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Anal Bioanal Chem (2010) 397:2761–2762 DOI 10.1007/s00216-010-3869-3

EDITORIAL

Mass Spectrometry: Fourth conference of the Spanish Society of Mass Spectrometry (SEEM) Félix Hernández & Juan V. Sancho & Damià Barceló

Published online: 25 June 2010 # Springer-Verlag 2010

The Spanish Society of Mass Spectrometry (SEEM) held its first conference in Madrid in 2002. The second and third conferences took place in Barcelona and Oviedo in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Castellón was the city chosen to host the fourth biennial conference of SEEM (4RSEEM) from 30 September to 2 October 2009. The meeting was organized by the Research Institute for Pesticides and Water (IUPA), from University Jaume I, under the auspices of the President of the Organizing Committee, Félix Hernández, Director of IUPA. SEEM is a rather young society, but a very active one thanks to the numerous prestigious scientists with considerable experience in mass spectrometry among its members. The series of conferences has become a meeting point for the growing community of Spanish mass spectrometrists, fostering discussions, exchanging experiences, and improving knowledge of mass spectrometry.

F. Hernández (*) Laboratorio de Análisis de Residuos de Plaguicidas (LARP), Instituto Universitario de Plaguicidas y Aguas (IUPA), Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castellón de la Plana, Spain e-mail: [email protected] J. V. Sancho Catedrático de Química Analítica, Instituto Universitario de Plaguicidas y Aguas, Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Universitat Jaume I Edificio de Investigación, Campus del Riu Sec, 12071 Castelló de La Plana, Spain D. Barceló Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Parc Cientific i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, Pic de Peguera 15, 17003 Girona, Spain

The main objective of this conference series is to present relevant applications and to illustrate the impact of mass spectrometry in different applied areas. Accordingly, there were sessions on environmental and food analysis, bioanalysis, proteomic and metabolomic studies, elemental analysis, speciation and isotopic analysis, and fundamentals. It is worth mentioning that the number of international attendees is growing with every event. The conference was attended by more than 150 scientists, including about 50 young researchers (Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers) from about ten countries. The scientific program included a plenary lecture given by Emilio Gelpí (CSIC, Barcelona), who presented an interesting overview entitled the “History of mass spectrometry in Spain.” Eight keynote lectures were also presented by invited speakers: “Environmental mass spectrometry” by Susan Richardson (EPA, USA); “Investigation of phytoestrogens in food and water by LC-TOF MS” by Imma Ferrer (University of Colorado, USA); “Confident assignment of post-translational modifications using topdown mass spectrometry” by Julian Whitelegge (UCLA, USA); “Detection of anabolic steriods in doping control analysis. Present and future of LC-MS/MS” by Oscar Pozo (University of Ghent, Belgium); “Applications of mass spectrometry in metabolomics: from toxicology to disease diagnosis” by Elizabeth Want (Imperial College London, UK); “LC-MS in drug metabolite identification” by Wilfried Niessen (hyphen MassSpec, The Netherlands); “Organic isotope dilution analysis revisited: minimal labelling, heteroatom labelling and absolute determinations” by José Ignacio Garcia-Alonso (University of Oviedo, Spain); and “Theory and practice of orbitrap mass spectrometry” by Alexander Makarov (Thermo Instruments, Germany). In addition, 20 oral presentations were also selected, and around 80 posters were presented during

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the conference. Three awards were presented in recognition of specific research presentations: to J. Giner (University of Oviedo), A. Martínez-Villalba (University of Barcelona), and V. Casas (CSIC/UAB, Barcelona). The pleasant venue for the meeting—the new auditorium of University Jaume I—and the enjoyable social events (Wednesday night get-together party, conference dinner in the Royal Castellón Yacht Club) complemented the symposium. Moreover, during the conference dinner, various awards were presented: a special award for our former president, Emilio Gelpí, and three medals for recently retired professionals from different mass spectrometry companies, F. Farré, L. Esteban ,and A. Vindel. This is the first time that Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry has included a collection of articles originating from the works presented at a SEEM meeting. In this special issue devoted to mass spectrometry, the articles presented exemplify several key points that were discussed in the sessions. These works show that progress in mass spectrometry is crucial to study in important scientific fields. We very much appreciate this opportunity, and we are confident that this will be the principle of future collaborations between Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry and SEEM. The program for 4RSEEM, abstracts, and much more information are still available at http://www.4rseem.uji.es and http://picasaweb.google.es/4rseem. The fifth conference of SEEM will take place in Málaga, in spring 2011.

The first president of SEEM, Emilio Gelpí, and the three Spanish professionals from mass spectrometry companies whose accomplishments were recognized at 4RSEEM (from left to right, A. Vindel, E. Gelpí, F. Farré, and L. Esteban)

F. Hernández et al. Félix Hernández is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain. As Director of the Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, he leads a 30-strong research group in the field of analytical chemistry. His work is mainly focused on the development of advanced analytical methodology for pesticide residue analysis in a variety of sample matrices. He is also Director of the good laboratory practice (GLP)certified Laboratory of Pesticide Residue Analysis (LARP) at the same university. LARP is the reference laboratory for GLP studies related to pesticide registration for the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture. The development of analytical strategies for rapid screening of organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment, making use of full-scan accurate mass spectrometry, is one of the latest research developments within his group.

Juan Vicente Sancho is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain ,and is responsible for the Mass Spectrometry University Facility. His work is mainly focused on the application of advanced mass spectrometry techniques in environmental analysis and food safety. Current research is focused on the applications of ultra-highperformance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry using both triple quadrupole and hybrid quadrupole time of flight) for screening, quantitation, confirmation, and elucidation of organic contaminants in different fields. The development of metabolomic approaches in food authenticity and doping analysis is one of his latest research interests.

Damia Barceló is a full Research Professor in the Environmental Chemistry Department at IDAEACSIC in Barcelona, Spain, and Director of the Catalan Institute for Water Studies (ICRA) in Girona, Spain. He is also President of the Spanish Society of Mass Spectrometry. His research focuses on method development and the monitoring and fate of priority, new and emerging pollutants, using gas chromatography and liquid chromatography techniques coupled with advanced tandem and hybrid mass spectrometry analysis combined with effect studies using bioassays and biosensors.