Our forthcoming programme of events is outlined below. Why not bookmark this page to ensure you know what is happening and when?
Tuesday 29 April 2025 – Professor Frank Vanhaecke (Ghent University) - winner of the RSC's Theophilus Redwood Award in 2023.
On the evening of Tuesday 29 April 2025 we will welcome Professor Frank Vanhaecke from Ghent University to talk to us about ‘ICP-mass spectrometry in the biomedical sciences: pushing the boundaries of the application range’.
Frank received the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ‘Theophilus
Redwood award’ in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the chemical sciences
in the area of analytical chemistry. The talk will discuss recently developed
analytical methodology including the use of laser ablation – ICP-MS to reveal
the distribution of (trace) elements across biological tissues, the
determination of metal contents in individual cells and the use of metal
isotope ratios for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.
Abstract
Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the
most powerful tool for trace element analysis, as a result of which it is
widely used in many application areas, including clinical analysis. While in
clinical analysis, determination of essential and non-essential (toxic)
elements in body fluids and tissues is considered a routine application, other
approaches have not reached that status yet, despite their added value.
By using laser ablation (LA) as a means of sample
introduction, a thin section of tissue can be interrogated point-by-point to
reveal the distribution of the targeted elements in a quantitative manner.
Moreover, when combining LA with an ICP-MS unit equipped with a time-of-flight
(ToF) analyser for mass analysis, a nearly complete elemental mass spectrum is
available for every pixel on the tissue “map”.
The detection power of ICP-MS instrumentation has meanwhile
been enhanced to such an extent that it also allows quantification of the
content of exo- and endogenous elements in individual cells, using either
traditional pneumatic nebulization or laser ablation as a means of sample
introduction.
In addition, high-precision isotopic analysis of essential
mineral elements provides insight into biochemical processes and brings
diagnostic/prognostic information, as isotope ratios pick up on metabolic
changes with higher sensitivity than element concentrations do and/or contain
information that is not embedded in the element concentrations.
The added value of these more novel approaches will be
illustrated by discussing the results of a number of interdisciplinary research
projects carried out at Frank’s labs in Ghent.
Biography
Frank Vanhaecke is Senior Full Professor in Analytical
Chemistry at Ghent University, where he also leads the Atomic & Mass
Spectrometry (A&MS) research group
that specialises in the determination, speciation and isotopic analysis of
(ultra)trace elements via ICP-MS. His group studies fundamental aspects of the
technique and develops methods for solving challenging scientific problems in
interdisciplinary contexts. Frank is (co)author of more than 500 papers and the
work of his has team received a number of prestigious awards, including the RSC’s
‘Theophilus Redwood award’ in 2023.
The talk will start at 19h30 and will be in the Social Area
above the Brel Theatre at the
British School of Brussels (BSB), Tervuren. The talk is free to all and
will be followed by our usual social networking (ie drinks and nibbles).
Prior registration is mandatory to comply with BSB Security
arrangements. Please register
using this form. Note that registration will close on Monday 28 April 2025
at 17h00.
May 2025 (TBC) - Cafe Chimique on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Further events in our 2025 programme are in formulation! More events coming soon!
