Summer 2012 Workshop in Proteomics and Informatics
DATE: August 6-10, 2012
LOCATION: Mass spectrometry Metabolomics and Proteomics Facility (MMPF), UIC
Workshop Recap
September 4, 2012
The fifth annual CBC Summer Workshop in Proteomics and Informatics took place at the CBC/UIC Mass spectrometry Metabolomics and Proteomics Facility (MMPF) on August 6-10, 2012. The hands-on workshop was attended by 20 students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty members and staff from the three CBC universities and also researchers from Loyola, Rush, Purdue University and Concordia University Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.
The workshop was organized by Dr. Alex Schilling, the Director of the UIC MMPF Core Facility, and was a combination of lectures, computer training in data analysis, demonstrations and hands-on-laboratories in multiple mass spectrometry techniques. In addition to Dr. Schilling, proteomics and informatics specialists from all three CBC universities contributed to the workshop. Dr. Richard van Breemen, a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the UIC College of Pharmacy and Assistant to the Director of the RRC for Mass Spectrometry, started the workshop with a fascinating lecture on the History of Mass Spectrometry in Proteomics. Rod Davis, Bryan Zahaykalo and Dr. Jerry White from UIC, gave multiple lectures and demonstrations during the weeklong workshop. Dr. Paul Thomas, the Associate Director of the NU Proteomics Center of Excellence and an expert in Top Down Proteomics, and Dr. Kolla Kristjansdottir from Midwestern University, gave multiple lectures and assisted with lab rotations. Dr. Larry Helseth, a Bioinformatician from the Center of Molecular Medicine at Northshore University Health System and the University of Chicago gave a lecture on Database Search Repositories and assisted workshop participants as they used various software programs to search databases. The workshop also featured three invited speakers, Drs. Nishi Rochelle and Laurie Parker from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Purdue University, and Dr. Gavin Reid, from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University. The three guest speakers gave lectures on specific aspects of mass spectrometry based approaches for complex protein analysis and included examples and data from current research in their labs.
The workshop members were divided into three groups and participated in team research presentations. The teams described how they would apply proteomic and informatics techniques learned during the workshop to investigate a relevant biological question. Each PowerPoint presentation workflow included sample presentation, instrumentation usage, data analysis and a discussion of advanced spectrometric techniques that could provide additional information. The team members received feedback and suggestions from the workshop instructors and attendees. The workshop concluded with a final lecture by Dr. Schilling on Advanced Topics in Proteomics.
PHOTO: Attendees and staff of the 2012 CBC Summer Workshop in Proteomics and Informatics held at the UIC College of Pharmacy. (Photo: CBC)