Alasdair Matheson

Highlights from the afternoon sessions of HPLC 2025: Oligonucleotide analysis

Highlights from the opening session and the first day of HPLC 2025

In an age of information overload LCGC International’s mission is to deliver practical, unbiased educational content to help separation scientists perform more effectively and efficiently in the workplace.

The 54th International Symposium on High Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Techniques (HPLC 2025) will be held from Sunday through Thursday, June 15–19 2025, in Bruges, Belgium. LCGC International spoke to the Scientific Committee to find out what’s in store.

Fabrice Gritti, consultant scientist at Waters Corporation, spoke to LCGC International about the history of slalom chromatography (SC) and why he decided that the technique was worth re-investigating. The potential benefits of SC, according to Gritti, include identifying RNA impurities when manufacturing mRNA therapeutics, and assisting in the development of new gene and cell therapies, and other biopharmaceutical applications.

LCGC International spoke to Fabrice Gritti, consultant scientist at Waters Corporation, about the history of slalom chromatography (SC) and why he decided that the technique was worth re-investigating.

LCGC International spoke to Craig Wheelock and Matthew Smith from the Wheelock Laboratory at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, about a novel desorption electrospray ionization–multiple-reaction-monitoring mass spectrometry (DESI-MRM-MS) workflow his team has developed to spatially map oxylipins in pulmonary tissue.

The critical role of separation science in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) research highlights just how essential chromatography is in solving complex challenges that benefit society.

In a commentary published in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers voiced concerns about the limitations in PFAS research due to restricted access to high-purity reference standards.

In a commentary published in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers voiced concerns about the limitations in PFAS research due to restricted access to high-purity reference standards.

Catharina Capitain and Melanie Schüßler from the Faculty of Geosciences at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany describe a novel approach using matrix-matched semiquantification to investigate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in contaminated soil.

LCGC International spoke to Lauren Lovejoy, principal scientist in the Drug Substance and Product Analysis group at GSK (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), about the advantages of using tandem columns in sequential elution liquid chromatography (SE-LC) to investigate weak acids, neutral compounds, and permanent anions in pharmaceutical applications.

Joel Fabregat-Palau, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tübingen (Germany) discusses his latest research investigating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural soils using a targeted approach with high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS) and a non-targeted high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC–QTOF-MS) for semi-quantification.

David Megson from Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, UK, spoke to LCGC International about the latest developments in non-targeted analysis (NTA) of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in environmental matrices based on a recent systematic review paper he has collaboratively published (1).

Fabrice Gritti discusses the history of slalom chromatography (SC) and why he decided that the technique was worth re-investigating.

Emanuela Gionfriddo and Madison Williams from University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, NY, USA discuss the important role that solid-phase microextraction (SPME) techniques with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) can play in the analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

LCGC International spoke with Daniel Meston and Dwight Stoll from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, USA, about a project they worked on with Todd Maloney from Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, to investigate the optimal performance conditions of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) when using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC).

At the Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA) conference in 2024, LCGC International sat down with Stefan van Leuwen of Wageningen Food Safety Research to discuss his research, which addresses emerging challenges in circular food production, focusing on the risks posed by pollutants when waste and by-products are repurposed in food systems.

At ISC 2024 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, LCGC International interviewed Kelly Zhang of Genentech about her work analyzing new drug modalities, such as mRNA, oligonucleotides, peptides, and cell and gene therapies.

The 54th International Symposium on High Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Techniques (HPLC 2025) will be held from Sunday through Thursday, 15–19 June 2025, in Bruges, Belgium. LCGC International spoke to the Scientific Committee to find out what’s in store.

LCGC International spoke to Phil Marriott and Humberto Bizzo about a recent paper they published identifying the incorrect use of retention indices in gas chromatography and how this problem can be rectified in practice.

As part of our RAFA 2024 coverage, we interviewed Rudolf Krska of BOKU University about his research on food safety, specifically regarding using analytical methods to mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites in plants and foods.

During RAFA 2024, Michel Suman of Barilla Spa and Catholic University Sacred Heart talked with us about his food safety and authenticity research, focusing on contaminants, adulterants, and authenticity markers in food processing.

Giorgia Purcaro from the University of Liège was interviewed at RAFA 2024 by LCGC International on the benefits of modern multidimensional GC methods to analyze mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) and mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH).

Michael Sulyok of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences discusses a novel “dilute and shoot” LC–MS/MS technique to analyze mycotoxins in grain products.

An illuminating session focusing on progress in analytical techniques used in food analysis took place on Wednesday 6 November 2024 at RAFA 2024 in Prague, The Czech Republic, including a talk on the analysis of 1000 toxins in 10 minutes.

A series of lectures focusing on emerging analytical techniques used to analyse food contamination took place on Wednesday 6 November 2024 at RAFA 2024 in Prague, Czech Republic. The session included new approaches for analysing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), polychlorinated alkanes (PCAS), Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons (MOH), and short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs).

The RIC group has evolved from its humble origins in a garage to a new state-of-the-art research site. LCGC International spoke to Koen Sandra, CEO of RIC group, at the official opening of the new site.

Saer Samanipour from the Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) at the University of Amsterdam spoke to LCGC International about the benefits of a data-driven reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) approach his team developed.