Marching to the Beat of Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is fast becoming an essential part of laboratory medicine. Whether you expect soon to implement mass spectrometry in your laboratory, or are already an experienced user, you’ll find several sessions at the 68^th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo to fit your needs.

Monday, August 1

Building New or Adding On: Fundamentals for Overcoming Challenges in Operationalizing Clinical Mass Spectrometry. 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
In this short course, you’ll learn how to implement mass spectrometry for the first time or expand your existing mass spectrometry operations. More specifically, you’ll come away with a good grasp of how to build a compelling business plan for the right mass spectrometry system for your lab, recommendations for training your staff, and approaches needed to overcome common hurdles in this area.

Brown Bag Session: An Introduction to Metabolomics for Translational and Clinical Labs. 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Here, you will receive an introduction to mass spectrometry-based metabolomics in translational and clinical laboratories, including the steps involved in starting metabolomics research and biomarker discovery for clinical use, study design, databases, metabolite identification, and validation.

Be Prepared! Sample Preparation Strategies for Multiple Matrices in the LC-MS/MS Clinical Toxicology Laboratory. 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Here you’ll get an overview of the differences in composition among urine, blood, oral fluid, meconium, and umbilical cord tissue, the relevance of each to drug testing, as well as strategies to optimize sample preparations when using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in clinical toxicology.

Tuesday, August 2

The Emerging Role of Mass Spectrometry in the Measurement of Monoclonal Immunoglobulins. 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Why mass spectrometry? That’s the question you’ll be able to answer after attending this symposium on the rationale and utility of mass spectrometry-based methods in the context of current clinical assays used to detect, measure, and characterize monoclonal gammopathies.

Brown Bag Session: Smart LCMS: The Key to Worry-Free Method Development and Implementation. 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Developing and implementing LC-MS methods can seem daunting to laboratories with limited experience with the technology. In this session, you’ll receive essential information on how to thoughtfully bring online efficient, streamlined LC-MS methods that readily fit your laboratory’s workflow.

The Next Frontier in Precision Medicine: Targeted Peptide Diagnostic Mass Spectrometry Assays. 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. This session highlights the use of mass spectrometry in thyroid cancer, providing practical instructions on the design and deployment of mass spectrometry peptide assays in labs and the development of highly validated off-the-shelf immuno-multiple reaction-monitoring assays.

Wednesday, August 3

Plenary Session: Direct Mass Spectrometric Profiling of Biological Tissues - A New Paradigm in Histology. Plenary session: 8:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Meet the Expert: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Zoltan Takats, PhD, of the Imperial College London, and Virginia LiVolsi, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine—both pioneers in the field of mass spectrometry—deliver this keynote session, highlighting the use of mass spectrometry in the surgical suite. After the program, a limited number of participants will be able to meet with Takats and LiVolsi for further discussion.

Sampling, the Next Generation: Emerging Clinical Mass Spec Applications in Alternative Matrices. 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. This Short Course will explore the use of emerging alternative specimens for mass spectrometry, including applications and challenges related to the use of alternative matrices such as dried blood spots, meconium, cord tissue, and luminal fluids. You’ll also walk away more informed about the performance of conventional specimens for immunosuppressants, drugs of abuse, and therapeutic drug monitoring compared to these emerging alternative matrices.

Brown Bag Session: Mass Spectrometry in the Clinical Lab: Applications for Emergency Toxicology. 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. You’ll learn how mass spectrometry, which is often used for routine toxicology testing, can be employed in emergency situations involving drug overdoses and poisoning.

Brown Bag Session: Evaluation of Time-of-Flight High Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Broad Spectrum Drug Screening in Urine. 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. In this session, you’ll learn the role of time-of-flight high resolution mass spectrometry in drug testing compared to traditional LC-MS/MS.