LCGC Interviews

James P. Grinias is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and the winner of the 2022 Emerging Leader in Chromatography Award, which is presented by LCGC magazine.

After a pandemic-induced hiatus since the 2019 event in Milan, the HPLC conference is on schedule to return, June 18–23, 2022, in San Diego, California, as an in-person conference. Frantisek (Frank) Svec, the chair of HPLC 2022, shares news about the conference and his excitement about the coming event.

The presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in products used every day by millions of people is a cause of concern among both consumers and scientists. PFAS found in drinking water and the environment can cause serious health issues in animals and humans. Amanda Belunis, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, has been investigating the use of liquid chromatography­­–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to detect PFAS from a variety of environmental sources. She spoke with us about methods used to detect PFAS and described a new method that she and her team have developed to enhance PFAS detection.

This month we interview Hedvika Raabová, a graduate student at the Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, about her work using novel micro- and nanofibres during sample preparation, and the concept behind composite micro/nanofibre extractions.

The adulteration of olive oil is big business. As fraudsters seek to circumvent existing procedures utilising advanced methods, analytical chemists must level up their efforts. LCGC spoke to Michele Suman about novel screening and confirmatory analytical strategies he has investigated to regain the upper hand in the fight against olive oil adulteration.

This month we interview Jelle De Vos, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, about his recent work to develop a chromatographic method to characterize nucleocapsid proteins from SARS-CoV-2, and the development of spatial three‑dimensional liquid chromatography (3D-LC) as a separation concept.

The Column spoke to Irma Bongers from Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) in The Netherlands, about a recent research project to analyze prohibited pharmaceutical active substances (PPAS) in milk.

Stefan A. Pieconzonka and Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin have profiled diverse beer samples by rapid flow-injection analysis (FIA) Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FTICR–MS). Here, they discuss their approach to this analysis, along with the significance of the Maillard Reaction (MR) in beer quality and analysis.

Interest in three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is expanding rapidly. What impact can it have in mass spectrometry? Robert Winkler, of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies Irapuato, in Guanajuato, Mexico, is exploring this question. We recently spoke with Prof. Winkler about this work.

LCGC Europe spoke to Christine Fisher about the challenges and solutions associated with developing non-targeted food analysis methods, why data quality is so important, and how data processing software and algorithms are helping to tackle the current challenges in food analysis.

LCGC Europe spoke to Irma Bongers from Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) in The Netherlands, about a recent research project to analyze prohibited pharmaceutical active substances (PPAS) in milk.

Professor Paul Thomas from the Centre for Analytical Science at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, UK, discusses the role of a rapid breath diagnostic method for COVID-19 using GC–IMS and the wider impact and realities of field breath testing and analysis through the European Toxi-Triage project.

Mary Ellen McNally knows how to solve complex and pressing problems in the industry.

Lars Nilsson from the Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition, Faculty of Engineering, in Lund, Sweden, discusses the evolution of asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) in bioanalysis for the analysis of therapeutic proteins.

In the first of the series, Mariosimone Zoccali, discusses the development of a powerful analytical method to analyze important bioactive molecules using online SFE–SFC–QqQ-MS.

Erik Regalado is constantly developing and implementing enabling technologies for pharmaceutical development—such as automated methods, ultrafast and computer-assisted analysis, and multidimensional chromatography.

LCGC Europe spoke to Stefan Van Leeuwen and Bjorn Berendsen from Wageningen Food Safety Research, The Netherlands, about a novel non-targeted approach to analyze PFASs using LC–HRMS with fragment ion flagging (FIF).

Rebecca Gowland and her colleagues in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University in the United Kingdom have tested, for the first time, the applicability of a new method of sex estimation utilizing enamel peptides from a sample of permanent and deciduous teeth at different stages of mineralization, from nonadults of unknown sex, including perinates, and using a minimally destructive acid etching procedure and subsequent nano liquid chromatography– tandem mass spectrometry. She spoke to us about her efforts.

Paul Haddad, of the University of Tasmania, is well known for developing mathematical models to improve fundamental understanding of chromatographic techniques. He recently spoke to us about his research work and career.

A novel chemical fingerprinting method has been developed using multidimensional chromatography and multivariate analysis to investigate potential arson attacks. The Column spoke to Oliver Jones and Jessica Pandohee of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, about their research in this field.

A panel discussion on the latest advances and future developments in liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS).

The Column spoke to Noor Abdulhussain from the University of Amsterdam, about her research on 3D-printing in separation science.

Filip Cuyckens from Janssen R&D in Belgium spoke to LCGC Europe about recent innovative approaches he and his team developed to support drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies, and the inventive role that two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) plays in his laboratory to boost sensitivity, solve recovery issues, and increase overall efficiency.

Szabolcs Feketeis currently a scientific collaborator at the University of Geneva. He is actively investigating aspects of retention modeling and fundamental attributes of LC. He is the 2020 winner of the LCGC Emerging Leader in Chromatography Award which recognizes the achievements and aspirations of a talented young separation scientist who has made strides early in his or her career toward the advancement of chromatographic techniques and applications. He recently spoke to us about his current research work and his career aspirations.

Aogu Furusho from the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, spoke to us about his development of a highly selective three-dimensional chiral high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system for the determination of extraterrestrial amino acids in carbonaceous chondrites.

In the second part of this interview on size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) André Striegel discusses the benefits of the technique to analyze nanoparticles and quantum dots, the complementary role of hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC), and the future of SEC in two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) separations.

LCGC Europe interviewed Stefan van Leeuwen from Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), in Wageningen, The Netherlands, on his novel multi-analyte approach to investigate bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), and their analogues using liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS/MS).

Carlos Sales and Joaquin Beltrán from The Research Institute for Pesticides and Water at the University Jaume I, in Castellón, Spain, discuss a novel untargeted gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method, incorporating dynamic headspace (DHS) with thermal desorption and a novel deconvolution approach, to classify olive oil.

Heatwaves are significantly affecting the consistency and quality of wine production. The Column spoke to Julia C. Gouot from the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre in Australia about the importance of chromatography to understand the effects of temperature change on grape physiology and composition.

New developments in measurement science are providing chemical information on single cells. Single-cell chemical assays provide unique information on cell heterogeneity and allow detailed studies of the metabolome and proteome for both snapshot and time-resolved studies. Recent papers describe multimodal chemical imaging, single-cell MALDI-MS supervised by immunocytochemical classification, integrating mass spectrometry with microphysiological systems for improved neurochemical studies, high throughput approaches, and others. This interview with Jonathan Sweedler explores the latest developments in mass spectrometry and separations for single cell analysis.