Chromatography (Hands-on Course)

Learn the technical, practical and analytical skills to operate protein chromatography systems and to optimise separation parameters.

This course provides delegates with an introduction to the basic principles of protein chromatography and the practical experience of operating an AKTA system.

During the course delegates will be able to understand the performance of the AKTA, write and run scripts on the AKTA and be able to run a chromatographic separation according to a standard operating procedure (SOP). They would be able to extract, analyse and interpret data from the AKTA as well as learning to optimise chromatography process parameters for a typical monoclonal antibody (mAb) separation.

Hands-on sessions will be supplemented with introductory lectures and trouble-shooting sessions. Industrial speakers will share their experience of Chromatography technologies and their industrial application.

This course is designed for scientists and engineers who are new to laboratory scale chromatography operations and provides them with the practical skills underpinning industrial downstream process development and scale-up. It is also designed for individuals coming from other industry sectors who need to update their skill set for work in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries.

This MBI is recommended for:

  • Scientists, technical staff, engineers, and individuals with experience within the biotechnology industry wishing to increase their knowledge of downstream operations in a modern bioprocessing plant, through lectures and hands-on training are welcome to attend the course.

Jahafar Nazar is a Downstream Bioprocess Training Specialist with a postgraduate degree in Biochemical Engineering. She has industrial experience as a design engineer working on the design and development of parallel reactor technologies along with technology transfer and training for end users.  She has carried out research in cell-free protein synthesis and has knowledge of finding optimal reaction conditions using Design of Experiments. She is involved in a range of RESILIENCE training activities including outreach activities with schools and young people to attract them to careers in medicines manufacturing.


Day 1

  • Introduction to UCL and the MBI Training Programme
  • Lecture delivery on Chromatography, basic principles and relevance to industrial processes, module objectives
  • Taking Delegates to see the AKTA. Taking them through the functioning of the AKTA, pumps, properties and software
  • Virtual Reality (VR) session. Delegates will have a VR session on column packing and testing the integrity of the packing
  • Trouble shooting with the AKTA, showing delegates what errors could occur and how to correct them. Introducing delegates to script writing.


Day 2

  • Review of SOP and delegates will practice script writing
  • How to extract information from UNICORN software
  • Write and carry out CIP runs
  • Write script for the Purification of mAb using protein A columns

     

Day 3

  • Extracting data from the AKTA and understanding the importance of interpreting data
  • Problem solving exercise

Key Information

Dates: 20 - 22 May 2025
Module Leader: Jahafar Nazar
Location: Bernard Katz Building, Bloomsbury
Price: £1950

Contact

E: mbi-training@ucl.ac.uk
T: +44 (0) 20 7679 9613