Previewing the Technical Program for ASMS 2024

The 2024 ASMS conference will take place at the Anaheim Covention Center in Anaheim, California. © K KStock - stock.adobe.com

The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference is just about 2 weeks away. The annual conference, which will take place from June 2-6, 2024, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, brings together mass spectrometry experts from across the globe. This year, attendees can drop into a variety of oral presentations, workshops, short courses, poster sessions, and more. Below, we’ve highlighted a few interesting workshops and presentations happening throughout the week to add to your calendar.

Careers in Pharma: Exploring Roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), and More

This workshop highlights career opportunities in the pharmaceutical field that lie outside the traditional industry roles, such as positions in regulatory agencies and non-profit organizations. This initiative aims to spotlight less-known career paths in entities like the FDA and USP), which are crucial for ensuring drug safety, efficacy, and quality. The workshop's primary goals are to educate participants on the distinct and collaborative roles of the FDA and USP, and to ignite interest in scientific careers within these organizations, particularly in analytical sciences. Targeting graduate students, postdocs, and industry professionals, the workshop will encourage young scientists to explore fulfilling career opportunities in these vital regulatory bodies.

Time & Place
June 3, 2024
Room 207ABC (Level 2)
5:45 pm (Pacific Time)

Mass Spectrometry (MS) and Archaeology

This workshop focuses on adapting mass spectrometry techniques from biomedicine, forensics, and industrial research to the study of archaeological specimens, artworks, and cultural heritage objects. The workshop will feature lightning talks based on ASMS poster abstracts, with students and fellows encouraged to participate. Following the talks, a panel discussion with experts from academia, government, public museums, and private institutions will address various topics, including ethical considerations, contamination issues, damage risks, minimal invasive techniques, and career opportunities in this field.

Time & Place
June 3, 2024
Room 304AB (Level 3)
5:45 pm (Pacific Time)

Spectral Libraries for the Masses

This workshop will explore the latest advancements in MS libraries and applications, featuring a panel of experts who will discuss the current state of MS libraries and the software tools they have developed or used in their research. Key topics include available MS libraries, software tools for library searches, integration with open-source platforms, AI applications, and the use of libraries in fields such as metabolomics, food science, proteomics, and environmental analysis. The session will include a summary of an interactive audience poll from last year's workshop, presentations by panelists, a brief Q&A, and an interactive discussion.

Time & Place
June 4, 2024
Ballroom DE
5:45 pm (Pacific Time)

The Latest in Cancer Research

During this oral session, researchers will discuss the latest trends in cancer analysis. The first presentation, by Johannes Kreuzer of the MGH Cancer Center in Charlestown, Massachusetts, will focus on the landscape of breast cancer interactome aberrations. Kreuzer will discuss how his team has developed a mass spectrometry-based proteomics method to map the interactome. This approach uses high-throughput quantitative proteome mapping, data clean-up using non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), identifying protein-protein interactions (PPI) through protein co-regulation analysis, and detecting PPI dysregulations by observing sample-specific deviations from standard co-regulations. Applied to more than 1000 primary breast cancer tumors and normal breast tissues, this method provides a detailed landscape of breast cancer interactome aberrations, enhancing the understanding of breast cancer vulnerabilities.

Time & Place
June 4, 2024
Room 210ABC (Level 2)
2:30 pm (Pacific Time)

Honoring the Career of Alan Marshall

This session, which features six talks, will honor the career of Alan Marshall, an American analytical chemist who is known for helping to introduce the foundational concepts of Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FTICR) in a 1974 paper in Chemical Physics Letters with Mel Comisarow. The pair’s work on ion trapping, ion excitation and detection, and the Fourier transform of ion currents laid the groundwork for modern mass spectrometry, influencing the development of the orbitrap mass spectrometer pivotal to the omics revolution. Marshall's contributions, paralleling advances in FTNMR, have significantly advanced FTICR methods and applications. At Ohio State University and later at the National Magnet Laboratory at Florida State University, Marshall pioneered innovations in trap design, ion introduction, cyclotron mode excitation, and magnetic field application, culminating in the development of a 21 T ICR spectrometer. His work has facilitated fields like petroleomics, hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry, and native MS in biochemistry, and has bridged ion chemistry and physics with the free-electron laser. Marshall’s career, marked by extensive collaboration, contrasts with the solitary chemist model of the past, reflecting a shift towards large-scale instruments and collaborative research in modern chemistry.

Time & Place
June 5, 2024
Ballroom DE
8:30 am (Pacific Time)