ion trap mass analyzers.
Discussions of sample preparation and chromatography will target method development and optimization for the analysis of "real-world" samples by LC/MS/MS.
The course highlights the following topics with respect to optimization a method to achieve the best sensitivity, specificity and sample throughput:
- Optimization ionization in API techniques,
- understanding and minimizing matrix suppression,
- relative merits of various LC column lengths, particle sizes and column diameters for LC/MS/MS analysis,
- introduction into the interpretation of MS/MS spectra,
- important issues in LC/MS/MS quantitation, and
- optimization of an quantitative analysis.
Applications of LC/MS/MS to analyze compounds of clinical interest in biological matrices will be discussed throughout the course to emphasize the topics covered.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Instructor: Robert D. Voyksner, PhD
Dr. Robert D. Voyksner received his B.S. in Chemistry at Canisius College in 1978 and his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982. He was employed at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) from 1983-2001 as the director of the mass spectrometry facility and has been responsible for developing extraction, separation and mass spectrometric methods for biologically and environmentally significant compounds. His work earned him the Presidents Award, the highest award within RTI. In 2001 he co-founded LCMS Limited in Raleigh, NC and has been the President of the company to date. Under his direction LCMS Limited is working on technological advancements in LC/MS, offering services to pharmaceutical, clinical and agrochemical industry for solving unique problems by LC/MS/MS and offering training in LC/MS/MS and MS/MS interpretation and on LC/MS/MS instrumentation. Dr Voyksner is also an Adjunct professor at the North Carolina a School of Vetinary Medicine and at The University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy.
Dr. Voyksner's research in mass spectrometry has resulted in over 230 publications and presentations, primarily in the area of HPLC/MS. He has served on the Board of Directors for The American Society For Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), is on the organization committee for The Montreux LC/MS Symposium and was the organizer for the 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007 Montreux LC/MS Symposia. Dr. Voyksner has taught over 100 courses on LC/MS, CE/MS and CID interpretation during the past 10 years for ASMS, pharmaceutical companies; ISSX, PBA, HPCE and HPLC focused meetings.
Practical LC-MS Maintenance and Troubleshooting
| Instructor(s): | J. Will Thompson, PhD, Erik J. Soderblom, PhD & Chris Shuford, PhD |
| Level: | 2 (Intermediate) |
| Length: | two days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: Experience with LC-MS systems.
Overview: The general goal of the course is to enable practitioners of LC-MS/MS in the clinical laboratory to quickly recognize and diagnose specific problems with instrumentation, in order to decrease downtime and cost of repairs. The course includes ‘best practices’ for instrumentation installation, upkeep and maintenance, practical troubleshooting workflows for LC and MS, and will use problem sessions to reinforce skillsets. Although the course uses examples from specific instrumentation for demonstration, the content is geared to be vendor-neutral and applicable to all LC-MS systems. Additionally, we will provide an opportunity to have instrumentation troubleshooting questions from your laboratory addressed by the facilitators.
Brief outline of course content:
- General “Best Practices” for Successful LC/MS Operation
- Best Practices; Getting Started on the Right Foot
- Breaking the System Down
- System Suitability! What is it, and how do I properly implement?
- Focus on Liquid Chromatography
- Diagnostics using the “heartbeat” of your Chromatographic system
- Key System components and where things go wrong
- LC troubleshooting workflow
- Maintenance Intervals; service contract or do-it-yourself?
- Problem sets
- Focus on Mass Spectrometry
- Discussion of Source, Transfer Optics, Vacuum and how each is critical to your system
- MS Troubleshooting workflow
- Ion optics cleaning and upkeep; what is ‘charging’?
- Problem sets
- Integrated System
- Ionization
- System Communications
- Multi-vendor configurations
- Strategies to simplify
- Integrated real-lab problem scenarios and team exercises
While some basics of instrument component operation will be covered, it will be most beneficial to scientists with experience actively using LC-MS/MS as an analysis tool. While an in-depth discussion of how to operate each individual instrument is surely outside the scope of any short course, specific system setups will be used as examples and attendees will be encouraged to ask questions about specific systems in their own laboratories.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $70 | $84 | $105 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $210 | $252 | $315 |
| Commercial / Industry | $350 | $420 | $525 |
Co-Instructor: Will Thompson, PhD
Dr. Thompson received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under Professor James Jorgenson in 2006. Following his Ph.D. he pursued a career in the application of UHPLC with high resolution mass spectrometry in the Disease and Biomarker Proteomics group of Dr. Arthur Moseley at GlaxoSmithKline, leaving GSK in 2008 to join Dr. Moseley in establishing the Duke Proteomics Core Facility. Dr. Thompson is currently the Assistant Director of the Duke Proteomics and Metabolomics Shared Resource, and a Research Assistant Professor in Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology. His research interests involve improving the throughput and sensitivity of unbiased and targeted proteomics and metabolomics approaches, with an eye towards generating assays which are easily translatable to the diagnostic laboratory. Co-Instructor: Erik J. Soderblom, PhD
Dr. Erik Soderblom currently holds a joint appointment as a Research Scientist at Duke University’s Proteomics and Metabolomics Core Facility and as an Assistant Research Professor in Duke University’s Department of Cell Biology. He received a PhD in Molecular and Structural Biochemistry from North Carolina State University in 2008, prior to joining the Core Facility. His expertise lies in the utilization of various liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) platforms to support a wide variety of research efforts from small scale basic science studies to larger scale clinical proteomics studies. Dr. Soderblom has over 10 years’ experience in differential expression proteomics using single and multi-dimensional nanoscale capillary chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometers, targeted proteomic analysis using triple quadrupole mass spectrometers (MRM) or high-resolution mass spectrometers (PRM), and comprehensive analysis of post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and acetylation. As part of his normal responsibilities, Dr. Soderblom is involved in routine maintenance and troubleshooting of both LC and MS components across various instrument platforms, including design and execution of system suitability analysis to assess platform performance over time.
Co-Instructor: Christopher Shuford, PhD
Chris Shuford, Ph.D., is Technical Director for research and development at LabCorp’s Center for Esoteric Testing in Burlington, North Carolina. Chris received his B.S. in Chemistry & Physics at Longwood University and obtained his Ph.D. in Bioanalytical Chemistry from North Carolina State University under the tutelage of Professor David Muddiman, where his research focused on applications of nano-flow chromatography (<500 nL/min) for multiplexed peptide quantification using protein cleavage coupled with isotope dilution mass spectrometry (PC-IDMS). In 2012, Chris joined LabCorp’s research and development team where his efforts have focused on development of high-flow chromatographic methods (>1 mL/min) for multiplexed and single protein assays for clinical application.
Development and Validation of Quantitative LC-MS/MS Assays for Use in Clinical Diagnostics
| Instructor(s): | Russell Grant, PhD & Brian Rappold |
| Level: | 3 (Advanced) |
| Length: | 2 Days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: The target audience should have extensive familiarity with LC-MS/MS systems.
Overview: This 2-day course will briefly introduce the key aspects of the LC-MS/MS experimental workflow and then focus on processes and experimental designs for assay development and analytical validation of assays to be employed within clinical diagnostics.
The first day will describe method development in detail, including how-to guides for initial optimization of mass spectrometry systems, chromatographic development and sample preparation schemes. Techniques and technologies for streamlining analytical performance will also be described. Transitional experiments from development to validation will be discussed in detail to stress test methodologies prior to analytical validation.
Day two will cover all details pertinent in validation of LC-MS/MS analytical workflows. Experimental designs for all aspects of validation, putative acceptance criteria and analytical solutions will be shown. Key validation criteria of selectivity, carry-over, matrix effect, accuracy, precision, linearity, stability and inter-assay correlation will be described using multiple case studies.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $100 | $120 | $150 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $300 | $360 | $450 |
| Commercial / Industry | $500 | $600 | $750 |
Co-Instructor: Russell Grant, PhD
Dr. Grant received his PhD in chromatographic and mass spectrometric technologies from Swansea University in 1995. He continued his scientific training in various industrial settings which have included: senior scientist at GSK, principal scientist at Cohesive Technologies, Technical Director at Eli Lilly and Director of Mass Spectrometry at Esoterix Endocrinology.
Dr. Grant has pioneered the use of direct injection technologies, chromatographic systems multiplexing, utility of automation and new analytical platforms for application in bioanalytical applications. His research goals are focused upon improvements in speed, sensitivity and quality of LC-MS/MS analytical systems and assays.
Co-Instructor: Brian Rappold
Brian Rappold is the Scientific Director at Essential Testing in Collinsville, Illinois. He is a renowned expert in the field of method development and validation of mass spectrometry assays for clinical diagnostic use, teaching courses on this subject at numerous scientific conferences. His extensive knowledge and clinical perspective has granted him several opportunities to present his research internationally on the topics of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for bio-analysis, multiplexed mass spectrometric detection of amino acidopathies and the origins and solutions of ion suppression in electrospray ionization. He currently serves as the chair of Clinical Chemistry for the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) and has served on the Metabolomics and Small Molecule Analysis/Toxicology Scientific Committee for The Association for Mass Spectrometry: Applications to the Clinical Laboratory (MSACL). His research interests include the realization of open-access mass spectrometric systems and antibody-capture/mass spectrometry applications to diagnostic medicine.
Practical Considerations for MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry
| Instructor(s): | Michelle Reyzer, PhD |
| Level: | 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate) |
| Length: | 2 Days (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: Attendees should have a general knowledge of mass spectrometry, but knowledge of imaging and/or MALDI is not required.
Overview: This course will provide an introduction to the basic concepts involved in running a MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry experiment, including key parameters of sample preparation, matrix application, imaging acquisition, instrumental parameters, data analysis, and imaging processing. The course will focus on MALDI mass spectrometry, but other mass spectrometry sources currently used for imaging will be touched on. This course will be presented at the beginner to intermediate level, and will be appropriate for clinicians/pathologists looking to learn more about IMS as well as for mass spectrometrists looking to apply this technology to more clinical samples.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Instructor: Michelle Reyzer, PhD
Michelle received her BS in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 1991, and after that worked at the NIH at the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in the Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics for 5 years. She then went to the University of Texas at Austin where she received a PhD in Analytical Chemistry in 2000 in the laboratory of Jennifer Brodbelt. The was followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt in the laboratory of Richard Caprioli where she was introduced to MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry. She has been focused on the use of MALDI for imaging biological tissues for the past 14 years. Michelle is currently a Research Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and also serves as the Associate Director of the Tissue Imaging Core laboratory, where she routinely develops methods for the analysis of small molecules in tissue sections for investigators within Vanderbilt as well as external collaborators. In addition, Michelle oversees the collaboration and service projects for the National Research Resource for Imaging Mass Spectrometry.
Quantitative MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry for Clinical Applications
| Instructor(s): | Marvin Vestal, PhD, Mark Duncan PhD, Ken Parker, PhD & Steve Hattan, PhD |
| Level: | 2 (Intermediate) |
| Length: | 2 Day (Sunday - Monday) |
Prerequisites: Some background in mass spectrometry and the basics of clinical and/or analytical chemistry, but not an expert
Overview: More than 25 years after the advent of the enabling approaches of MALDI and ESI, there has been only marginal success in the implementation of MS in routine clinical determinations. Linear MALDI-TOF instruments have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical application to pathogen identification. This technology has been applied to many analytical applications, but widespread acceptance has been limited by many factors, including, for example, the cost and complexity of these instruments, relatively poor reliability, and insufficient speed, sensitivity, resolution, and mass accuracy. Acceptance has also been limited by the widespread belief that MALDI-TOF is not quantitative.
Recent work has developed MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers that generate accurate quantitative data by providing reproducible spectra on complex samples. These instruments effectively reduce the variability of the results due to instrument imperfections to the point that this effect is negligible in the quality of the results obtained. The remaining sources of uncontrolled variability are sample preparation and deposition on the sample plate. These effects are the dominant reasons for variability in resolving power and measured masses and intensities of the peaks in the spectrum.
Although there has been only marginal success in the implementation of MS in routine clinical determinations, and only 2 applications have been approved by the FDA for use in pathogen identification, analytes could include almost any nonvolatile molecules of biological importance. The components of interest could be the intact analytes themselves; chemically or enzymatically derived stable molecules (e.g., molecular fragments) derived from the intact molecule, such as proteolytic peptides or polysaccharides; or chemically modified forms of the original analyte (e.g., methylated, acetylated, or otherwise intentionally modified forms).
MALDI methods can be used to analyze any bodily fluid containing an analyte of interest, including blood and blood products, breast milk, cerebrospinal fluid, lymph fluid, saliva, urine, gastric and digestive fluid, tears, stool, semen, prostatic fluid, vaginal fluid, amniotic fluid, and interstitial fluids derived from tissue. Some potential applications may be developed for routine clinical use in addition to expanded use for pathogen identification including: (a) cancer typing directly from serum, tissue extracts, and other bodily fluids; (b) tissue imaging; (c) proteins for cancer typing; (d) small molecules for drug disposition; (e) biomarker identification and validation; (f) MS immunoassay; (g) peptide quantification; and (h) clinical assays of biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment.
Topics covered in this course include the following:
- Brief history of the development of MALDI-TOF
- TOF mass analyzers: Linear, Reflector, TOF-TOF, and Q-TOF
- Technical advances in TOF technology that facilitate quantitative applications
- Review of MALDI-TOF instruments commercially available
- Bruker, Shimadzu, Biomerieux, Waters, SimulTOF
- Systems available for FDA approved pathogen identification
- Bruker, Biomerieux
- Other demonstrated clinical applications of MALDI-TOF (not FDA approved)
- Hemoglobin A1c, Albumin in urine, MSIA (mass spectrometric immunoassay)
- Development and application of databases for automatic interpretation of MALDI spectra
- Approach to developing new assays by MALDI-TOF
- Sample selection; processing e.g dilution, concentration, purification,etc; transfer to MALDI plate; matrix choice and deposition; instrument parameters, with some specific examples
- Clinical applications of MALDI Imaging
- Future potential and prospects
All vendors will be invited to submit material relevant to this short course, and to the extent possible, that material will be included both in the presentation of the course and in the material provided to the participants. In addition vendors will be encouraged to provide brochures about their products and announcement of any pertinent events at the MSACL meeting.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $80 | $96 | $120 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $240 | $288 | $360 |
| Commercial / Industry | $400 | $480 | $600 |
Co-Instructor: Marvin Vestal, PhD, SimulTOF Systems
Co-Instructor: Mark Duncan PhD, Universtiy of Colorado
Co-Instructor: Ken Parker, PhD, SimulTOF Systems
Co-Instructor: Steve Hattan, PhD, SimulTOF Systems
Metabolomics
| Instructor(s): | Gary Patti, PhD |
| Level: | 3 (Advanced) |
| Length: | 1 Day (Monday) |
Prerequisites: LC/MS hands on experience.
Overview:
| The following topics will be particularly emphasized:
These topics will be covered in detail and students will be given the opportunity to test related software via hands-on tutorials. |
This course is designed for the chromatographer / mass spectrometrist who wants learn about metabolomics. The course covers sample preparation, choice of ionization method and mass spectrometer, as well as data preparation and analysis, structural characterization and biomarker validation. Discussions will include the optimization of sample preparation for metabolite extraction and protein removal, as well as choosing the most appropriate ionization method and mass spectrometer.
The development of LC gradients and MS conditions will be covered. During the course there will be an emphasis on data preparation and analysis, including peak picking, alignment and retention time correction, differential profiling, and multivariate statistics including principal components analysis (PCA). The course also highlights the following topics: metabolite structural characterization using MS/MS for fragmentation data, and accurate mass measurements using FTMS. Further characterization approaches will be discussed, as well as biomarker validation and ultimately the transfer to the clinic.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $60 | $72 | $90 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $180 | $216 | $270 |
| Commercial / Industry | $300 | $360 | $450 |
Instructor: Gary Patti, PhD
Dr. Patti is a professor at Washington University School of Medicine in the Departments of Genetics, Chemistry, and Medicine. Dr. Patti's laboratory focuses on both the application and the development of metabolomic technologies, including those related to both mass spectrometry as well as nuclear magnetic resonance. Specifically, his laboratory has developed novel workflows and bioinformatic approaches to expedite the identification of metabolites during untargeted profiling. His laboratory also has a keen interest in discovering new metabolites and pathways, particularly those related to chronic pain of neuropathic origin.
Introduction to Quantitative Proteomics
| Instructor(s): | Mike MacCoss, PhD & Michael Bereman, PhD |
| Level: | 1-2 (Beginner - Intermediate) |
| Length: | 1 Day (Sunday) |
Prerequisites: Basic mass spectrometry knowledge
Overview: This course will introduce the researchers to the basics of performing quantitative peptide measurements by mass spectrometry. We will cover the basics of discovery and targeted methods, sample preparation, quality control, sample preparation, and software for method building and data analysis. To prepare participants for performing quantitative proteomics proteomics experiments in their own labs we will focus on the following topics:
- Instrumentation for proteomics
- Basics and challenges of NanoLC
- Introduction to quantitative analysis. Challenges for proteomics measurements
- System suitability and quality control
- Basics of complex protein mixture sample preparation
- Tips and tricks from instructor experience
- Use of Skyline for targeted proteomics method building and data analysis.
- Next generation methods
- Case studies
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $60 | $72 | $90 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $180 | $216 | $270 |
| Commercial / Industry | $300 | $360 | $450 |
Instructor: Mike MacCoss, PhD
The focus of the MacCoss laboratory is in the development and application of cutting edge mass spectrometry based technologies for the analysis of complex protein mixtures. They have developed a number of tools and methods to expedite the development of quantitative protein measurements by mass spectrometry. Dr. MacCoss' primary area of expertise is in protein biochemistry, nanoflow liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry instrumentation, and computational analysis of mass spectrometry data. The MacCoss laboratory has been actively applying these tools to important areas of biology including the basic biology of aging, protein-protein interactions, insulin signaling, measurement of protein half-life, transcriptional regulation, characterization of post-translational modifications, proteogenomics, and clinical diagnostics.
Instructor: Michael Bereman, PhD
Michael Bereman is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a member of the Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE) at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. The central focus of his research is to develop innovative, quantitative methodologies to investigate the interplay between environment and genetic factors with respect to human health and disease. The assessment of a vast number of environmental exposures on disease risk remains a critical – yet unfulfilled challenge. His efforts focus on the continued improvements in technology with applications in two key areas: 1) Development of assays to quantify the degree of overall exposure in biological fluids using existing and novel protein modifications; and 2) The elucidation of the impact of various environmental exposures on the etiology of diseases using both human specimens and animal models. Prior to joining NCSU, he held a post-doctoral position in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington where he focused on instrumentation development, targeted assays for determining protein metabolism, and quality control in proteomics.
Clinical Proteomics
| Instructor(s): | Andy Hoofnagle, MD, PhD & Cory Bystrom, PhD |
| Level: | 2-3 (Intermediate - Advanced) |
| Length: | 1 Day (Monday) |
Prerequisites: Practical knowledge of quantitative mass spectrometry.
Overview: This course will explore the background of clinical proteomics and approaches to method development and validation. We will provide the motivation for using mass spectrometry to quantify proteins in clinical research and in clinical care. The promise of mass spectrometry to improve the accuracy and precision of results is only realized with robust methods. In order to prepare participants to begin to develop their own robust methods for quantification we will focus on the following topics:
- Why mass spec for peptides and proteins
- Optimization of digestion and other aspects of the method
- Internal standards
- Calibration
- Immunoaffinity enrichment
- Validation
- Quality control
- Case studies
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $70 | $84 | $105 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $210 | $252 | $315 |
| Commercial / Industry | $350 | $420 | $525 |
Co-Instructor: Andy Hoofnagle, MD, PhD
Dr. Hoofnagle's laboratory focuses on the precise quantification of recognized protein biomarkers in human plasma using LC-MRM/MS. In addition, they have worked to develop novel assays for the quantification of small molecules in clinical and research settings. His laboratory also studies the role that the systemic inflammation plays in the pathophysiology of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Co-Instructor: Cory Bystrom, PhD
Dr. Cory Bystrom serves as Director of Research and Development at Cleveland HeartLab where he is responsible for novel biomarker identification, validation and commercialization with an emphasis on quantitative biological mass spectrometry. Dr. Bystrom has over a decade of experience as a laboratory leader and chemist. Prior to joining CHL, he was at Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute as associate director of research and development with responsibilities for development of tests and identification of analytical strategies for commercialization of new biomarkers. He also has held research and development roles at Oregon Health Science University, Fonterra, and Pharmacia and Upjohn.
Practical Introduction to Sample Preparation for Clinical LC/MS/MS
| Instructor(s): | Hesham Ghobarah |
| Level: | Beginner / Intermediate |
| Length: | 1 Day (Monday) |
Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with LC/MS/MS, and the typical workflows of the clinical laboratory.
Overview:
- Objectives of Sample Preparation
- Cleanup
- Pre-concentration
- Elimination of Interferences
- Chemical Properties of Endogenous Urine Components vs. Xenobiotics
- Sample Preparation in Urine vs. Blood / Plasma
- Sample Preparation Methods
- Direct Dilution
- Liquid / Liquid Extraction
- Solid Phase Extraction
- Sample Preparation Formats
- Individual Vials
- 96-Well Plates
- Automation
- Hydrolysis
- Choosing Internal Standards
- Isotope Analogues: Deuterium vs. Carbon-13
- New Isotope Analogues
- Considerations for the number of internal standards to use in multi-analyte assays
- Hoe to choose the Internal Standard concentration
- Preparation of Calibrators and Controls
- Designing Efficient Spiking and Dilution Schemes for Large Analyte Sets
- Sources of Blank Matrix and Considerations for Appropriate Selection
- Advanced Topic (Time Permitting
- On-Line vs. Off-Line sample preparation
- Endogenous Analytes
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $60 | $72 | $90 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $180 | $216 | $270 |
| Commercial / Industry | $300 | $360 | $450 |
Hesham Ghobarah is the founder and chief analyst at Deep Dive Research. He is a globally recognized expert with more than 15 year of experience in LC/MS/MS, bioanalytical assay development and validation, forensic drug testing, and instrument applications training. He was with AB Sciex for 7 years as a field application specialist and global applications manager for the pharma & CRO business unit. Hesham is well known for his skill in customer training with a long list of very satisfied customers in the US, Canada, Europe, China, and India.
Hesham has also worked for several years in forensic drug testing of racing horses, and human athletes at the UCLA Olympic Lab in Los Angeles. He also gained extensive experience in regulated bioanalysis working with Amgen in Thousand Oaks, California. He is the author of numerous publications and frequent speaker at international mass spectrometry conferences.
General Toxicology
| Instructor(s): | Jeffery Moran, PhD |
| Level: | 1 (Beginner) |
| Length: | 1 Day (Monday) |
Prerequisites: None
Overview: The General Toxicology short course has been developed to provide scientists background in general toxicological principles. This series of lectures will review the definition of toxicants and the basic science behind uptake/distribution and biotransformation pathways that lead to excretion. This is important for laboratories charged with developing new testing strategies for drugs and emerging agents of concern when analytical testing strategies are not readily available.
The additional half-day training will use synthetic marijuana aminoalkylindoles as a timely example to emphasize the need for this basic understanding. Aminoalkylindoles are thought to be produced in China and marketed in consumer products now being sold in the US. Humans are being exposed and injured at unprecedented rates, and clinical, forensic, and public health laboratories are now challenged with assaying these new drugs of abuse. When synthetic marijuana first emerged little was known about how these substances were metabolized, and human tests were not available. The information shared in this course reveals the process of developing liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays now being used to screen for these drugs.
| Registration Rates for This Short Course | EarlyBird | Regular | Late |
| Student / Post-Doc (Trainee) | $60 | $72 | $90 |
| Academic / Non-Profit | $180 | $216 | $270 |
| Commercial / Industry | $300 | $360 | $450 |
Instructor: Jeffrey Moran, PhD
Dr. Moran received his doctorate in Toxicology from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 2001 and an American Chemical Society (ACS) approved Bachelor of Science degree in 1996 from Arkansas Tech University. Dr. Moran has been working in human health toxicology and environmental chemistry since 1993, and today, he is the Branch Chief for Environmental Chemistry at the Arkansas Department of Health and is Faculty in the College of Medicine at UAMS, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. His research focuses on delineating biotransformation pathways involved in the metabolism of a variety of drugs, environmental toxicants, endogenous molecules and xenobiotics. Currently, Dr. Moran represents one of the leaders in developing analytical approaches for synthetic cannabinoid analysis. He has authored or co-authored several peer reviewed articles featuring synthetic cannabinoids, and his 'K2' work has been featured in stories produced through mainstream media outlets, like Scientific American and the Los Angles Times.
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