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Running A Mass Spectrometry Lab - Lessons For Beginners

This document provides lessons for beginners running a mass spectrometry lab. It discusses bringing in new instrumentation, ensuring duplication of skills and platforms, embracing staff strengths, trusting but verifying work, and making changes at a sustainable pace. No lab is perfect and one learns on the job every day.

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Nasheen Naidoo
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8 views

Running A Mass Spectrometry Lab - Lessons For Beginners

This document provides lessons for beginners running a mass spectrometry lab. It discusses bringing in new instrumentation, ensuring duplication of skills and platforms, embracing staff strengths, trusting but verifying work, and making changes at a sustainable pace. No lab is perfect and one learns on the job every day.

Uploaded by

Nasheen Naidoo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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All Articles

Running a Mass
Spectrometry Lab:
Lessons for Beginners
Bench Matters: May 2022

Author: Adina Badea, PhD, DABCC // Date: MAY.1.2022 //


Source: Clinical Laboratory News

Overseeing a mass spectrometry lab is a complex task,


whether you're inheriting an already established lab or starting
from the ground up. Through my journey of managing a mass
spec lab, I learned invaluable lessons in change management
—including strategies for implementing new instruments,
leading staff, and of course, patience.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL


Bringing in new instrumentation is something all clinical
laboratorians will have to deal with sooner or later, regardless
of where they start. And although I suggest meeting with as
many vendors as possible in order to make an informed
decision (for my schedule, that capped at three), I will stress
the importance of letting your lab’s particular circumstances
guide the final decision. Do you really need that extra sensitivity
or resolution for your application? Is the software user-friendly?
Is the instrument robust enough to handle the types of samples
and the degree of “dirtiness” that you envisioned for your
workflow? What type of service do you need and is the vendor
you’re considering known for providing said service reliably and
consistently? Do you or your staff have experience with a
particular software or vendor? Does one particular instrument’s
edge over the others require data storage or instrument
connectivity that your hospital site does not support? No need
to take the proverbial sledgehammer approach.

AIM FOR DUPLICATION—IN SKILL AND IN


PLATFORMS
It may be hard to justify two of the same instruments, but it only
takes one extended downtime due to an instrument malfunction
to realize the value of duplicate platforms. If it’s absolutely
necessary to run testing on a single platform of its kind, invest
in preventative measures: Schedule additional preventative
maintenance with your vendor, or train staff to perform routine
instrument cleaning.

Speaking of staff, duplication in skill is also important. You


never want to put all your eggs in one basket and risk losing
expertise if something happens to that staff member—whether
it’s a sick day, vacation, or an unexpected leave of absence.
Toxicology is very manual, and it can be hard to train someone
on a method when a sudden need occurs. In my lab, we have
seven technologists, and we run about 40 methods. All staff
rotate through all methods. This helps with changes in
schedule or when any sort of flexibility is needed, such as when
a physician wants to move up the day we perform testing
because of a time-sensitive case.

EMBRACE STAFF STRENGTHS AND


INTERESTS
Another benefit of having each staff member rotate through all
the methods is learning about and catering to staff strengths
and interests. In my lab, I aim to have a different master user
for each instrument and then assign extra duties based on their
strengths and interests. These additional duties might be
routine “good lab citizen” duties, or small laboratory information
system projects. On the flip side, laboratory leaders must also
learn where improvement is needed. Early on when assigning
duties, consider that each individual needs different types of
support to grow, and invest in development opportunities. This
contributes to morale and overall productivity.

TRUST, BUT VERIFY


Every lab has its own history and different levels of experience
among staff. It is a hard balance to strike between trusting that
the staff are proficient at their jobs and looking out for
inconsistencies or processes that could benefit from
optimization. It’s important that a new lab manager doesn’t
come off as distrusting or, worse, a micromanager—a style that
has been proven time and time again to be the least effective.
Start with curiosity: “I want to know more about how you do
this,” or “Why is it that you go about this process this way and
not that way?” And reassure at every point that the purpose is
to improve and optimize, not criticize. Lead with questions
before demanding changes to avoid giving the impression that
your prior experience in another lab is better than the lab’s
current processes. Trust staff experience and assume that they
take pride in their work, even while keeping an eye out for ways
to improve.

ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY


Lastly, try not to stretch yourself—or others—too thin from the
very beginning. It will seem like there is a lot to do, and there
might be a lot of things to change. In some cases, there might
already be a list of projects to tackle. However, saying yes and
starting all of these projects right away is a sure way to burn
out both you and your staff, particularly when implementing
process changes, policy changes, or bringing in new methods.
When leaders ask staff to adapt to too many changes in a short
period of time, people will naturally revert to what they were
doing in times of stress or when days get busy. So, set realistic
goals and space out changes and projects to keep everyone
moving at a comfortable and sustainable pace.

Ultimately, there is no perfect recipe to running a mass


spectrometry lab—one inevitably learns on the job every day,
every year. Following the pointers above can enable
laboratorians to hit the ground running and develop their own
insights and practices faster.

Adina Badea, PhD, DABCC, is director of toxicology at Rhode


Island Hospital and assistant professor of pathology and
laboratory medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of
Brown University. +Email: [email protected]

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