MetaboNews -- November 2016
MetaboNews Masthead
Published in partnership between
TMIC and the Metabolomics Society

Issue 63 - November 2016

CONTENTS:


Online version of this newsletter:
http://www.metabonews.ca/Nov2016/MetaboNews_Nov2016.htm

TMIC Services
TMIC Services

Welcome to the sixty-third issue of MetaboNews, a monthly newsletter published in partnership between The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC,
http://www.metabolomicscentre.ca/) and the international Metabolomics Society (http://www.metabolomicssociety.org/), to keep metabolomics researchers and other professionals informed about new technologies, software, databases, events, job postings, conferences, training opportunities, interviews, publications, awards, and other newsworthy items concerning metabolomics. MetaboNews represents the one-stop-shop for the very latest and most critical news about the science of metabolomics. In this issue, we feature a Conference Spotlight article highlighting Metabolomics 2016, the annual Metabolomics Society conference, and a metabolomics interview with Kerem Bingol of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA).


This issue of MetaboNews is supported by:

Metanomics Health
   
Chenomx -- Metabolite Discovery &

                      Measurement
Metanomics Health GmbH

Chenomx Inc.

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Metabolomics Society Logo

Metabolomics Society News


CONFERENCE CORNER

Metabolomics 2017, the 13th Annual Conference of the International Metabolomics Society
26th – 29th June, 2017, Brisbane, Australia http://metabolomics2017.org
Open Call to Society Members for Suggestions of Scientific Sessions, Symposia, Hot Topic Discussions and Workshops

Prof Melissa Fitzgerald and Dr Horst Joachim Schirra are delighted to extend this invitation to you to join us for Metabolomics 2017, the 13th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society, in Brisbane, Australia. The hosts are in the process of planning workshops and scientific sessions and welcome you to submit proposals for these important meetings. Please feel free to be as creative as you like with the structure of the sessions. Also, please advise which of the five major conference themes is best aligned with your suggestion: Metabolic Modelling, Natural Products, Edibilomics, Advancing the Field, Health and Wellness.

Deadline for submission of proposals to info@metabolomics2017.org has been extended to November 14, 2016.


MEMBERS CORNER

Early-career Members Network (EMN)

2016-2017 EMN Committee
The EMN Committee is pleased to announce our six new members: Tim Causon (Austria), Romanas Chaleckis (Japan), Charmion Cruickshank-Quinn (USA), Johannes Fahrmann (USA), Julia Kuligowski (Spain), and Candice Ulmer (USA). They will join seven committee members who will continue their term for a second year: Devin Benheim (Australia), Nicola Gray (UK), Aoife O’Gorman (Ireland), Stacey Reinke (Australia, new Chair), Jan Stanstrup (Denmark), Fidele Tugizimana (South Africa), and Baljit Ubhi (USA). Krista Zanetti will continue her role as the EMN Advisor; Justin van der Hooft will join her in an advisory role as Past Chair.

At this time, the EMN Committee would also like to extend our gratitude to outgoing committee members: Justin van der Hooft, Agneta Kiss, Biswapriya Misra, Nicholas Rattray, Jennifer Reid, and Ralf Weber. Their contributions to the EMN have been invaluable. We would like to extend a special thank you to Sastia Putri who is leaving us as Past Chair.

With our new committee members in place, we are currently allocating roles and working groups that will continue developing our webinar series, conference workshops, and new outreach activities. We would love to hear any suggestions or comments you have about how we can better engage with or provide support for early-career members. Please contact us at info.emn@metabolomicssociety.org.

EMN Webinar series – November 2016
The 11th EMN webinar series session will be on Thursday, 17th November 2016 (11:00 AM – 12:00 UTC). Our expert speaker for this session will be Dr Carl Brunius from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Department of Food Science. His presentation titled “Smarter ways to clean LC-MS data: Use of QCs for between- and within-batch signal correction”, aims to discuss methodologies or approaches that can be used to address measurement errors inherent to alterations in signal intensity, drift in mass accuracy and retention times between samples, both within and between batches, in untargeted LC-MS metabolomic studies. Please don’t miss out – the link for registration for this webinar session will be sent out soon.
All the videos for the EMN webinar series for 2015 and 2016 can be found on the Metabolomics Society website.

Membership News for 2016
Do you have ideas? The Membership Committee needs some innovative ideas about how to enhance Membership Benefits in 2017. If you have thought to yourself, “I wish they would …” then write it up and contact membership@metabolomicssociety.org.


TASK GROUPS CORNER

Industry Engagement Task Group
If your company is not currently a Corporate Member of the Metabolomics Society, please encourage your company managers to support the Society through a Corporate Membership. There are multiple benefits for our Corporate Members and the support of important companies helps the Society support the whole metabolomics community. Please consider supporting the Society through a Sponsorship for Metabolomics 2017 in Brisbane!

Data Standards Task Group
Survey on computational, storage and software requirements of omics infrastructures
PhenoMeNal has commissioned a survey to collect information on computational and storage requirements, as well as on some of the aspects of software usage for infrastructures managing metabolomics data. This information will help us to produce an infrastructure that provides tools effectively that are useful to the community. We would be grateful if you could contribute to the survey by clicking on the link below:
Computational, storage and software requirements of omics infrastructures: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YNTVTCJ


INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATES CORNER

Australian & New Zealand Metabolomics Network (ANZMN)
Visit http://www.anzmn.org
The 3rd Australian Lipid Meeting will be held at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne Australia from November 21-22, 2016. This event will cover all aspects of lipid biology and lipidomic research in Australia and should be of wide interest to the community. This will be a great event for lipid and lipidomics researchers; there will be three excellent international invited speakers and some of the top lipid researchers in Australia will be presenting. More details can be found on the website at https://www.bakeridi.edu.au/health-hub/events/ALM2016; if you want to find out more, please see https://www.dropbox.com/s/1c74dm7agyhkg6m/ALM%202016_A4%20poster.pdf?dl=0 for an event poster that can be shared with your friends and colleagues.

Scottish Metabolomics Network
Visit http://www.scottishmetabolomics.net/
In this newsletter, we welcome the Scottish Metabolomics Network as an affiliate of the Metabolomics Society. Scotland hosts a range of metabolomics and lipidomics groups from Glasgow and Edinburgh up to the Highlands and Islands (and many of the places in between!). In 2013 Glasgow hosted the International meeting of the Society in the magnificent Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, which was memorable for the great science and the Ceilidh! This month sees its annual meeting take place at the Centre for Health Science in Inverness, University of the Highlands and Islands on the 16th and 17th November, 2016. The meeting will bring together analytical chemists, bioinformaticians, and biologists to discuss advances and challenges in metabolomic analyses and their applications across a wide range of disciplines. For further details including the meeting programme and registration, please contact Lipidomics@uhi.ac.uk. For further information about the Scottish Metabolomics Network, please contact Karl Burgess (karl.burgess@glasgow.ac.uk).



 
Software Spotlight

Conference Spotlight


Metabolomics 2016: Scientific highlights from the annual Metabolomics conference

Lorraine Brennan1, Aifric O’Sullivan1, Stacey Reinke2, Justin van der Hooft3, Reza M Salek4, and Darren J Creek5
1University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
2Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
3University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
4European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
5Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Australia

The 12th annual international conference of the Metabolomics Society was held in Dublin Ireland from June 27th to July 30th 2016, and lived up to its reputation as the highlight of the metabolomics calendar. With over 600 oral and poster presentations and almost 1000 attendees, this was the largest attendance at a metabolomics conference in Europe to date. The conference provided an opportunity for both experienced and novice metabolomics researchers to share the latest methodologies and findings across diverse applications. The full list of abstracts can be viewed at www.metabolomics2016.org and some of the most memorable moments are described here:

Plenary Lectures

Highlights of the 12th annual metabolomics conference were the inspiring Plenary Sessions. Professor Jeremy Nicholson (Imperial College, London) opened the conference with a superb overview of what metabolic profiling can achieve. Of particular note was the development of the National Phenome Centres, which now has the ability to analyse patient and population-based samples with the goal to improve patient stratification through the use of metabolic phenotyping. Prof Nicholson also gave elegant examples of where metabolic profiling is at the forefront in developing our understanding of host-gut microbiota interactions. Finally, he gave a futuristic vision of how we can start to visualise metabolic data in multiple-dimensions.

Professor Luke O’Neill from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) delivered a fascinating talk about the interplay between metabolism and immunity. He elegantly showed how activated M1 macrophages have a reduction in respiration and malfunction of the Krebs cycle, leading to accumulation of succinate and citrate which act as signals to alter immune function. Other aspects of this exciting talk were the potential role for metabolic inhibitors as novel therapeutic approaches for inflammatory diseases. This talk was an inspiring example of how the use of metabolomics has enabled a paradigm shift in thinking in relation to immunity and infection.

Professor Ines Thiele (University of Luxembourg) presented a great overview of the computational modelling approaches that her group use to model human metabolism. She gave an exciting description of the “virtual metabolic human”.  The application of these models in combination with experimental data can allow one to examine how nutrition and genetics can impact on health.

Professor Tsutomu Masujima (RIKEN, Japan) delivered the final Plenary Lecture on the topic of Direct Metabolomics for Plant Single Cells. In his lecture he gave an overview of metabolomic analysis on live single-cells. This exciting technological talk demonstrated new and exciting avenues for MS-metabolomics and was an excellent close to the scientific sessions.

Professor Jeremy

            Nicholson

Figure 1.
Professor Jeremy Nicholson presenting the opening Plenary Lecture at Metabolomics 2016.

Early-career Members Network (EMN)

The EMN hosted a number of social, scientific and career-based events throughout the conference, including two highly anticipated workshops: Career Development and The Importance of Experimental Design, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control in Metabolomics. Professor Jules Griffin (University of Cambridge, UK) kicked off the morning session with an insightful recollection of his own academic career including tips to his younger self. During this time, he also shared motivating tips for those wishing to follow the same career path. Sinead Cullen (Life Science Recruitment, Ireland) followed with a valuable presentation on how to make oneself competitive in the science industry job market. In the Experimental Design workshop, Professor David Broadhurst (Edith Cowan University, Australia) used computer simulation to provide a fast-paced overview of the importance of estimating uncertainty in metabolomics experiments. Dr Warwick Dunn (University of Birmingham, UK) then followed with an essential discussion of the analytical and quality assurance measures that are necessary in metabolomics experiments. The third and final speaker, Dr Julia Kuligowski (Health Research Institute La Fe, Spain) explained quality control (QC) through data cleaning and how QC-based signal correction can be employed to improve data quality.

Two dedicated early-career oral sessions demonstrated the breadth of high-quality metabolomics research being performed by students and early-career post-doctoral scientists. Over 35 early-career travel award winners presented in the oral and poster sessions, including the prestigious Metabolomics Society prize-winners: Dr Andrew Palmer (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany) described technical advances in MALDI imaging workflows to underpin applications in spatial metabolomics, and Helena Gibbons (University College Dublin, Ireland) demonstrated a metabolomics approach to predict dietary patterns.

Poster sessions at Metabolomics 2016

Figure 2
. The poster sessions at Metabolomics 2016 were a highlight for many attendees.

The major event hosted by the EMN in Dublin was the EMN Reception, with over 100 attendees. At this event, early-career members heard from Professor Mark Viant (University of Birmingham, UK), the former Metabolomics Society President who started the EMN. Professor Viant provided a history of the EMN as well as thoughts for the future of this network. The EMN Committee also unveiled the new online discussion forum (http://www.metabolomics-forum.com/). This forum, which is a combined continuation of earlier metabolomics-related forums, will provide a valuable platform for the entire metabolomics community to ask questions and facilitate knowledge transfer.
           
Nutrition and food metabolomics

Nutrition and food metabolomics was a prominent theme in the Metabolomics 2016 programme, reflecting the significant growth of metabolomics applications in food, nutrition, and health research and the expanding literature base. There were five dedicated sessions for nutrition and food including; “Crop quality and food sustainability”, “Foodomics and food quality”, “Biomarkers of nutrition research”, “Nutrition and metabolism”, and “Metabolomic analysis of challenge tests”. Keynote speakers Professor Antonio Granell (Polytechnic University, Valencia, Spain) and Professor Melissa Fitzgerald (University of Queensland, Australia) led excellent sessions focused on metabolomics in crops, foods, and sustainability research. Both keynotes highlighted the strengths of metabolomics in the field with a particular emphasis on food quality from nutrition and sensory perspectives. Dr Fitzgerald connected sensory attributes of rice varieties with metabolites and further to genetic markers for those compounds. This metabolomic-driven pipeline offers opportunities for plant breeders to develop varieties that are more appealing to the consumer, resulting in higher market value. Other highlights from these sessions included Dr Linda Oude Griep (Imperial College London, UK) describing a metabolome-wide approach for identifying biomarkers of fruit intake across a large diverse cohort in the INTERMAP study. On the other extreme, Dr Gabi Kastenmüller (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany) and colleagues described the application of multiple metabolomics methodologies across a range of biofluids in response to several metabolic challenges in the relatively smaller sample of participants in the Humet Study. Both studies highlight the significant potential and the challenges in nutritional metabolomics research that demand infrastructures to store, integrate, and analyse complex multi-dimensional data.

Computational metabolomics and technical advancements

This year, as before, we saw great progress in the development of new computational tools, algorithms, and software for metabolomics data analysis and data handling. Several pre-conference workshops focused on computational tools including Data Sharing and Standardisation organised by Dr Reza Salek (EMBL-EBI) and data standards task group, MetaRbolomics: The R toolbox for Metabolomics, organised by Dr Jan Stanstrup (Steno Diabetes Center, Denmark) and Dr Steffen Neumann (Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Germany), and Computational Workflows and Workflow Engines organised by Dr Christoph Steinbeck (EMBL-EBI, UK). Many innovative tools and algorithms were presented in the oral and poster sessions including batch correction strategies, power and multiblock analysis, metabolite identification and spectral library search engines. Likewise, new advances in instruments and methodologies were presented from both academics and industry, including a popular session focused on improving the identification of metabolites.

Summary

The central role of metabolomics for enhancing our understanding of biology, from the origins of metabolism, to cells, organisms, diseases, populations and ecosystems, was repeatedly emphasised throughout the conference. A unique session about ‘Green Systems Biology’ was a classic example that demonstrated the integration of metabolomics with other systems-based tools to facilitate improved outcomes for plants, animals, and the environment. The quality and quantity of metabolomics science on display at Metabolomics 2016 was, as expected, matched by the Dublin hospitality that nurtured the development of new friendships and collaborations to continue to develop the metabolomics community. As the field continues to progress at a rapid rate, planning is well-advanced for the 2017 annual Metabolomics conference to be held in Brisbane, Australia, from 26-29 June, 2017, with the theme of ‘Building Bridges’ (www.metabolomics2017.org).


Please note: If you know of any metabolomics research programs, software, databases, statistical methods, meetings, workshops, or training sessions that we should feature in future issues of this newsletter, please email Ian Forsythe at metabolomics.innovation@gmail.com.
 MetaboInterview Icon

MetaboInterview

This section features interviews with prominent researchers in the field of metabolomics. The aim of these interviews is to shed light on metabolomics researchers around the world and give them an opportunity to share their metabolomics story. In this issue, we feature an interview with Kerem Bingol.

Staff Scientist, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
Kerem

                  Bingol


Biography

Kerem Bingol is a staff scientist in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland/WA, USA). EMSL is a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research (DOE-OBER). Dr. Bingol’s research focuses on the analysis of complex biological mixtures in the context of metabolomics by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.


Metabolomics Interview (MN, MetaboNews; KB, Kerem Bingol)

MN: How did you get involved in metabolomics?

KB: In college, I specialized in three areas: chemistry, molecular biology and genetics, and scientific computation. In considering PhD programs I looked for a research area where I could combine all of my research interests, which metabolomics addressed nicely. I joined Rafael Bruschweiler’s lab at Florida State University, where I learned how to use NMR spectroscopy to analyze complex metabolite mixtures (Anal Chem 2014). During my postdoc, I expanded my research area to include mass spectrometry-based metabolomics (Curr Opin Biotechnol 2017).

MN: What are some of the most exciting aspects of your work in metabolomics?

KB: We developed customized metabolomics databases for 2D NMR experiments, which provided more accurate metabolite identification versus other available databases. The 13C-TOCCATA customized database is optimized for querying 13C-13C TOCSY spectra of uniformly 13C-labeled metabolomics samples, whereas the 1H(13C)-TOCCATA customized database permits querying 1H-1H TOCSY and 13C-1H HSQC-TOCSY spectra of complex metabolite mixtures with natural abundance 13C. The COLMAR HSQC metabolomics database was developed for querying 13C-1H HSQC spectra by sorting the HSQC spectra of metabolites into individual slowly interchanging isomeric states; as long as one of the isomers are detectable, the molecule can be identified. These publicly available web servers provide new capabilities to the metabolomics community and will continue to expand as new features are added to the COLMAR web server (http://spin.ccic.ohio-state.edu/index.php/colmar).

MN: What key metabolomics initiatives are you pursuing at your research centre or institute?

KB: We are taking a multiplatform (MS and NMR) approach to our metabolomics studies based on the complementary information that NMR and MS provide. We recently developed a hybrid 1D 1H NMR/ESI MS1 approach that allows accurate and unambiguous identification of catalogued (i.e., known) metabolites detected in 1D 1H NMR and direct infusion ESI MS1 spectra of the same sample. This approach provides more accurate metabolite identification than individual analysis of 1D 1H NMR and ESI MS1 spectra (Magn Reson Chem 2016).

MN: What is happening in your country in terms of metabolomics?

KB: It is a good time to work in the area of metabolomics in the United States. Various U.S. funding agencies are showing increased interest in the scientific questions that can be answered through metabolomics methods. Universities, government agencies, and companies have started to set up core facilities specifically designed for metabolomics research that include both MS and NMR systems. This makes state-of-the-art measurements more affordable and more accessible to the larger research community.

MN: How do you see your work in metabolomics being applied today or in the future?

KB: We anticipate that the COLMAR web server will become a commonly used metabolite identification tool in the analysis of biological, biomedical, environmental, agricultural, and nutritional samples. The growing popularity of the COLMAR web server (http://spin.ccic.ohio-state.edu/index.php/colmar) within the NMR metabolomics community is reflected in its regular use by users from 50 countries worldwide. We ascribe this trend partly to the built-in interactive features we have started to add, which make COLMAR significantly more flexible and user-friendly.

MN: As you see it, what are metabolomics' greatest strengths?

KB: Most of the interactions between living organisms and their environment occur through small molecules and metabolites. Therefore, metabolomics is an excellent methodology to study these interactions. Metabolomics gives direct functional read-out of living systems and, when combined with the other omics approaches, can provide comprehensive understanding of biological phenomena. I think one of the best places in the world to study environmental interactions is at the EMSL at PNNL. Here at EMSL, scientists focus on understanding the interaction of microbes, fungi, and plants with their environment. EMSL’s capabilities are available to researchers worldwide through a peer-reviewed proposal process, typically at no cost. For more information, visit https://www.emsl.pnl.gov/emslweb/.


MN: What do you see as the greatest barriers for metabolomics? 


KB:
Metabolites are chemically diverse and are present in a wide range of concentrations. Therefore, detection of all metabolites can be challenging even when combining multiple analytical techniques, and in many cases is simply not possible. Moreover, many of the signals arising in MS and NMR spectra of metabolomics samples belong to molecules that are not available in metabolomics databases. Identification of these ‘unknown’ molecules is a challenge. For the identification of unknowns, we recently developed the SUMMIT MS/NMR approach (Anal Chem 2015). We expect that SUMMIT MS/NMR and other hybrid NMR/MS approaches will be suitable for high-throughput applications for the discovery of unknown metabolites in biological mixtures, without the need for experimental MS and NMR metabolite databases or extensive metabolite purification.
 

MN: What improvements, technological or otherwise, need to take place for metabolomics to really take off?

KB: Many of the researchers interested in utilizing metabolomics methods to address a question of practical importance have little or no training in metabolomics. Easy to use web servers and software will decrease domain barriers and would be a significant factor in increasing the use of metabolomics methods within the larger biological community.


MN: How does the future look in terms of funding for metabolomics?


KB: There is increasing interest in metabolomics from different funding agencies. I think the future looks positive for metabolomics. 

MN: What role can metabolomics standards play?

KB: Metabolomics standards are important for inter-laboratory comparisons and reproducibility, and therefore play an important role in metabolomics.

MN: Do you have any other comments that you wish to share about metabolomics?


KB: I think metabolomics is an excellent research field to work in. I strongly encourage junior researchers to pursue a career in metabolomics. I recommend becoming proficient in both MS and NMR techniques as these provide complementary information. Finally, metabolomics generates large data sets requiring extensive analysis; this is where programming experience would prove useful.

 
Please note: We are open to suggestions for our MetaboInterviews section. Please send suggestions for future interview candidates to Ian Forsythe at metabolomics.innovation@gmail.com.

Metabolomics Current

                                Contents

Metabolomics Current Contents


Recently published papers in metabolomics:

Metabolomics Events

Metabolomics Events

15-18 Nov 2016


Metabolic Phenotyping in Disease Diagnosis and Personalised Health Care

Venue: Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, UK

Students: £500
Academic: £800
Industry: £1150

A lecture based course detailing an overview of metabolic phenotyping including the use of NMR spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry, with insights from the experts at Imperial College and collaborators from all over the world. Lectures will cover data acquisition and analysis with some advanced statistical workshops for more hands-on participation for attendees. There will also be examples of real life applications from the research at Imperial College and their collaborators.

Day 1: Registration followed by session 1 which will cover an analytical technology (either NMR or MS) for metabolic profiling. A laboratory tour of the facilities will follow.

Day 2: Session 2 will cover the alternative analytical technique (NMR / MS) and will be followed by session 3 which will introduce the theory to statistical analysis.

Day 3: Session 4 covers more advanced chemometrics, such as OPLS and O2PLS and includes hands-on workshops. Session 5 will introduce metabolite identification in both NMR and MS and cover some tips and tricks to avoid common pitfalls.

Day 4: The final day will cover some of the real life applications of NMR and MS for metabolic phenotyping.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/imperial-international-phenome-training-centre/courses/metabolic-phenotyping-in-disease-diagnosis-and-personalised-health-care/ or contact Dr Liz Want (iptc@imperial.ac.uk) for further information.

22-25 Nov 2016


Hands on Data Analysis for Metabolic Profiling

Venue: Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, UK

Earlybird: £900
Standard: £1100

This 4 day course provides a comprehensive overview of data analysis for metabolic profiling studies with data acquired from NMR spectroscopy and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. It combines lectures and tutorial sessions to ensure a thorough understanding of the theory and practical applications.

Day 1: Introductory lectures and tutorials regarding the pre-processing of data acquired via NMR and LC-MS.

Day 2: Lectures and tutorials introducing exploratory chemometrics approaches, including PCA.

Day 3: Lectures and tutorials covering advanced chemometrics techniques including PLS and Orthogonal PLS.

Day 4: The next step - computational tools to aid metabolite identification and pathway analysis.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/imperial-international-phenome-training-centre/courses/hands-on-data-analysis-for-metabolic-profiling/ or contact Dr Liz Want (iptc@imperial.ac.uk) for further information.

23-25 Nov 2016


Metabolomics with the Q Exactive

Venue: Birmingham Metabolomics Training Centre, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

This 3-day course will introduce you to using the Q Exactive mass spectrometer in your metabolomics investigations. The course is aimed at students and researchers with minimal previous experience of applying LC-MS in metabolomics. The course will be led by experts in the field and include lectures, laboratory sessions and computer workshops to provide
  • An introduction to metabolomics and using the Q Exactive mass spectrometer in your studies
  • Polar and non-polar sample preparation for profiling and targeted studies
  • Data acquisition for profiling and targeted studies
  • Data processing and data analysis
  • Introduction to metabolite identification
The course will finish with a question and answer session with a panel of experts.

For further information and registration details, please visit http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/metabolomics-training-centre/courses/q-exactive.aspx or contact bmtc@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

28 Nov to 2 Dec 2016


Workflow4Experimenters (W4E) Course 2016

Venue: ABiMS platform, Roscoff, France

Using Galaxy and the Workflow4metabolomics infrastructure to analyse metabolomics data

Overview: Pre-processing, statistical analysis, and annotation of metabolomics data is a complex task. The Workflow4metabolomics online infrastructure provides a user-friendly and high-performance environment with advanced computational modules for building, running, and sharing complete workflows for LC-MS, GC-MS, and NMR analysis (Giacomoni et al., 2015).

Goals:
During this one-week course, participants will learn how to use the W4M infrastructure to analyze their own dataset.Morning sessions will be dedicated to methodology and tools. Afternoon sessions will be devoted to tutoring.

Target audience: LC-MS, GC-MS and NMR experimenters (e.g., biologists, chemists)
Registration fee: 750 € (Academia) and 1400 € (Industry); Fees include accommodations but not travel expenses
Language: English
Contact: contact@workflow4metabolomics.org

For further details, visit http://workflow4metabolomics.org/training/W4Mcourse2016.

8-10 Dec 2016


4th ICAN Conference Series on Precision Medicine in Cardiometabolic Diseases and Nutrition-Related Diseases
Venue: Saint James Albany Hotel, Paris France

Exceptionally Extended Abstract Submission Deadline! -- 11 November 2016
Open invitation to submit abstracts on the following topics: cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, NASH, dyslipidemia, and other cardiometabolic disorders. Notification of selection November 2016. Submit Abstract

On behalf of the steering committee, the Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (ICAN) is delighted to invite you to the fourth ICAN Conference Series on Precision Medicine in Cardiometabolic and Nutrition-related Diseases, which will take place in Paris, France, from December 8-10, 2016.

The ICAN Conference Series is an educational instrument directed and managed by ICAN and the scientific community. Since its inception in 2012, ICAN has organized three annual ICAN conferences, both of which were a fabulous success!

The ICAN conference Series aims to convene a dynamic, open, peer-reviewed symposium dedicated to exciting new frontiers in life science. Whether you are a geneticist, an immunologist, or virtually any other type of life science investigator, from academia, industry, or the government/non-profit sector, we are sure that you will find the ICAN Conference Series to be a valuable and memorable experience.

As for previous editions, we have coordinated a high-quality scientific program, with the unique opportunity of facilitating interactions between speakers and young investigators and researchers. Therefore the ICAN Conference Series Scientific Board will preferentially select junior researcher abstracts eligible for the reduced registration rate, and limit the total number of participants. Moreover, this year, certain young researchers will have the rare opportunity to co-chair each session.

We look forward to seeing you again this year!

Prof. Karine Clément
Director of ICAN

Program: http://www.ican-series.com/program
Registration & Rates: http://www.ican-series.com/registration-rates

For further details, visit http://www.ican-series.com/.

12-13 Dec 2016

Quality Assurance and Quality Control in Metabolic Phenotyping

Venue: Birmingham Metabolomics Training Centre, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK


This 2-day course will provide a comprehensive overview of the application of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) in metabolic phenotyping. The course is aimed at students and researchers who are actively working in the field. Experts who have developed the application of QA and QC procedures within the field will lead the course. It will include both theoretical and practical components to
  • Introduce QA and QC in metabolic phenotyping
  • The application of QA and QC in untargeted and targeted studies
  • Preparation of QCs and data acquisition
  • Data processing and reporting standards
The course will finish with a question and answer session with a panel of experts.

For further information and registration details, please visit http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/metabolomics-training-centre/courses/quality-phenotyping.aspx or contact bmtc@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

23-27 Jan 2017

Hands-on NMR for Metabolic Phenotyping

Venue: Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, UK


This week long course aims to cover how to perform a metabolic profiling experiment, from start to finish. It will cover study design, sample preparation, NMR spectrometer set up for global profiling, 2-dimensional NMR experiments and spectral data analysis.

It combines lectures and tutorial sessions to ensure a thorough understanding of the theory and practical applications. Topics covered include:
  • NMR-based metabonomics and NMR theory
  • Experimental design, Topspin software and plotting, and pulse sequences
  • Statistics and data pre-processing
  • Metabolite ID and 2D NMR
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/imperial-international-phenome-training-centre/courses/hands-on-nmr-spectroscopy-for-metabolic-profiling

or contact Rebecca Smith (rebecca.smith2@imperial.ac.uk) for further information.

10-14 Feb 2017

Phenome 2017

Venue: Hilton El Conquistador Resort, Tucson, Arizona, USA


The Phenome 2017 conference is an important step in the development of a path toward training and collaboration among disciplines that are poised to address critical social issues and to generate greater understanding about plants and climate change. This first conference will bring together a multidisciplinary community comprising plant biologists, ecologists, engineers, agronomists, and computer scientists.

Please share this flyer with your members of your department and encourage your students to register to attend the meeting. Highly relevant abstracts submitted by November 1 may be considered to give a talk during one of the sessions.

Please visit www.phenome2017.org to register and learn more about the meeting.

13-17 Feb 2017

EMBO Practical Course on Metabolomics Bioinformatics for Life Scientists

Venue: European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) - Training Room 2 - Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge,  CB10 1SD, United Kingdom


Application opens: Monday August 08 2016
Application deadline: Friday November 11 2016
Participation: Open application with selection
Contact: Maria Bacadare Goitia
Registration fee: £350

Overview
This course will provide an overview of key issues that affect metabolomics studies, handling datasets and procedures for the analysis of metabolomics data using bioinformatics tools. It will be delivered using a mixture of lectures, computer-based practical sessions and interactive discussions. The course will provide a platform for discussion of the key questions and challenges in the field of metabolomics, from study design to metabolite identification.

Audience
This course is aimed at PhD students, post-docs and researchers with at least one year’s experience in the field of metabolomics who are seeking to improve their skills in metabolomics data analysis. Participants ideally must have working experience using R (including a basic understanding of the syntax and ability to manipulate objects).

For more information, please visit https://www.ebi.ac.uk/training/events/2017/embo-practical-course-metabolomics-bioinformatics-life-scientists-3.

11-13 May 2017

Metabolism in Time and Space: Emerging Links to Cellular and Developmental Programs

Venue:
EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

T. Alexandrov, A. Aulehla, P. Dorrestein, O. Leyser, S. McKnight, N. Perrimon

Deadlines
  • Registration - 30 Mar 2017
  • Abstract - 16 Feb 2017

Download Poster

Topics

  • Metabolism in time and space
  • Mechanistic insights - crosstalk metabolism/cellular functions
  • Metabolic control of development
  • Metabolism in growth control
  • Beyond the canonical roles of metabolism

Latest News

  • Registration is now open. Please visit the registration page for more information.
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Why attend?
This symposium focuses on the role of metabolism in controlling cellular and developmental programs in its spatial and temporal complexity. There is a fundamental interest in deciphering the intricate link between metabolism and regulatory cellular programs during cell differentiation and the development of multicellular organisms. Recent technological progress has enabled us to analyse metabolism and metabolic activities with spatio-temporal resolution. This creates unprecedented potential to address how metabolic state impacts on cellular and developmental programs.

Aims
It is the overarching goal of this meeting to enable interdisciplinary discussion on the role of metabolism in controlling cellular and developmental programs in its spatial and temporal complexity. Special focus will be given to discuss emerging imaging or biosensor technologies and bioinformatics and how they can enable addressing fundamental biological questions.

For more information, visit http://www.embo-embl-symposia.org/symposia/2017/EES17-01/index.html

17-18 May 2017

Conference on Food and Nutritional Metabolomics for Health

Venue: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA


The purpose of this two-day event is to disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge in the field of food and nutritional metabolomics and foster networking and collaboration among colleagues and industry partners.

For more information please visit: https://discovery.osu.edu/focus-areas/foods-for-health/events/conference-2017.html.

26-29 June 2017

Metabolomics 2017

Venue: Brisbane, Australia



The 13th Annual International Conference of the Metabolomics Society will be held in Brisbane from June 26-29, 2017. Check back for updates in the coming months at http://metabolomics2017.org.


Please note: If you know of any metabolomics lectures, meetings, workshops, or training sessions that we should feature in future issues of this newsletter, please email Ian Forsythe (metabolomics.innovation@gmail.com).
Metabolomics Jobs

Metabolomics Jobs

This is a resource for advertising positions in metabolomics. If you have a job you would like posted in this newsletter, please email Ian Forsythe (metabolomics.innovation@gmail.com). Job postings will be carried for a maximum of four issues (eight weeks) unless the position is filled prior to that date.

Jobs Offered

Job Title Employer Location Posted Closes Source
Post-doctoral Fellow/Staff Scientist [Musculoskeletal Metabolomics]
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA 7-Nov-2016 Until filled Metabolomics Society
Senior Associate Researcher
Mount Sinai Health System New York City, New York, USA 4-Nov-2016 Until filled Metabolomics Society
Analytical Chemist, Research Fellow
Biological Research Centre Szeged, Hungary 4-Nov-2016 16-Dec-2016 Metabolomics Society
Postdoc positions Metabolomics/Bioinformatics
Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry Halle, Germany
1-Nov-2016 30-Nov-2016 Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Post Doctoral Fellow in Mass Spectrometry-based Metabolomics Research
Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina, USA 27-Oct-2016 27-Nov-2016 Metabolomics Society
Research Assistant
Centro Cardiologico Monzino Milan, Italy 26-Oct-2016 Until filled Metabolomics Society
Postdoctoral Research Associate Position Available, NMR-Based Metabolomics Core Laboratory
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
18-Oct-2016
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
PhD Candidate, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM) - department of Bioinformatics
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands
15-Oct-2016 13-Nov-2016 Maastricht University
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Philip Morris International (PMI) Neuchatel, Switzerland 14-Oct-2016 1-Jan-2017
Metabolomics Society
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa
18-Aug-2016 Until filled
Metabolomics Society
Director, Mass Spectrometry and Bio-Analytical Operations
Stemina Biomarker Discovery Madison, Wisconsin, USA
15-Aug-2016 15-Nov-2016
Metabolomics Society


Jobs Wanted


This section is intended for very highly qualified individuals (e.g., lab managers, professors, directors, executives with extensive experience) who are seeking employment in metabolomics. We encourage these individuals to submit their position requests to Ian Forsythe (metabolomics.innovation@gmail.com). Upon review, a limited number of job submissions will be selected for publication in the Jobs Wanted section.
  • There are currently no positions being advertised.


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