The 50th International Symposium and Exposition on High-Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Techniques — better known as HPLC 2022 — officially concluded last week in beautiful San Diego, California.
When attendees weren’t dipping their toes in the sand or eating local seafood, they were enjoying five days of vendor workshops, with so many great oral and poster presentations. And that wasn’t all!
There were social events, like the instrument exhibition booths, gala dinner, and our second annual HPLC Tube Contest sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific. It felt like there was something to learn or do the entire time, so I needed some collaboration from my colleagues on everything that went on over the week, as I couldn’t attend it all.
Thermo Fisher Scientific held two vendor workshops during the conference. These, as well as many others, focused on the eruption of mRNA therapeutics in gene therapy and precision medicine.
We also had oral presentations that covered topics ranging from new column technology, like our Thermo Scientific™ HPLC columns, to two-dimensional LCMS applications on the Thermo Scientific™ Vanquish™ Duo UHPLC system.
Some of the highlights from these events were:
The Role of HPLC in mRNA Analysis. This exclusive workshop sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific was given by Jacob Fairchild from Moderna Therapeutics. There was a line out the door and around the building to get into this discussion! My personal highlight was when Dr. Fairchild talked about how Moderna and their CDMOs (contract development and manufacturing organizations) have implemented DNAPac RP columns and standardized on the Vanquish UHPLC systems and Thermo Scientific™ Chromeleon™ Chromatography Data System (CDS) platform.
- Optimization of mRNA Sequence Analysis by UHPLC/HRMS. As I stated above, you can see the focus was on mRNA at this conference. Ken Cook (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hemel Hempstead, England) led the presentation, which highlighted how the workflow for mRNA sequencing uses ultramodern techniques and equipment that would be difficult-to-impossible to replace with alternative technology (this is exceedingly rare for a workflow).
Check out the hardware and software for oligonucleotide analysis below:
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Simultaneous Reversed-phase and Anion-exchange Method Scouting with a Dual System for mRNA Impurity Determination. This poster featuring our expert HPLC team of scientists focused attention on the Vanquish Duo System for Dual LC, using a Solvent Extension Kit for automated method scouting, Thermo Scientific™ DNAPac™ RP and Thermo Scientific™ DNAPac™ PA200 RS columns, to find the most suitable conditions for the detection of impurities in mRNA with Ion Exchange and Ion Pairing Reversed-Phase Chromatography, simultaneously with one system.
You can see this poster and the others presented here.
On Monday night, many gathered to watch the Thermo Fisher Scientific-sponsored HPLC Tube Competition. The guidelines of the contest were to create a short video demonstrating how their chromatography is making a difference in the world.
Videos were submitted by chromatographers working in academia, then a designated international jury selected six videos for the final round. The finalist videos were shown, and third-, second- and first-prize winners were chosen by the jury.
A huge congratulations to the first-prize winner, Dr. Simona Felletti, from the University of Ferrara.
Operating all week in between posters, workshops and presentations was the Thermo Fisher Scientific booth. We displayed several liquid chromatography solutions, including our newest.
There was also a columns and consumables tower that featured our new Thermo Scientific™ µPAC™ HPLC columns. With booth placement right as you walked through the doors of the exhibit hall, we received tons of foot traffic and a lot of excitement around the entire portfolio of HPLC solutions.
It was an exhilarating five days at HPLC 2022 for everyone. You could feel the excitement of people getting together in person and sharing their knowledge and passion for liquid chromatography (and of course, enjoying the fish tacos).
I am hoping to see you all, and more, in Düsseldorf, Germany, for HPLC 2023!
Thermo Fisher Scientific
United States
