Abstract
We have been transforming our laboratory over the last several years from a highly manual operation to a more robotic “high–throughput” quantitation laboratory. We will describe our various implementations of “fast–flow” chromatography, column switching, robotics, and Visual Basic macros to increase productivity. We will also describe some low flow work for increased sensitivity and the balance we arrived at to achieve acceptable throughput.

Our initial attempts to increase sample throughput were made with “fast-flow” chromatography. We eventually arrived at a column switching solution which allowed dual column chromatography with acceptable throughput. This mode of sample preparation / fast chromatography greatly increased our sample output with little effort or equipment change. Concurrently, we also went to a 96-well format for samples. For this change we acquired robotic equipment. We found the 96-well format enhanced sample preparation once samples are in the well but we had limited success transferring samples into the wells using robots. However, the advantages of a 96-well format for sample preparation and analysis far outweighed the difficulties encountered along the way. The increase in sample number and changes in sample format did place some bottlenecks on the software side (sample lists for example). We implemented Visual Basic macros in Excel to overcome these hurdles. We can generate a sample map for sample preparation and a sample list for the mass spec with a minimum of effort using these macros. This saved a large amount of time on mundane tasks. We have recently implemented a change in the samples we receive to reduce clotting so we may now transfer sample to 96-wells with greater ease using 96-well pipettors. This has greatly simplified the slow step in sample preparation and paves the way for full automation of this process. These steps have transformed our laboratory from one which initially required 2-3 people to process 200 samples in one day (and a full day to run) to where one person can now process that number of samples in half a day with an overnight run.

Background
Bob received a B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California San Diego. He has worked at La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation, Axys Pharmaceuticals and is now at Theravance, formally Advanced Medicine in South San Francisco.  Bob is currently a research scientist within the Bioanalytical department. His major research interests include LC MS/MS method development for the analysis of pharmacokinetic samples.

Meeting details

Date:	Thursday	December 5, 2002
Time:	6:00 pm	Social hour, registration (no-host cocktails)
	7:00 pm	Dinner
	8:00 pm	Lecture
Dinner:	Choice of:	Vegetarian Pasta
		Salmon
		Chicken
	includes	(various side dishes & dessert)
Cost:	$25.00	BAMS members.  Reservations required by noon on Monday 12/02/02
	$35.00	Non-members.  Reservations required by noon on Monday 12/02/02
	$15.00	Students only.  Reservations required by noon on Monday 12/02/02

Note: 2002 dues need to be paid to obtain member price.  Dues ($20) may be paid while registering for dinner.

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Last update: 11/22/2002