A team from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) participated in a one-day seminar-workshop titled "Mass Spectrometry and Informatics: Indispensable Technologies in Health Research," held at the College of Pharmacy and Medical Technology Building of the University of San Agustin (USA) on July 17, 2024.
The team consisted of Asst. Prof. Dr. Mary Grace Sedanza, faculty member of the Institute of Aquaculture (IA), College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) and Director of the Regional Research Center (RRC); Karmelie Monaya, University Researcher of the Institute of Fish Processing Technology (IFPT), CFOS; and Karl Angelo Tenizo, Senior Research Associate of the Philippine Genome Center Visayas Bioinformatics and Data Management Laboratory (PGCV-BDML).
Organized by the USA Center for Natural Drug Discovery (CND3) in collaboration with Waters Pacific Pte. Ltd. and RainPhil Inc., the seminar-workshop was attended by students, faculty, and researchers from various academic institutions across the Philippines.
It aimed to capacitate participants in the use of mass spectrometry (MS) and informatics to identify, characterize, and authenticate organic compounds, particularly natural products used as active pharmaceutical ingredients and in other applications.
The seminar-workshop began with an opening message from Dr. Jonel P. Saludes, Director of CND3, USA. Dr. Yan Ting Lim, Biomedical Research Market Development Manager at Waters Pacific Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, introduced the concepts and applications of MS in advancing natural product research. The workflow from sample handling to compound identification as well as state-of-the-art equipment were discussed.
The subsequent session was led by Ms. Ma. Carmina Garcia, Research Application Manager at RainPhil, Inc. She detailed the use of informatics to expedite the screening and discovery of natural products, emphasizing the importance of integrated software tools for compound screening and profiling.
In the afternoon, the workshop focused on using the Progenesis QI software for metabolomic and small molecule profiling, also led by Ms. Garcia. She explained the software's features from MS data importation to compound identification using reference libraries.
Participants were given a tour of the USA Science Research Center facilities, including the CND3, Center for Chemical Biology and Biotechnology (C2B2), and the Tuklas Lunas Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Laboratory. Advanced equipment such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Mass Spectrometer (HPLC-MS), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer, and the newly acquired Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/IIonization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) with Mass Spectrometer were showcased, highlighting their role in accelerating research on drug discovery for various diseases including cancer.
The seminar-workshop concluded with remarks from Mr. Patrick Ng, Managing Director of RainPhil, Inc., who encouraged participants to grasp the concept of Mass Spectrometry (MS) and its promising applications in identifying potential bioactive compounds for drug discovery.
