Thank you to all who made the 23rd MSB in Boston this past February a success. Highlights of this year's meeting included an outstanding program that ranged from fundamental academic research to more applied biotechnology and pharmaceutical presentations. While a number of talks were presented by regular attendees of MSB, an equal number were presented by individuals new to the conference. This year’s conference had outstanding industrial support and a number of important sessions were supported by industrial partners. This broad mix of support helps to insure the success of MSB.
The meeting schedule was arranged such that each day had two tracks, some of which were unique to this MSB. For example, we had several sessions on capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometry and interfacing capillary separations using nanoelectrospray that were well received and showed the exciting progress made in interfacing mass spectrometry to capillary scale separations. On another day, there were several sessions of interest to biopharma: Heparin Contamination - Lessons Learned and Implications, Applications of CE in the Biotech Industry, and panels on Regulating Supply Chain in the Flat World – Role of the Analytical Chemist, and CE in the Regulated Pharmceutical Industry Over The Last Decade: The (Un) Fulfilled Promise. These events provoked lively discussions between researchers from various sectors.
Perhaps one of the conference highlights was an entire day session devoted to all aspects of next generation DNA sequencing from the inventors and leaders of this field. There are few measurement areas that have evolved as quickly and as impressively as sequencing, and this was highlighted in this dynamic session arranged by Prof. Annelise Barron from Stanford. Other sessions included capillary electrophoresis for systems biology research, microfabricated devices for integrated solutions to biochemical measurement problems, and high throughput measurement approaches. All of these were informative and well received.
In addition I asked a number of attendees why they attended MSB 2009. Some of the reasons participants gave are obvious such as keeping up with new developments in small-volume separations and in understanding the capabilities of a new measurement platform. I was told by several participants from CE Pharma and by instrument vendors that their interests include meeting students as they are their future employees and customers.
Finally, this conference normally alternates between North America and Europe with next year’s European meeting being held in Prague. However, before next year’s MSB in Prague, there is a special MSB 2009 in Dalian China in October 2009; MSB Dalian will feature speakers from around the world, and will give participants the chance to meet the separation experts from Asia. Thus, before MSB returns to the US in early 2011, there are unique opportunities to listen to the efforts of researchers in microscale bioseparations throughout the world. Details on these future meetings can be found on the CASSS website.
Jonathan Sweedler,
on behalf of the Organizing Committee
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