Highlights from the 25th International Reid Bioanalytical Forum

The 25th edition of the International Reid Bioanalytical Forum was held at the Cambridge Belfry (Cambourne, UK) between 4 and 7 September 2023 attended by approximately 100 delegates, the majority of who were attending the event for the first time. The history of this event goes back to 1975, organized by the late Eric Reid, then director of the Wolfson Bioanalytical Unit at the University of Surrey (UK). It has run every two years since then, with some minor changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Now run under the auspices of the Chromatographic Society, it retains much of its original character, encouraging young bioanalytical practitioners to learn from more experienced ones and appreciating the sharing of challenges, as much as successes. The event maintained its reputation for providing an inclusive and congenial atmosphere for discussions on the latest hot topics from the world of bioanalysis. We actively encourage early career researchers to present their work and have a bursary program to help provide them support. We also enthusiastically welcome participants from the broad bioanalytical community, bringing a richness, creativity and opportunities for cross-fertilization of ideas, rarely found at other events.

Scientific content

The Reid Forum 2023 was kicked off by a pre-conference training course “A working guide to immunogenicity” hosted by Veerle Snoeck (UCB, Belgium), Lysie Champion (Celerion, UK) and John Cook (Charles River Laboratories, UK). This well attended half-day event gave the participants a great opportunity to learn about this important and rapidly developing area of bioanalysis.

The scientific themes of the main forum encompassed the broad church that is bioanalysis. The opening session on “Bioanalysis of the future” explored what the future holds covering a wide range of topics and techniques, including biomarker identification in lung cancer, high-throughput LC–MS-based bioanalysis, NMR screening of modification to metabolic profiles of biofluids, how to drive more sensitive and selective bioanalysis using accurate MS, and optical photothermal IR spectroscopy. The “Regulated bioanalysis” session covered the European Bioanalysis Forum’s (EBF’s) strongholds for 2023 and singlicate analysis for immunogenicity assays, among other presentations. Aimed to encourage open discussions about both stories of success and challenges, the session “How I learned from things that didn’t go to plan” had speakers sharing some of their hurdles, ranging from small molecule bioanalytical method development to assessments of off-target effects of modalities. The “Bioanalysis beyond Pharma” session helped cover the breadth of bioanalysis, reaching beyond the drug development perspective, with presentations on topics such as efficient and timely biotransformation support, fast chromatography in a discovery DMPK workflow and quantification of sex hormone binding globulin, to name a few. The “Open” session then helped cover other possible angles.

The event welcomed presentations and representatives from a broad set of organizations, including pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, academia, vendors, regulators, recruiters, publishers and zoos. Scientific posters from 13 delegates were displayed in the breaks throughout the event, with most presenters making focussed, high quality and well received 5-min poster blast presentations in the main auditorium.

Developing the next generation of bioanalysts

Offering a platform to early career scientists has always been an integral part of Reid events. At the 2023 event, we welcomed 15 bursary winners, covering their travel and stay, to give them the opportunity to participate in their first international meeting, network with their peers and make their first oral, or poster presentation [1].

Discussions involving all of our delegates are always an important part of any Reid Forum and 2023 was no different. Sarah Palfrey (VRS Recruitment) and Amanda Wilson (AstraZeneca) led a session focusing on career stories. Brief presentations of their varied career paths were made by Rebecca Mogey (Chester Zoo), Tim Sangster, Jon Bardsley (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) and Elizabeth Want (Imperial College, London, UK), followed by questions and an active discussion. This session demonstrated that most career paths are not straightforward, or predictable, and unique in their own right. They also highlighted how new opportunities are always there for us to grasp, how we can create our own opportunities and encouraged conversations on how to overcome challenges in analytical career paths, from both employee and employer perspectives. In addition, following a presentation by Ali Salehi-Reyhani (Imperial College) focussing on the CAMS initiative (Community for Analytical Measurement Science), the audience participated in a lively and positive discussion focusing on the importance of analytical science and what can be done to ensure its healthy future in the UK and beyond. The output from this discussion is included in the ongoing factfinding and action plan for the CAMS initiative [2].

Networking & social events

Networking and social events are always an important part of any Reid event, where the intention is for the delegates to get to know each other and stay connected beyond the few days we are together. An opening night European-themed quiz, hosted by Ludo Staelens (UCB), was a brilliant and fun ice-breaker event to help delegates to introduce themselves. This was followed on the second evening by an unforgettable off-site dinner at Peterhouse College in Cambridge (founded in 1284). The beautiful weather was enhanced by the looks on the delegates faces as they entered the Hogwarts-like dining room. On the final night, the conference dinner at the Belfry Hotel gave all the opportunity to sample the unique and wonderful cocktails of Mr Flavour, accompanied by acrobatics and juggling. The dinner also featured an interactive guest presentation by Peter Van Eenoo (DoCoLab; Ghent University, Belgium), exploring anti-doping analysis and keeping the attendees very much engaged as they dined.

With the success of the 2023 event and invigorated by the positive feedback received from attendees we look forward to welcoming attendees to the 26th edition of the International Reid Bioanalytical Forum, to be held at the Cambridge Belfry (Cambourne, UK) between 8 and 11 September 2025.