ASMS 2023: A Look at Tuesday's Evening Workshops

From 5:45 to 7:00 pm on Tuesday, June 6, there were 17 technical workshops taking place at ASMS 2023. We provide a summary of each technical workshop below, noting the location and offering a brief overview of what was covered in the session.

The first technical session was titled, “Open and Reproducible Data Analysis for FT-MS.” David Butcher and Yuri Corilo presided over the session, which took place in Room 310 A. This workshop focused on applying open and reproducible workflows to analyze FT-MS data.

The second technical session was titled, “Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS): Current Utility and Future Opportunities.” Lina Luo and Holly Maw presided over the session, which took place in Room 310 BC. This workshop brought together established researchers from the pharma industry and research institution to discuss utility and future opportunities of the AMS technology in drug development.

The third technical session was titled, “Constructing an Individual Development Plan (IDP).” Troy Wood presided over the session, which took place in Room 320 A. This workshop was designed to hopefully either lead to the formulation of individual IDP or refresh thoughts to those with existing IDPs.

The fourth technical session was titled, “The NIH and NSF Review and Funding Process.” Salvatore Sechi, Kelsey Cook, Douglas Sheeley, and Kenneth Ryan presided over the session, which took place in Room 320 BC. This workshop provided tips on grant writing and insights into the review process while reviewing the latest NIH and NSF initiatives and priorities.

The fifth technical session was titled, “From data to biology: using -omics datasets to generate an unbiased hypothesis.” Katarzyna Kulej and Claire O’Donovan presided over the session, which took place in Ballroom A. This workshop discussed the common practices to 'break the ice' in data simplification and interpretation.

The sixth technical session was titled, “Recognizing the “A” in DEIA: Effective Ways to Improve Accessibility for Mass Spectrometrists.” ASMS Membership, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee Members presided over the session, which took place in Ballroom B. This workshop featured a panel composed of students, post-docs, faculty, and staff that spoke to the unique issues experienced by persons with disabilities as well as evidence-based solutions that have been implemented to make laboratories and work environments more accessible.

The seventh technical session was titled, “Data Independent Acquisition: After the Acquisition.” Lindsay Pino and Lukas Reiter presided over the session, which took place in Ballroom C. This workshop discussed topics of importance and debate amongst DIA users and explored both the fads and trends that were emerging as DIA opens proteomics to larger and larger data, with a focus on what happens after acquisition, from preliminary data processing to data storage to formatting and data interpretation and dissemination.

The eighth technical session was titled, “FAIR Data Sharing Principles and Barriers: the New NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy.” Tytus Mak, Thomas Horvath, and Maryam Goudarzi presided over the session, which took place in Room 332. This workshop asked attendees to discuss the obstacles and potential solutions for complying with the DMS policy in their respective laboratory environments.

The ninth technical session was titled, “Kahoot Trivia! LCMS (and other topics).” James Dodds, Jack Ryan, and Karen Butler presided over the session, which took place in General Assembly A. This workshop hosted a Kahoot trivia game that tested attendees' knowledge of LC–MS concepts and applications.

The tenth technical session was titled, “Lipidomics: What does International Lipidomics Society offer to the lipidomic community?” Michal Holcapek and Jeffrey McDonald presided over the session, which took place in General Assembly B. This workshop had two goals in mind: 1) to introduce the key activities of the ILS, such as the harmonization of lipidomics workflows with the help of minimum reporting standards, the updated shorthand lipid nomenclature, and the organization of ring trials, and 2) discuss what the lipidomics community would expect from ILS and where ILS still has room for improvement.

The eleventh technical session was titled, “Native MS: new approaches to enable discovery in academia and industry.” Justin Benesch, Kristine Parson, and Art Laganowsky presided over the session, which took place in General Assembly C. This workshop demystified the state-of-the-art to be valuable both for newcomers to the individual topics as well as those already proficient in the native MS field.

The twelfth technical session was titled, “New fragmentation methods as seen through the lens of radical ion chemistry.” Yury Tsybin and Alexander Makarov presided over the session, which took place in Room 340 AB. This workshop brought together speakers from diverse research areas united by the passion for gas phase radical (and non-radical) ion chemistry and its use to advance the frontiers of analytical science.

The thirteenth technical session was titled, “Non-target analysis (NTA): Modern tools for unknown analysis.” Ahmed Hamid and Kevin Tucker presided over the session, which took place in Room 351 ABDE. This workshop discussed advances and challenges in the analysis of contaminants in the environment by non-target analysis, presented by several scientists in short overviews.

The fourteenth technical session was titled, “Trans-Proteomic Pipeline: Recent Advances and Future Directions.” David Shteynberg and Michael Hoopmann presided over the session, which took place in Room 351 CF. This workshop began with a brief overview of the Trans-Proteomic Pipeline (TPP) and its newest features and capabilities before focusing on four individual topics, fostering a discussion with workshop participants on the timely strengths, weaknesses, and future directions for the TPP.

The fifteenth technical session was titled, “Imaging MS: Isomer Differentiation in Biological Imaging.” Ingela Lanekoff and Boone Prentice presided over the session, which took place in Room 360 ABDE. This workshop aimed to discuss the state of the field and the importance of defining the analyte with isomeric structural resolution.

The sixteenth technical session was titled, “Mass Spectrometry Support for Extractables and Leachables and Biocompatibility Testing.” Kate Comstock and Gyorgy Vas presided over the session, which took place in Room 360 CF. This workshop discussed aspects of mass spectrometry support for extractables and leachables for pharmaceuticals and biocompatibility testing for medical devices.

The seventeenth technical session was titled, “Mass Spectral Tools to Enhance Characterization and Identification of Forensic Evidence.” Ruth Smith and J. Tyler Davidson presided over the session, which took place in Room 361 ABDE. This workshop discussed current challenges in forensic evidence analysis along with an overview of mass spectral tools developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).