Conference report: current bioanalytical topics from the ASMS conference 2011.

The American Society For MS annual conference, the largest meeting for the MS-related topics, has welcomed its 59th birthday. The conference was well attended (over 6600 attendees) from academy, government and industry. In addition to 336 oral presentations from 56 sessions, 2820 posters were presented. Preceding the main conference, tutorial short courses ran on both Saturday and Sunday. There were 11 2-day and two 1-day short courses. The short courses were well diversified and well suited for scientists working in various fields related to MS. Various workshops (total 28) on specific topics were also well organized on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. There were 60 bioanalysis-related positions posted at the Employment Center - approximately 20 positions from CROs and the rest mainly from pharmaceutical and biotech companies.