Measuring Success in the Lab

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Cloud Labs—How Remotely Operated Laboratories are Driving the Future of Research
Life science laboratory research has been conducted in the same way for the past 100 years, despite the relatively common availability of technology and tools (cloud computing, software engineering, informatics theory, lab automation, robotics, and industrial operations practices) that could be employed to deliver a dramatically faster, more reliable, more reproducible, and ultimately, a more cost-effective lab. Emerald Cloud Lab was built from the ground up considering all of these tools available today, and represents a dramatic shift from the status quo.

The speakers will review a case study on how the Cloud Lab is drastically improving the reproducibility and cost effectiveness of analytical chemistry experimentation. The speakers will also discuss the principles that guided the development of ECL, how the Cloud Lab is changing the way scientists do their work today, and the advanced automation and data modeling opportunities that cloud labs enable.

Presenters: Toby Blackburn and Brian M. Frezza, PhD
Emerald Cloud Lab
11:00 am-12:00 pm EDT

Comprehensive Water Analysis: Total Fluorine, Total Organic Carbon, and Metal

Water is society’s most important resource. Knowing what is present in our water—whether for drinking, industrial applications, or environmental compliance—is critical. The analytical chemistry lab utilizes crucial measurements to determine water quality, and therefore it is vital that samples be processed quickly and efficiently. 

This webinar will present three discussions on different contaminants and their measurement processes and will discuss ways to maximize the lab’s return on these testing methods. Attendees will learn about historical methods of determining water quality, as well as various challenges that take place in the analytical process and effective methods to overcome them. Measurement of metal contamination in critical drinking water supplies via ICP-MS will be discussed. Attendees will leave this presentation with valuable factors for decreasing sampling times and increasing precision for high-throughput labs. 

Presenter: Siqi Sun, PhD
Analytik Jena US
12:30-1:30 pm EDT

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Rapid Solids Analysis Methods for Dietary Supplements and Foods
Dietary supplements and foods are complex matrices that need unique analytical methods to characterize the numerous constituents. In addition, these constituents could have nutritional and pharmacological properties that need to be described from quality control and legal perspectives.

Lab managers benefit from rapid, simple, and user-friendly analytical methods. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) using an atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP) coupled to a high-resolution accurate Q-TOF mass spectrometer is a very sensitive technique requiring no sample preparation that effectively characterizes both simple and complex samples. This presentation will focus on the characterization of dietary supplements such as fish oils, krill oils, and saw palmetto extracts. A demonstration of rapid characterization of various food products will also be presented.

Presenter: Gene Hall, PhD
Rutgers University
12:30-1:30 pm EDT

Successfully Managing Quality Control and Lab Management for Large-Scale Project Efforts

Project effort and scope can have a tremendous impact on the daily operations of an analytical laboratory. Small projects which consist of tens of samples and are mostly exploratory often do not require standard operating procedures or robust measures of quality control. However, large projects which consist of hundreds to thousands of samples require adjustment to daily operations that ensure high quality data is achieved over the course of the project period which can range from months to years in some cases. 

This presentation will introduce necessary quality control and lab management strategies that can help lab managers have success with large-scale project efforts. Strategies will include personnel selection and management, project design and implementation, and standard operating procedures for quality controls in analytical laboratories.

Presenter: Renã AS Robinson, PhD
Vanderbilt University
2:00-3:00 pm EDT