Coffee chat: past, present and future of quantitative drug discovery practices

What we will learn?

• During the 30-minute session, we discuss the balance of sensitivity, reliability and reproducibility for the future LC-MS analysis
• Share current practices that need to evolve to align with the field’s goals
• Explore the technologies and technological advancements that will lead the field of bioanalysis in the coming years

Who this may interest?

• Lab directors
• Lab managers
• Senior scientists/PI
• Post-graduate students

Speakers

Vikram Shenoy
Senior Scientist I, QTAS- Quantitative, Translational, and ADME Sciences
AbbVie (IL, USA)

Vikram is a bioanalytical scientist in the QTAS department (formerly DMPK) at the AbbVie Bay Area site focusing on in vivo quantitation and in vitro characterization of large molecule therapeutics via LC-MS platforms. His focus is on non-regulated preclinical research involving ADCs, mAbs and multispecific modalities. He utilizes various mass analyzers in his work, including triple quadrupoles, orbitraps, and TOFs, to enable peptide, subunit, and intact protein analysis. Prior to joining AbbVie, Vikram worked at AstraZeneca and is an alumnus of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Dawn R. Dufield
Scientific Officer for Mass Spectrometry
KCAS Bio (KS, USA)

Dawn R. Dufield is the Scientific Officer for Mass Spectrometry at KCAS Bio. She has been at KCAS Bio since 2018 where she started a group to support large molecule LC−MS/MS. Previously she had been with Pfizer (NY, USA) and legacy companies for over 20 years working in the quantitative LC−MS/MS field. She has extensive experience in developing qualitative and quantitative LC−MS/MS assays for both large and small molecules. She was one of the early pioneers of using immunoaffinity combined with LC−MS/MS to offer additional selectivity, which is now commonly referred to as hybrid LC−MS and is a co-author of a White Paper on recommendations for validation of LC-MS-based bioanalytical methods for protein biotherapeutics.

She has experience with many biopharma modalities such as peptides, proteins, fusion proteins, ADCs, mAbs, AOCs, oligonucleotides, etc., as well as numerous biomarker panels. She has worked on lipid biomarker panels for over 15 years. Specifically, she has significant expertise in fatty acyls (eicosanoids) and glycosphingolipids (ceramides, hexosyl ceramides and sphingosines with varying FA chain lengths) in several species and matrices. She has extensive chromatography experience including multidimensional chromatography (online trapping) and RP for the peptide/large molecule LC−MS/MS work and SFC and HILIC for most of the GSL work to enable isomer separation. She is a large proponent of using the correct technology to best answer the question. She has numerous publications in her field and is an active member of AAPS and ASMS.

Jose Castro-Perez
Vice President, Product Management
SCIEX (MA, USA)

Jose Castro-Perez received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from King’s College in London (UK) and subsequently received his Master of Science in Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Surrey (UK). Further post-graduate study concluded with his PhD (Dynamic System-Wide Mass Spectrometry based Metabolomics Approach for a New Era in Drug Research) at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands).

With more than 25 years of experience in bioanalysis, he spent his early years at Huntingdon Life Sciences (UK) Contract Research Organization as a senior LC/MS-MS research scientist in DMPK bioanalysis where he managed the analysis of Phase II and III clinical trials samples in the laboratory using LC/MS-MS and enzyme immunoassays. Following his tenure at Huntingdon Life Sciences, he held various bioanalytical leadership positions at Merck (NJ, USA), Waters Corporation (MA, USA) and Agios Pharmaceuticals (MA, USA) supporting target ID/validation, DMPK, biomarker discovery/development, and translational clinical research. Currently, he is responsible for Global Market Development at SCIEX.

He is passionate about science and holds a strong commitment to improving the quality of life of patients. His scientific curiosity has led to extensive publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals with a total of 71 publications including two book chapters in drug metabolism and three patent applications.