David S. Millington
Professeur, Département de Pédiatrie /
Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Duke University School of Medicine

“Development and Application of Biomarker Assays for Inherited Disorders using UPLC-MS/MS”

Recent improvements in the treatment of inherited conditions that can cause early morbidity and mortality have driven a demand to discover and validate suitable biomarkers to aid diagnosis and monitor the effectiveness of treatment.  While discovery is challenging enough, the development and validation of methods to assay such biomarkers can also be demanding as the target molecules range in molecular weight from less than 100 to more than 10,000 and can accumulate preferentially in different biological fluids.  The cornerstone of these assays is UPLC-MS/MS, with stable isotope-labeled internal standards when possible.  Several examples will be described that demonstrate the versatility of UPLC-MS/MS, including creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (for disorders of creatine metabolism), glycosaminoglycans (for mucopolysaccharidoses) and tetraglucose (for glycogenoses).

Biosketch:

David S. Millington obtained his Bachelor’s degree in 1966 and Doctorate in organic chemistry in 1969 from the University of Liverpool, England.  He completed postdoctoral fellowships in the area of natural products chemistry at the University of Illinois, USA and at University College, Cardiff, UK.  In 1973, Dr. Millington became head of the mass spectrometry unit at the Tenovus Institute for Cancer Research, Cardiff, where he pioneered methods for the analysis of steroidal hormones in biological samples.  In 1975 joined VG Micromass Organic Division (UK) as applications manager, assisting in the development of new instrumental methods.  In 1980 he joined the faculty of the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, specializing in applications of mass spectrometry in environmental chemistry before assuming his present position at Duke University Medical Center in 1983.  He is currently research professor of pediatrics and director of the Pediatric Biochemical Genetics Laboratory and Mass Spectrometry Facility.  His research interests include the development of new methods for diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism and the application of tandem mass spectrometry and other novel technologies to newborn screening. He has published approximately 200 research articles and book chapters.  Dr. Millington is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, the American Association of Clinical Chemists, the International Newborn Screening Society, the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism and the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders.

Date
Date(s) - January 27, 2015
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Emplacement / Location
Morris and Rosalind Goodman Agora

Réservations / Bookings