The Third International Symposium on Metallomics 2011

The Third International Symposium on Metallomics was held in Münster (Germany) from June 15 to June 18, 2011. With 39 countries represented, it was a truly international meeting, and the impressive number of more than 320 participants underlined the growing interest in this emerging research area.

The scientific program included 75 oral and 156 poster presentations in the field of metals in biology (function and fate), metals in medicine (diagnosis and therapy), geosphere–biosphere interactions and analytical methods and instrumentation. In order to introduce the younger participants to the field, as well as to favor scientific discussions across disciplines, three different short courses on in vitro models for toxicity testing, mass spectrometric tools and TOF mass spectrometry for metallomics were also included in the program. A vendors' exhibition completed the set and was a meeting point during the breaks.

The overall program was organized with the aim to stimulate fruitful discussions between students, professors, corporate and government scientists from different fields. The interdisciplinarity of this young research area was especially emphasized by the composition of the scientific committee, with members from analytical sciences, chemistry, medicine, biology and toxicology. The organizers together with members of the scientific committee were also very successful in their efforts to motivate scientists from different disciplines to join this event. Leading experts had been invited to introduce the different topics of the symposium during plenary and keynote lectures.

The event supporting team of the German Chemical Society (GdCh) and students from the research groups of Prof. Karst and Prof. Schwerdtle, headed by Martin Vogel, made a major contribution to the success of this event. Not only visible through their uniform blue T-shirts but through their presence wherever assistance was needed, the group assured a very smooth and professional operation of the whole event that contributed to the relaxed atmosphere.

The location also contributed to the overall success of the meeting. As was mentioned by the local organizers during the opening of the symposium, Münster (Germany) is known as the “Bicycle City”, in which distances between location and institutions melt down to a bicycle ride. The conference took place within buildings belonging to the Department of Chemistry and Physics located on the Natural Sciences campus of the University of Münster. The facilities allowed hosting the short courses, three parallel lecture streams, the vendor and poster exhibition altogether closely connected.

Also the conference place was within walking distance of the city center, allowing us to explore its richness in history, art and culture as well as shopping opportunities. The social events provided ample time for further discussion and for establishing new cooperations, as well as means to get a first impression of the local culture. The conference dinner on Friday evening took place at the restaurant “Im Himmelreich” at Lake “Aasee”, and not only provided the opportunity to taste the local cuisine but also to dance to live music.

A great thanks goes to the sponsors for their support that reduced the costs of registration and the social events to a reasonable level and allowed extensive participation of students and scientists from all over the world. The exhibition of the vendors' latest products was a real enrichment for the event and a meeting place for fruitful discussions. Above all, what really makes the success of such an event is the contribution of participants. We would like to thank all delegates for their high level scientific presentations and their enthusiastic participation in all events.

The Third International Symposium on Metallomics 2011 followed the groundbreaking conferences held in Nagoya, Japan in 2007 and Cincinnati, USA in 2009. The goal of the organizers to consolidate this relatively new event and to highlight the interdisciplinary character of the research area of metallomics was clearly achieved. In order to continue this development of the conference as an excellent source of interaction for the metallomics research community, the scientific board have already fixed the next two issues. Continuing the already established “tradition” to move the conference between the places of most significant research activities in Asia, America and Europe, the next Metallomics symposium in 2013 will be organized by the group of Alfredo Sanz-Medel in Oviedo, Spain. In 2015, the symposium will return to Asia, where Prof. Xin-Rong Zhang and colleagues will organize the event in Beijing.

The current themed issue of Metallomics tries to capture the spirit of this event. While the following collection of articles is only a small selection of what was presented during the symposium, it might serve as an indicator of the scientific quality of the Metallomics symposium. The collection of papers also gives an impression of the different aspects of metallomics discussed during the symposium: development and exploration of tools for metallomics research such as PAGE/LA-ICP-MS, the use of the tools to determine metal(loid) species in cells and tissues, the use of metals for labeling of biomolecules, the study of the role of metals for the structure of biomolecules, the investigation of the binding sites of metals to biomolecules, the bioaccumulation of metals in biological systems, the mechanisms of metal toxicity and the activity of metallodrugs.

For those who participated in Münster, the next issue of the symposium in Oviedo in 2013 is already a fixed date in the agenda.

Michael Sperling

Co-Chair, Third International Symposium on Metallomics 2011

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