King's College London's Melanie Bailey discusses biomarker discovery, non-invasive sampling, and LC-MS/MS in translational research (bioanalysis-zone.com)

• Professor Bailey advocates for non-invasive sampling (saliva, fingerprints) to improve patient comfort and clinical efficiency.
• Metabolomics and lipidomics via mass spectrometry are preferred for detecting early, transient biomarkers.
• Waters' new LC-MS/MS method enables analysis of ~500 lipid markers per sample, boosting biomarker panel discovery.
• Challenges include biomarker variability across populations and environments, often causing translational failures.

"In an interview with Bioanalysis Zone, Professor Melanie Bailey from King's College London discusses biomarker discovery challenges, emphasizing the use of metabolomics and lipidomics via mass spectrometry for early disease detection. She highlights the importance of non-invasive sampling methods (saliva, sweat, fingerprints) to improve patient comfort and clinical efficiency. Bailey notes recent advances from Waters enabling analysis of ~500 lipid markers per sample via LC-MS/MS, and points to emerging low-volume detection technologies as promising for patient-friendly diagnostics."