Analytical Methods Blog

The Analytical Research Forum was held at Loughborough University this year. We were in excellent company, as we were sharing the campus with many young teams from numerous sports on training camps, and in particular the World Rope-Skipping Championships!

The keynote speakers included Gary Eiceman from New Mexico State University, US who gave a fascinating talk on the possibilites of ion-mobilty mass spectrometry, and some thoughts on what the future holds for this technique. Read one of recent articles in Analyst.

Ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) became a bit of theme with further discussion from Perdita Barran on the use of nano-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry and IM-MS for examining biological systems in the gas phase.

Perdita was also presented with the 2009 Joseph Black award for her developments in the field of mass spectrometry, especially ion-mobility techniques, and the application of these techniques to biological macromolecules and their gas phase interactions.

Look out for the Emerging Investigators Issue in Analyst early next year, which Perdita is co-Guest Editing with Christy Haynes.

Fingerprinting and forensics was another popular theme of the conference, with a very impressive keynote from David Russell from the University of East Anglia. He updated delegates on the methods his group have developed to detect drugs and metabolites on fingerprints. The  method of combining magnetic microparticles or gold nanoparticles with antibodies is so powerful, you can expect to see this approach in use in the near future – drug-drivers beware! Read his article on these methods in Analyst.

Analytical Methods Editor-in-Chief, Brett Paull gave the final keynote talk on the Wednesday morning, on the topic of monolithic materials for separation science. 

Other talks which were also impressive included “Ion mobility-mass spectrometry of 3-D supramolecular architectures” by Martin De Cecco from the University of Edinburgh and “Spatially standardized cell biology” by Jonathan West from ISAS, Dortmund, Germany.

The social and networking side of ARF is however just as important as the science, and there were plenty of opportunities for this too. The quiz held in the bar on the Monday night required a combination of largely musical knowledge with a small amount of chemistry! This was most abely won by Perdita Barran’s group from the University of Edinburgh. The conference dinner was also traditionally held on the Tuesday evening.

The 2010 GRC on Bioanalytical Sensors took place 20-25 June in the green setting of Colby-Sawyer College, New Hampshire, USA.  Talks by leading researchers, including Analytical Methods US Associate Editor, Prof. Sue Lunte, set the tone for five days of high-quality, cutting edge and interdisciplinary science presented in a format that drove discussion in a hugely positive way.

Antje Bauemner and Weihong Tan

Co-Chairs Anjte Baeumner of Cornell University and Weihong Tan of the University of Florida had put together a packed programme which covered topics such as nanotechnology, point-of-care applications, commercialisation and microfluidics.  The unique structure of GRC meetings gives research communities the chance to engage in person, and this opportunity was exploited to the full here.  Debate was free-flowing between the internationally diverse delegates, with conversations often continuing into break and meal times.

It wasn’t all intense work, though.  Vice-Chair of the meeting was Analyst US Associate Editor, Steve Soper, who arranged a social programme that was almost as busy as the scientific one.  From golf to hiking, volleyball to historical visits,there was plenty to do in the free afternoons.  And with Analytical Methods sponsoring the evening refreshments, there was no excuse for an early night!

I was very impressed by my first experience of a Gordon Research Conference.  The talks and posters presented showcased some of the most exciting developments in the broad field of bioanalytical sensing, but more importantly there was a sense of community amongst those attending.  This atmosphere nurtured the sort of personal interaction that can only lead to more exciting science in the future.

– Vibhuti Patel, Deputy Editor