AB SCIEX and Phenomenex Mobile Laboratory to address Food Safety, Clinical Research, Forensics and the Environment

AB SCIEX and Phenomenex are taking their laboratory solutions on the road this spring, going coast to coast on a 30-city North American tour that will kick off next month at Pittcon 2012 in Orlando. Consisting of a complete LC/MS/MS laboratory-on-wheels over fifty feet long, the MASS-tastic Voyage Tour will roll into town displaying the power of new-generation analytical tools for food safety testing, environmental analysis, clinical research, forensic toxicology and small molecule and peptide quantitation.
Highlights of the MASS-tastic Voyage Tour, which will be tracked online and include:

• Integrated, Laboratory Workflows On-the-Go: On board the MASS-tastic Voyage mobile lab will be state-of-the-art laboratory technologies designed specifically for a number of different laboratory applications.  For example, the tour will showcase a customized, robust and sensitive food testing workflow to identify contaminants in the food supply, including pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals, quickly, accurately and with ultra-high sensitivity.  Scientists in the mobile lab will also demonstrate analytical workflows relevant for the clinical research, forensic toxicology and environmental communities.

• Rapid Response Unit on the Road: The MASS-tastic Voyage Tour will showcase the new AB SCIEX/Phenomenex Rapid Response Unit, a collaborative team assembled to specifically address food safety issues faster and more effectively.  The MASS-tastic Voyage Tour will be staffed by Rapid Response Unit experts, who will be available to scientists throughout the tour to answer questions about challenging analyses across LC and GC workflows.  Last month, this Rapid Response Unit was the first to address orange juice contamination concerns with the industry's first verified LC/MS/MS (liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry) method to test for Carbendazim.

• Rapid Response "Solutions Bar": The tour web site will feature an online Rapid Response Solutions Bar, where customers can submit technical questions to the AB SCIEX/Phenomenex Rapid Response Unit experts.  The MASS-tastic Voyage tour team will be recording and posting answers to selected questions in video blogs taped in the mobile lab on a regular basis.  The site will also include links to helpful application information for analytical scientists.

• Educational Information Exchange: Part of the mission of the MASS-tastic Voyage Tour is to provide educational information not only to the scientific community but also to the next generation of scientists, helping to advance analytical science at a time when challenges to food safety, clinical research, forensics and the environment are at an all-time high.  Schools in the cities where the tour will stop can contact AB SCIEX and Phenomenex through the tour's web site to request a tour for students who are interested in science as a future career.

"The MASS-tastic Voyage mobile lab tour combines the best solutions from AB SCIEX, the leader in mass spectrometry, and Phenomenex, the leader in separation science, to meet laboratory challenges head-on with the latest advancements in technology and integrated solutions," said Sky Countryman, Manager of Applied Markets, Phenomenex.  "We're making it easier for scientists and laboratory technicians to see the results for themselves in their own backyard."

The MASS-tastic Voyage Tour will crisscross North America three times between March 12 and May 20, bringing the demonstration of the latest generation of analytical testing technologies to cities with food testing laboratories, government agencies, educational institutions, and clinical research laboratories.  Among the 30 cities are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Montreal, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, N.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington DC, as well as several others.

"AB SCIEX's partnership with Phenomenex addresses the analytical challenges and issues that both LC and GC users face, pushing the limits to help them improve their productivity, efficiency and outcomes with LC/MS/MS workflow solutions," said Rob Ellis, R&D Director, AB SCIEX.  "We have already received positive feedback from scientists about our joint initiative, and we are looking forward to engaging in meaningful dialogue with more scientists across North America in the weeks and months ahead."

Those who cannot see the mobile demo lab in person at one of the destinations during the nine-week tour will be able to follow the mobile lab online at www.masstasticvoyage.com, starting on March 12.