The training course continues a multi-year training programme by the Royal Society of Chemistry's Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN), partnering with GSK, to build analytical skills in the chemical sciences across Africa. Started in 2016 with GC-MS training, the partnership set out to train 400 African scientists with workshops across the PACN hubs in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. A key part of the legacy of the initiative is to also train local chemists to continue the training delivery into the future.
The workshop in June was the first LC-MS training course to be run in Ghana as part of the PACN programme. Dr Giles Edwards, Consultant and Trainer at Anthias Consulting Ltd delivered the LC-MS training course to 15 attendees from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Cameroon and Ghana. The course covered the practical aspects of liquid chromatography with strategies for method development, along with quantitative analysis and interpretation of LC-MS mass spectra.
Giles authored the training course materials for the Anthias Hands-on HPLC & LC-MS course which is approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry for purposes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), underlining the high quality of the training materials. This material was used to create the PACN LC-MS workshop, combining elements from this course with the Anthias Practical Essentials of HPLC & LC-MS to cover sample preparation, developing a method and an introduction to advanced techniques including the basics of mass spectral interpretation.
Giles delivered the first liquid chromatography workshops in Kenya in 2017 and 2018. Anthias Consulting has also collaborated with the PACN on training materials for the GC-MS workshops with Anthias consultant at the time Dr Imran Janmohamed delivering the GC-MS workshops in 2016 and 2017 in Nigeria. Read more about Anthias’ involvement with the PACN GC-MS and LC-MS workshops.
The instrumentation used on the training course was donated by the Recycling Organisation for Research Opportunities (RORO) charity. RORO collects redundant instrumentation, refurbishes it, ships it, then completes the installation and training for free. The instrumentation included a Waters Xevo TQ-S with Acquity UPLC that was originally donated to RORO by the Waters Corporation. RORO runs a grant-style application process for instrumentation awards.
Everything went to plan with the installation prior to the workshop and the delegates gained vital practical experience, with one of the practicals quantifying the caffeine content of different brands of tea.
As part of the PACN GC-MS training initiative, the PACN course trainers have also written a book as a practical reference guide for applying GC-MS techniques. 'Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry: How Do I Get the Best Results?' is published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and features clear advice, rules of thumb and step by step guides. The book is available from the RSC bookshop.
Further hands-on workshops are taking place in Kenya in July and August – find out more on the RSC events website.
Photos by (clockwise from left): Myzz Dyeeya, Giles Edwards, Myzz Dyeeya
