MSACL 2026 Abstract

Pursuing Perfect Precision? Why Sample Prep Matters

Meghan Bradley, Matthew Crawford
Labcorp

Matthew Crawford (Presenter) Labcorp

Presenter Bio: Matthew Crawford is a Scientist II working in research and development at Labcorp in Burlington, North Carolina. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry from California State University, Northridge and is currently working towards his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from University of Texas at Arlington under the instruction of Professor Kevin Schug. At Labcorp, his focus is high-throughput method development and validation for small molecule biomarkers using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. He’s been on the MSACL steering committee for 2024 and 2025 conferences where he’s head of the small molecule scientific committee.

Relevant Financial Disclosures (within past 24 months, reported on Apr 23, 2026) Honorarium/Expenses MSACL Stock/Bonds Labcorp Salary Labcorp Discussing Products? NO, presenter will NOT present educational content related to products/services of the ineligible company(ies) listed above. Conflict mitigation NOT REQUIRED.

Meghan Bradley, BS, MS (Presenter) Labcorp

Is perfect precision possible? This practical training session makes the case for sample preparation as the chief determinant of controlling assay precision and getting as close as possible. We’ll walk through key fundamental practices and experiments to maximize the analytical control of your assay. During the session we’ll cover pipetting strategies, internal standards, dilution strategies, carryover control, and ruggedness by design. Throughout the session we’ll use brief clinical case vignettes to show how “prep first” thinking increases the quality of your clinical batches, therefore reducing sample re-extractions and maintaining proper turn around time. Lastly, we’ll briefly compare standard sample cleanup choices such as protein precipitation, phospholipid removal, and SPE through the lenses of measurement requirements, turnaround time, automation, safety, and cost.
This session is not an all-encompassing guide to sample preparation; rather, it equips you with a practical toolkit to design, execute, and interpret the highest-impact experiments first.

Take home “Pearls”
1) Attendees will learn key experiments design assays with tight analytical control.
2) Contextualize real-life examples to key experiments discussed.
3) Compare/contrast common extraction prep schemes and balancing measurement requirements with workflow needs like speed, automation compatibility, safety, and cost.