The scent of heritage and other analytical tales
The Analytical Biosciences Group (ABG) held its largest ever Early Career Researcher Meeting in March. The two-day event brought together over 60 researchers from fields as diverse as biosensors, proteomics and cultural heritage.
By Mark Seymour
The annual meeting provides an opportunity for early career scientists working in any field of analytical bioscience to present their research, expand their networks and gain exposure to areas of analytical science that they may not have considered before. Hosted by the Chemistry Department at the University of Cambridge, this was the sixth such meeting organized by the ABG, and attendance has continued to grow year-on-year.
The event included keynote lectures alongside short talks and posters delivered by early career researchers. Career and CV advice was also on offer, alongside drinks receptions and a conference dinner in Peterhouse, Cambridge’s oldest college.
Keynote lectures were delivered by speakers from LGC, University of Turin, GSK, Nottingham University, UCL, Illumina and Maynooth University. Topics included a comparison between drug detection in equine sports and anti-doping efforts in human sports, large-scale fixation of CO and CO2 by bacteria and the application of imaging mass spectrometry in drug discovery. Cecilia Bembibre from UCL also spoke engagingly about the impact of smell on our emotions, thoughts and memories, describing analytical techniques to study VOCs produced by old books and historic potpourri.
Prizes were awarded for the best talks and posters from early career researchers. Adrian Butterworth from Strathclyde University won first prize for his presentation on developing electrochemical biosensors to detect antibiotic resistance genes in Gram-negative bacteria. Rhiannon Brooks from Warwick University won both second prize for her talk and the popular vote for the best poster, while Sean Doyle from Maynooth University won the ABG committee’s poster prize.
The committee would particularly like to thank Henry Day for his work in organising this year’s event and the University of Cambridge for hosting us. We would also like to thank our sponsors Cobra Beer, Illumina, LGC, Jasco, Syngenta, Chemical Science, and the RSC journals Analyst, Analytical Methods and Lab on a Chip for their generous support.
List of Speakers
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Dong-Hyun Kim*, |
Metabolites: Small size but big impact on human life |
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Daniel Globisch, |
Investigation of host-microbiota co-metabolism as a new strategy for biomarker discovery - New Chemical Biology tools for Metabolomics analysis |
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Carla Newman*, |
SiLC-MS (Single Live Cell Mass Spectrometry) analysis in the context of drug discovery |
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Paola Sanjuan Alberte, |
Novel strategies to remotely control bioelectronic systems |
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James Scarth*, |
Drug detection in Equine Sports: Challenges and Comparison to Human Sports |
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Kadi Saar, |
Micron and nano scale approaches for probing proteins in solution |
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Stuart Hannah, |
Fabrication and development of electrode systems for label-free biosensing |
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Mohd Fuad Rahmat Sam, |
Mechanical Stimulation Promotes Erythroid Differentiation |
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Cecilia Bembibre*, |
Smell of Heritage: VOC analysis and documentation of odours with cultural value |
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Beatrice Demarchi*, |
Old But (Not) Gold: Raw Material Exploitation In Prehistory Revealed By Ancient Protein Analysis |
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Rhiannon Brooks, |
Biophysical investigation of membrane-curvature sensing amphipathic helices |
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Adrian Butterworth, |
Development of a DNA Biosensor to Detect Antibiotic Resistance |
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Ben Edwards, |
The selective and sensitive detection of protein biomarkers using aptamer based nanopores |
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Caroline Evans, |
Proteomic analyses of intermediate filament proteins as functional and metabolic regulators of colon health |
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Tommaso Moschetti*, |
DNA sequencing enzymes and the relevance of Critical Parameters: do I really know my polymerase? |
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Michelle Doran, |
The Development of a Microelectrochemical Biosensor for the Real-Time Neurochemical Monitoring of D-Serine |
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Vuslat Buk, |
Nanomaterials-based miniaturised systems for electrochemical applications |
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John Lowry*, |
Neurochemistry: Interdisciplinary Interactions Between Chemistry and Biology |
* Denotes keynote speaker
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