Bruker is proud to be a featured participant at the 15th International Symposium on Proteomics in the Life Sciences, taking place August 17- 21 at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA. We invite you to connect with our experts and explore Bruker's latest breakthroughs in mass spectrometry. Don’t miss our exclusive lunch seminar, where we’ll showcase cutting-edge technologies and real-world applications designed to accelerate your discoveries.
Seats are limited—register now to secure your spot!
Tuesday, August 19, 12:30 - 2:00 pm
Location: Auditorium, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Lunch will be served.
12:35 - 12:40 pm Introductory Remarks
Shourjo Ghose, Ph.D., Director of Proteomics, North America, Bruker Scientific LLC, MA, USA
12:40 - 1:00 pm Bruker Technology Overview
Daniel Hornburg, Ph.D., Vice President Biomarkers & Precision Medicine, Bruker, San Jose, CA, USA
1:00 - 1:25 pm Scaling Proteomics: Transforming Biopharmaceutical Discovery and Translational Research
Ashok Dongre, Ph.D., Senior Director and Head of Proteomics, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boston, MA, USA
1:30 - 1:55 pm To FLEX or not to FLEX?
Judith Steen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of the Neuroproteomics Laboratory, Kirby Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Ashok Dongre, Ph.D., Senior Director and Head of Proteomics, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boston, MA, USA
Scaling Proteomics: Transforming Biopharmaceutical Discovery and Translational Research
Proteomics has matured significantly over the past three decades and is now experiencing a renaissance, driven by advances in both reagent-based profiling and mass spectrometry (MS), the gold standard in the field. As LC-MS platforms have evolved, proteomics has reached a new level of productivity, though it still faces adoption barriers compared to genomics.
This presentation explores how recent breakthroughs in LC-MS technology, combined with enterprise-scale deep learning analytics, are delivering timely, actionable insights across the drug discovery and translational research continuum.
In early discovery, integrating high-throughput screening with proteomic profiling enables unbiased identification of compound hits, target modulation, and pathway engagement. When paired with high-content imaging and other -omics data, these approaches offer a systems-level view of pharmacology.
As programs advance, proteomics supports structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies and deepens understanding of mechanisms of action (MoA), enabling early detection of off-target effects and improving compound selection. Chemical proteomics, combined with chemical biology, also facilitates target deconvolution from phenotypic screens.
AI and machine learning further enhance this process by predicting compound success based on MoA relevance in preclinical and clinical datasets. In translational research, proteomics enables assessment of target engagement, pharmacodynamics, and safety markers in preclinical models, while clinical findings can be reverse-translated for validation.
Unbiased proteomics is now central to discovering pharmacodynamic biomarkers, stratifying patients, projecting human doses, and guiding early clinical trials. These capabilities are reshaping how therapies are developed and translated to the clinic.
To borrow from Winston Churchill, this may be “the end of the beginning” for proteomics. The future holds immense promise for innovation that drives breakthrough therapies and transforms patient care.
Judith Steen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of the Neuroproteomics Laboratory, Kirby Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
To FLEX or not to FLEX?
Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's Disease, Frontotemporal Degeneration, Parkinson's Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, share a common pathological signature: the aggregation of specific proteins, including tau, TDP-43, and alpha-synuclein. These proteopathies represent a critical juncture where normal proteins transform into pathological entities, associated with neuronal dysfunction and death. Despite decades of research, the precise molecular mechanisms governing this transformation remain elusive.
To address this fundamental gap, we developed the innovative FLEXI Platform based on mass spectrometry proteomics, which provides unprecedented sensitivity and specificity for characterizing disease-associated protein modifications. Our approaches comprehensively map and quantify post-translational modifications on pathological protein aggregates extracted from human patients and animal models across disease progression timelines. By analyzing these "molecular fingerprints" in large patient cohorts, we have revealed distinct modification patterns that define disease stages, patient subtypes, and predict clinical trajectories.
Our studies have uncovered the sequential accumulation of tau modifications during Alzheimer's pathogenesis and identified specific chemical alterations that enhance tau's propensity to aggregate and propagate between neurons. Importantly, these precise molecular characterizations distinguish pathological protein species from their healthy counterparts, enabling the development of highly selective therapeutic strategies that target disease-driving protein forms while preserving essential physiological functions.
This presentation will highlight how quantitative proteomics has transformed our understanding of proteopathies and demonstrate how these insights create new paradigms for early diagnosis and precision therapeutics in neurodegenerative diseases.
As you are certainly aware, special compliance regulations apply to public officials* and healthcare professionals** with regard to the event we are planning. If you accept our invitation, we will therefore assume that you will observe the compliance regulations that apply to you and that you have the necessary employer approval.
* Government Official means according the Bruker policies any of the following: any officer, employee or representative of a government (national, regional or local) entity, or any public agency, public authority, department or instrumentality thereof, regardless of their rank or title (e.g. a regulatory official or government inspector); any person working for or advising a government-owned or government-controlled enterprise (e.g. a professor at a government-owned university, or a purchaser at a government-owned hospital); any person working for or advising a national or international non-governmental organization (e.g. an employee of the Red Cross or The World Bank); any person performing a public function or providing a public service, even if that person works for a nongovernmental institution (e.g. private security personnel working in public functions); any person hired to review or accept bids for a government agency; any person with the responsibility to allocate or expend government funds; any person in a public law function, civil servant, judge or military personnel; any person acting for a political party, including party officials, candidates or individuals holding a position in a political party office; members of royal families; or immediate family members of any of the persons listed above. An immediate family member is a grandparent, parent, spouse, significant other, child, or sibling.
** A Healthcare Professional (HCP) is in accordance with the Bruker policies any physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist or other individual who may prescribe, administer, purchase, dispense, recommend, or supply medical products or treatments or pharmaceutical products. In many cases, Bruker interacts with HCPs who work for state-owned hospitals (e.g. as medical scientists). These individuals will be classified as both HCPs and Government Officials.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in clinical diagnostic procedures.