MobiliTraIN: Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Training Network

Among chemical measurement approaches, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) is now a leading technology used in biomedical, environmental and food sciences in thousands of research and routine labs all over the world. Hybrid instrumentation centred around HRMS has emerged as the most flexible analytical technique for addressing many grand challenges requiring molecular insights. These include supporting the development of higher quality therapeutics, delivering high-throughput capacity for advanced biomedical assays, and coping with the increasing demand to accurately assess complex chemical interactions in the food and environment continuum. In this context, the emergence of ion mobility-high resolution mass spectrometry (IM-HRMS) as a next-generation hybrid platform can be a major step forward for addressing these significant interdisciplinary challenges. IM-HRMS technology and know-how from major instrument companies have unfortunately permeated into the research community in an uneven manner. The reasons are multiple. Generally, instrument vendors provide advanced technology-specific training only for their own customers, while academic and industry-based researchers generating new knowledge with IM-HRMS are not well-connected across disciplines, instrument technology types, and application areas. As a consequence, the shared challenge of satisfying the stringent regulatory demands that will be faced for the adoption of this technology in the next years cannot be met with such traditional research schemes, and there is a strong need for integrated training across instrumental platforms and across areas of applications. Therefore, we propose here a consensus effort that will improve the state of fundamental and analytical knowledge, and make its application more robust and fit for routine implementation. MobiliTraIN will deliver new best practices for standardization incorporating knowledge from fundamental studies of ion structure, work with prototype high-resolution IM-HRMS, development of new analytical workflows, and the shared resolve to develop essential training content for the next generation of scientists working with this technology.