Short Courses

In 2DLC, sample components are fractionated by two different columns utilizing different retention mechanisms. To achieve successful 2D resolution of complex sample components, dissimilar (orthogonal) retention mechanisms are required to effectively spread the peaks throughout the available separation space.

This course offers practical training for the practicing scientists. It will take the participants step-by-step through the concepts and techniques to develop LC-MS/MS methods. The emphasis is on practical issues associated with developing LC-MS/MS methods for small molecules. It also emphasizes problem-solving skills with examples encountered in the pharmaceutical industry and other fields.

Oligonucleotides are a novel class of drugs with the potential to treat a wide spectrum of indications, including cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, neurological disorders, pulmonary and ophthalmic diseases. Several different modalities using oligonucleotides to treat disease have been successfully employed, e.g., antisense, siRNA, aptamer, CRISPR, and mRNA, with an increasing number of drug approvals in recent years. 

This 3-hour course reviews best practices, shortcuts, and tricks of the trade to help pharmaceutical and other scientists to become more successful in developing effective HPLC or UHPLC methods (on potency and ICH-compliant stability-indicating assays of pharmaceuticals) using the traditional selectivity-tuning, three-pronged method template, and universal generic gradient method approaches.

This course will cover the fundamentals of field-flow fractionation (FFF) in its various incarnations, including the use of flow, thermal, and other fields, as well as the fundamentals of size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and of on-line light scattering detection, both static and dynamic. 

What will be taught? 
1) Short basics of stereochemistry and separation of enantiomers; 2) Comparative characteristics of gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), super/sub-critical fluid chromatography (SFC), capillary electrophoresis (CE) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) from the viewpoint of chiral separations and enantioselective analysis; 3) Non-covalent interactions and the importance of their control for preparation and use of chiral stationary phases and chiral selectors; 4) Currently available chiral columns and chiral selectors for practical problem solving and their comparative characteristics; 5) Some unusual effects in chiral separations; 6) Understanding enantioselective recognition and chiral separations (kinetics, thermodynamics, molecular modeling).

This course will focus on fundamentals and advances in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) employing carbon dioxide-based mobile phases. Emphasis will be directed toward pharmaceuticals and other fields where SFC currently plays or will play a critical role such as lipidomics, specialty chemicals and polymers, biodiesel, foods and vitamins, natural products, and flavors/fragrances. Example applications in these areas will be used throughout the course as teaching illustrations.

Principles and unique characteristics of capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry. The similarity and complementarily of CEMS with LCMS, and the unique applications that can only be performed by CEMS, will be discussed. Bioinformatic tools used for LCMS can be easily adapted for use in CEMS.

This 3-hour short course provides the attendees with an overview of the best practices in HPLC/UHPLC operation, including mobile phase and sample preparation for pharmaceutical analysis.  Common HPLC and UHPLC maintenance procedures are described together with HPLC troubleshooting strategies illustrated with practical case studies.

The course attendees will learn about principles of chromatographic modes including reversed-phase, hydrophilic interaction, ion-exchange and size exclusion chromatography. Special emphasis will be given to reversed phase mode. Couse attendees will use MS Excel spreadsheets prepared to visualize chromatograms. Attendees will be able to change parameters such as particle size, column length, separation condition, extra column dispersion and others and instantly observe the effects in chromatographic separation. 

The separation of glycans and glycopeptides is critical for the analysis and characterization of glycoproteins, a post-translationally modified proteins with carbohydrate chains (glycans). Glycoproteins play essential roles in various biological processes, and their characterization is important in the fields of biochemistry, biotechnology, and medicine. This workshop will cover common methods for the separation of glycans and glycopeptides, including hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC); reverse-phase chromatography (RPC), ion-exchange chromatography (IEC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), and affinity chromatography. The workshop will also cover hybrid methods, combining multiple separation techniques, such as liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS), thus enabling comprehensive analysis of glycans and glycopeptides. LC-MS is a powerful tool for the identification and quantification of glycans and glycopeptides. The choice of method depends on the specific characteristics of the glycoproteins being analyzed and the goals of the study. Researchers often use a combination of techniques to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the glycoprotein composition.

This course is designed to introduce those familiar with analytical scale HPLC to capillary (or “nano”) liquid chromatography. Although both techniques are based on the same fundamental principles, capillary LC has a number of distinct advantages and challenges that will be detailed. Commercial instrument options, as well as the basics of preparing your own capillary LC columns, will be described. Because one of the most prominent uses of capillary LC is its coupling to mass spectrometry for complex biological sample analysis, special attention will be given to this important area. Both academic and industrial researchers will be able to apply the information gained through this course to overcome the challenges faced when using this essential technique.

Cannabis ranges in availability for both medicinal use and adult use throughout the US, and different States have dedicated limits. The cannabis/hemp market continues to grow, with more States legalizing marijuana, as well as the 2018 Farm Bill removing hemp from the controlled substance list. This bill defines that any cannabis sativa L. strain with a total tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of ≤0.3% can be considered hemp, not cannabis. Consequently, there is strong demand to differentiate hemp from cannabis based on THC concentration.