MetaboNews Masthead
Published in partnership between
TMIC and the Metabolomics Society
Issue 42 - February 2015

CONTENTS:


Online version of this newsletter:
 http://www.metabonews.ca/Feb2015/MetaboNews_Feb2015.htm

Welcome to the forty-second 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 Spotlight article on BioStatFlow, a Statistical Analysis Workflow for "Omics" Data, and a metabolomics interview with James MacRae of the National Institute for Medical Research.
This issue of MetaboNews is supported by:

Metanomics Health
    
Chenomx -- Metabolite Discovery & Measurement    
mzCloud™ Logo
Metanomics Health GmbH
Chenomx Inc.
mzCloud Mass Spectral Database

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Metabolomics Society Logo

Metabolomics Society News

CONFERENCE CORNER

11th Annual International Conference of the Metabolomics Society
Location: San Francisco, USA
Date: June 29 - July 2, 2015
Website: http://metabolomics2015.org/
Registrations and abstract submissions are now open for the premier metabolomics conference of 2015. 
The Metabolomics Society is proud to announce the provision of 20 travel awards of $500 each to assist young members to attend the conference. 10 awards are available to student members of the Society and 10 new awards are available to non-student early-career members within 5 years of their highest degree (e.g., post-docs). Winners will be selected based on the abstracts, and you need to be a member of the Metabolomics Society at least 3 months prior to the conference (by 29th March) to be eligible. Sign up or renew now to avoid disappointment! http://metabolomicssociety.org/members-center/membership

Members-only benefit: Are you organizing a metabolomics event?
The Metabolomics Society can provide small grants to support events that promote metabolomics. The funding may be used to provide student prizes, travel awards or catering for small events such as symposia, workshops, seminars and short-courses. The Society may also sponsor larger conferences where there is strategic opportunity to promote metabolomics science within other scientific disciplines.
In 2015 we will be supporting:
-    Practical Applications of NMR in Industry Conference (PANIC), La Jolla, USA, February 9 - 12 2015, http://www.panicnmr.com/
-    Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry and Asia Oceania Mass Spectrometry Conference, Brisbane, Australia, July 19-22 2015, http://www.anzsms25.com/
For more information, or to apply for funding for your event, see: http://metabolomicssociety.org/index.php/events/event-funding


MEMBERS CORNER

 Early-career Members Network (EMN)
The EMN is dedicated to and run by early-career scientists who are members of the Metabolomics Society and are from academia, government, or industry. The network aims to provide a forum for metabolomics researchers at the start of their professional career.

 EMN webinar series
The EMN is planning to establish a series of online webinars. These sessions will range from very basic requirements across our discipline to more dedicated sessions with top scientists in metabolomics.
Our first session of the EMN webinar by Dr. Oscar Yanes was a great success, almost 120 people tuned in and the feedback we received from the audience were very positive (average 4 out of 5 satisfaction)! Oscar gave a fantastic presentation on the complex and multidisciplinary nature of metabolomics, and dedicated ample time at the end to answer as many questions as possible from the audience! He provided all of us with a great overview of challenges we all face in modern metabolomics practice. Note that a recording of the webinar will be made freely available via the Metabolomics Society website. Make sure to check the Metabolomics Society website, Twitter, Facebook for updates on our upcoming webinars!

11th Annual International Conference of the Metabolomics Society
The EMN will host four workshop sessions tailored for the needs of the early-career members. To attend the conference and workshops, you can apply for the Early-Career Travel Awards. More details to follow soon!

Please feel free to contact us via info.emn@metabolomicssociety.org if you have any suggestions or comments regarding our planned activities this year (i.e., online webinars and workshops). If you think you have a great idea for a new activity we should organise then please do share with us; the EMN can only be a success with your support and ideas!!

 Membership News for 2015
The opportunity for Early Bird enrollment is rapidly drawing to a close. To receive the discounted membership rate, you must enroll or renew your membership by February 28th. All previous memberships expired at the end of 2014, so unless you have joined or renewed, you will Miss Out on all the benefits of Metabolomics Society membership.

You can renew your membership or enroll for 2015 here. After you register, please make a note of your membership number; this will help you access future events and activities that will be offered in 2015.

We have had a few people contact us about upgrading their membership details. You can currently change your details yourself by logging into your membership pages and clicking on “Personal Info”. Currently, for security reasons, if you want to change your name or email address, you will need to contact us directly to do this.

INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATES CORNER

Australian & New Zealand Metabolomics Network (ANZMN)
Visit https://sites.google.com/site/anzmn2/
ANZMN Logo
We have had a slight change in management at the ANZMN. As regular readers will know, our founding president Associate Professor Ute Roessner was recently elected as president of the Metabolomics Society. As this is a bit of increase in workload she has stepped down as president of the ANZMN. After internal discussion, we are pleased to announce that Dr Oliver Jones from RMIT University (http://bit.ly/1whrHko) will be taking over as president, Dr Darren Creek from Monash University (http://bit.ly/17RCEF3) steps up as vice president, and Dr Konstantinos Kouremenos from the Bio21 institute (http://bit.ly/1uaECL0) is now secretary and webmaster. It has been suggested that committee posts should last for two years and the ANZMN committee will produce more formal guidelines later on in the year.

Proteomics and Metabolomics Victoria in Australia is also pleased to announce their new website at http://pmv.org.au/ for all interested parties.


Swiss Metabolomics Society (SMS)
Visit www.swiss-metabolomics.org
Swiss Metabolomics Society Logo
 Happy New Year from all of us in the Swiss Metabolomics Society. We wish you a great start to 2015. It will be an exciting year for metabolomics in Switzerland and across the globe!

The SMS was established in late 2014 as a multidisciplinary platform to bring scientists and clinicians together around a common interest in metabolomics. We are happy to announce that our foundation meeting will take place on January 20, 2015 in Zürich. This meeting will mark the beginning of the metabolomics community coming together and getting organized in Switzerland. 

We are looking forward to 2015 as an affiliate of the International Metabolomics Society, and are planning some interesting seminars and symposia throughout the year, covering a range of topics from software development to workflow design. Please visit http://swiss-metabolomics.org/ for more information.


Netherlands Metabolomics Centre (NMC) - new affiliate country organisation
Visit www.metabolomicscentre.nl/
Netherlands Metabolomics Centre Logo
The Metabolomics Society is pleased to welcome the Netherlands Metabolomics Centre as new affiliate country organisation. NMC has been one of the pioneering programs in Europe developing metabolomics technology and applying this in the broad field of Life Sciences. Since 2014 NMC has been an independent foundation, open to international partners. NMC unites universities, university medical centres, research institutes, and private partners ranging from multinationals to SMEs in their endeavors to develop metabolomics technologies and to apply these in the broad field of life sciences. NMC is a founding partner of the Dutch Techcentre for Life Sciences, home of the Dutch node ELIXIR, the European Life Sciences data research infrastructure. Furthermore, NMC collaborates with BBMRI, the European biobank research infrastructure.

NMC stimulates public-private agenda setting, development of (inter)national research projects, standardization efforts, and the upkeep and further development of metabolomics research facilities. Furthermore, the foundation fosters activities in the field of education & professional training, lobbying at (inter)national granting organisations, communication and knowledge dissemination of Metabolomics Technologies including the associated data analysis, (multi-omics) data fusion, and modelling of research data in the context of Integrated Life Sciences.

PUBLICATIONS CORNER

 Metabolomics journal, Vol. 11, Issue 1, February 2015
See the latest issue of our journal at: http://link.springer.com/journal/11306/11/1/page/1

In addition to the many excellent research papers, this issue contains the following contributions on the Metabolomics Society pages:
 Stay abreast of the latest metabolomics news via the Twitter feed on the front page of the website. Also you can follow us on Twitter: Metabolomics Society @MetabolomicsSoc and Metabolomics journal @Metabolomics. And you can visit us on Facebook.

 
 Software Spotlight

Statistical Spotlight

 BioStatFlow Logo

BioStatFlow: Statistical Analysis Workflow for "Omics" Data
Feature article contributed by Daniel Jacob, Bioinformatician, Catherine Deborde, Chemist, and Annick Moing, Biologist, Bordeaux Metabolome Facility, MetaboHUB and INRA, UMR1332 Fruit Biology and Pathology, University of Bordeaux, Villenave d'Ornon, France

BioStatFlow is available online: http://biostatflow.org

A web-based tool for Statistical Analysis

BioStatFlow is a web application designed for the analysis of "omics", including metabolomics, data with statistical methods. It deals with the analysis of data sets generated from experiments. Typically, an experiment is organized to ensure that the right type of data will be produced to answer the questions of interest as efficiently as possible. This process is called experimental design. The specific questions that the experiment is intended to answer must be clearly identified before carrying out the experiment. In particular, this implies the choice of experimental factors. Such experimental factors are controlled independent variables whose levels are set by the experimenter. Treatments (e.g., control vs. stress), genotype (e.g., wild-type vs. mutant), the course of time (e.g., development stage), or even tissue types, are typical experimental factors.

Omics experiments yield large amounts of data, too much to be interpreted by the human eye. A combination of multivariate and univariate data analyses are therefore essential to extract and visualize the information of interest. Biologists need to gain basic knowledge about the statistics employed to critically contribute to and evaluate their experimental design, protocols, and results. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of useful, fast, and easy online statistical tools for those who are not experts in statistics. BioStatFlow has been developed to meet this need.

Purposes of BioStatFlow
  1. BioStatFlow aims at facilitating access to statistical tools for biologists who are not specialists in statistics. It has been designed to execute statistical analyses sequentially, i.e., a linear chain of statistical processing, referred to as a “workflow” in BioStatFlow. The default workflow is based on a set of use cases identified (mainly around metabolomics, [1], [2]). It gathers a set of univariate and multivariate methods, allowing biologists to have a complete view of their data. Indeed, each of these approaches brings a different point of view (as recently discussed in [3]). Multivariate methods make use of covariances or correlations which reflect the extent of the relationships among the variables, whereas univariate methods focus solely on the mean and the variance of a single variable.

  2. BioStatFlow allows bioinformaticians to easily integrate a new method of statistical analysis into a workflow, or even create their own workflows. Upon request to the BioStatFlow developer, new statistical methods based on recent R packages can be integrated, therefore making them available to biologists around the world.

  3. BioStatFlow helps disseminate the results of statistical analyses by saving them in a persistent session so that they can be fully restored. One can thus provide the session identifier when publishing results, by communicating the URL based on the template "biostatflow.org/view/<sessionID>". See an example online of a project presentation with the embedded statistical analyses: http://www.bordeaux.inra.fr/pmb/projects/t06002/wiki


Quick Overview

1. How to use BioStatFlow

Overview of how to use BioStatFlow

Figure 1. Overview of how to use BioStatFlow —see http://biostatflow.org/doc/

2. BioStatFlow is based on a typical workflow as shown below:

Default workflow implemented in BioStatFlow

Figure 2. The default workflow implemented in BioStatFlow.

First, to normalize the dataset, a set of analysis is proposed as a static sequence. At this stage, users must follow the sequence order. In some cases, because of experimental issues with the analytical equipment, the levels of some analytical variables (features) cannot be determined. In other cases where users want to compare different experiments, missing value estimation and data scaling are helpful pre-processing steps. This latter case is the default use case (default workflow). Users can choose any additional methods depending on the dataset and the corresponding experimental design (i.e., factors), in order to: i) visualize the whole data, ii) reveal biomarkers, iii) analyze interactions between factors, iv) discriminate groups, etc.
 
The input to each step takes the output of the previous step.

If a statistical treatment generates a data table (matrix) as an output, it will be used as the input for the next step. Otherwise, if the treatment only generates results (texts and images) but does not change the input array, the latter will be directly taken as output.
 
Each statistical treatment step can be written as an R script (most common) or as a PERL script, embedding binary tools (such as MATLAB compiled scripts).


3. Examples of univariate and multivariate output results

Click on the thumbnail image below to view a larger version of the image.

Several examples of univariate and multivariate output results produced by BioStatFlow

Figure 3. Several examples of univariate and multivariate output results produced by BioStatFlow, on a 1H-NMR metabolomics profiling dataset of tomato [4]. All results can easily be downloaded.


References
  1. Brown M. et al. (2005). A metabolome pipeline: from concept to data to knowledge. Metabolomics, 1:39-51.
  2. Steinfath M. et al. (2008) Metabolite profile analysis: from raw data to regression and classification. Physiologia Plantarum, 132:150-161 (Review).
  3. Saccenti E. et al. (2014) Reflections on univariate and multivariate analysis of metabolomics data. Metabolomics, 10:361-374 (Review).
  4. Mounet F. et al. (2007) Quantitative metabolic profiles of tomato flesh and seeds during fruit development: complementary analysis with ANN and PCA. Metabolomics, 3:273-288.


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 James MacRae.
James MacRae
Head of Metabolomics at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), London, United Kingdom
James MacRae
Biography

James MacRae is Head of Metabolomics at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London, U.K. (www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk) and will be taking up the same role at The Francis Crick Institute (www.crick.ac.uk) when it opens in late 2015. James has been in the field of mass spectrometry for over 14 years, with his PhD focusing on glycobiology and in trypanosomatid parasites (at the University of Dundee, U.K.), then moving into apicomplexan parasite metabolomics through his post-doctoral research at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include development of novel and bespoke mass spectrometry-based metabolomics techniques in order to address a variety of metabolism-based research areas, focusing in particular on host-pathogen interactions and cancer metabolism.

Metabolomics Interview (MN, MetaboNews; JM, James MacRae)

 MN: How did you get involved in metabolomics?

JM: My first foray into metabolomics came while I was working in the laboratory of Professor Malcolm McConville at the University of Melbourne. We wanted to observe the metabolism of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, in a holistic manner, and see how this might explain the prevalence and success of the disease. Much of the early work was in the development of suitable, reproducible extraction techniques and analytical methods. Although a long haul, the power of metabolomics approaches was clear to see and this fed my enthusiasm for pursuing the field further.

 MN: What are some of the most exciting aspects of your work in metabolomics?
JM: Targeted stable isotope labeling techniques has proved to be an enormously informative tool. Through metabolic labeling with 13C-isotopes of glucose and glutamine, we were able to determine that the apicomplexan parasites P. falciparum (MacRae et al., BMC Biology, 2013) and Toxoplasma gondii (MacRae et al., Cell Host & Microbe, 2012) have a fully-functional TCA cycle, and that T. gondii has a novel metabolic pathway, the GABA shunt.

In a more general way, my work at NIMR has opened the door to many fields of research. In particular, I find it very exciting and rewarding to be involved in the development of novel procedures for answering a wide range of biological questions: from metabolic changes during embryonic development, through mitochondrial flux analysis, to lipid profiling of pathogenic cells, each day brings new challenges that metabolomics can go a long way to tackling.

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

 JM: Both NIMR and The Francis Crick Institute are focused on human health and the understanding of disease. The Metabolomics platform was set up at NIMR in late 2013 in order to help address many of the metabolism-related questions that are fundamental to so many areas of this research. At the moment, we are a group focused on answering specific biological questions, using LC-MS, GC-MS, and NMR techniques, predominantly in a targeted metabolomics and lipidomics approach. We are also working with other groups around the country, and Europe, in order to increase the speed of data processing—still the bottleneck for any metabolomics scientist—in particular for GC-MS, which is currently not getting as much attention as LC-MS in this respect.

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

 JM: The Metabolomics group here at NIMR is already impacting on many avenues of biological research. Bespoke techniques which have been developed in house are allowing us to pursue metabolic questions that we could not before. In particular, we have recently been developing SPME-based metabolite extraction and head-space analysis techniques that are allowing us to look at cell growth, development, and composition in new ways. The continued development of these and more commonplace techniques is casting the metabolomics net ever wider, and the move to The Francis Crick Institute late this year will open up further areas of research for our group.

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

JM: Metabolomics covers so many aspects of biology that it has now established itself as being indispensable for modern health research. The multi-platform approach (hyphenated mass spectrometry and NMR approaches) provides us with huge metabolite coverage, and—in many cases—we are able to analyse the same biological sample through a number of these methods, giving the researcher as complete a picture of the metabolic profile of their sample as possible. This, coupled with the high-throughput data acquisition and ever-improving data processing techniques, provides the modern scientist with a fantastic tool to study the biology of their system in a financially- and time-efficient manner.

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

 JM: As mentioned above, data processing and handling remains the bottleneck, and renders high-throughput data acquisition less important than it could be. But as metabolomics grows as a field, more computational labs become interested and so we are improving all the time. Sample preparation is also crucial—starting from appropriate and reproducible metabolic quenching techniques, to sample or metabolite-specific extractions.

We have also entered an era where data fusion (for example with proteomics or transcriptomics data), flux-balance analysis, and metabolic network reconstructions are in high demand. Each of these elements is far from trivial and it is great to see that a number of labs are focusing their attentions on these specific areas.

Finally, we must be vigilant on how we report our data. Even back in 2005, the Metabolomics Standards Initiative was set up to address this and, in 2007, Sumner et al. published a paper in Metabolomics proposing the minimum reporting standards for metabolomics studies. More recently, Salek et al. further impressed upon us the importance of open and full reporting (Salek et al. 2013, GigaScience). However, as a community, we are still not acting enough on these guidelines and initiatives and we can all do much better in the future. I am confident, though, that we will get there in the near future.

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

JM: Metabolomics is snowballing. Everyone is interested, and so many studies are incorporating metabolomics into their research. A simple view of metabolomics-based research on PubMed shows that this field is growing apace. To counter that, we are in financially-tight times and science funding in many countries is more difficult to attain. However, metabolomics is now so integral to biological, biochemical, pharmaceutical, and industrial research, that I am confident that both metabolomics and metabolomics funding will continue to expand.

 MN: What role can metabolomics standards play?

 JM: Standardisation is a real buzz topic at the moment! Metabolomics is still a young field and method development is still ongoing. The beauty of metabolomics is that it encompasses many aspects of biology, and so it needs to have as wide a metabolite coverage as possible. This inevitably means that extraction and analysis methods will vary on a sample by sample and metabolite by metabolite basis. With that in mind, what is good for the goose is not always good for the gander. The perfected technique used by most may not detect the metabolites of choice for others, and as mass spectrometers become more powerful and chromatographic techniques attain greater resolving power, it is difficult to define whether a particular method should become ‘standard’. Of course, it remains the Holy Grail for us all, and while extraction procedures may never truly become standardised, chromatography, mass spectrometry and—most importantly—reporting procedures could and indeed should.

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

JM: Metabolomics is many things. It is young, it is challenging, and it is rewarding. It can also shine a light on aspects of biology that no other approach truly can. The power to validate drug modes of action, assess gene function, discover disease biomarkers, elucidate biochemical pathways, and determine cell lipid architecture can all be performed using the techniques available to us as metabolomics scientists. Add to that the multi-platform approaches to data acquisition and the required knowledge of data processing and statistical techniques and it is clear to see how metabolomics can set any young scientist up for a bright future.



 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

 This section of MetaboNews is supported by:
LECO Corporation

Recently published papers in metabolomics:


MetaboNews

MetaboNews

22 Jan 2015
Federal Government Supports New Metabolomics Technology Demonstration Centre
The Honourable Michelle Rempel, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, today announced an investment of $2,983,800 towards state-of-the-art metabolomics assessment equipment to strengthen western Canadian companies’ ability to commercialize new discoveries.

This announcement reinforces Alberta’s position as a global leader in the emerging metabolomics market enabling Genome Alberta, together with the University of Alberta, to establish the Metabolomics Technology Demonstration Centre.

The equipment, a 700 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance machine and a Quadrupole-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer, will assist companies in the metabolomics sector move biomarkers from the research lab to the medical testing facility. Companies will test, validate, and assemble prototype kits using existing research from the University’s Metabolomics Innovation Centre’s biomarker panels, to cost-effectively create more accurate and less invasive medical tests.

In addition to an investment from the National Institute of Nanotechnology, Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, Metabolomic Technologies Inc. (MTI), and Genome Canada are also contributors towards this project.

Source: Genome Alberta Genomics Blog
2 Feb 2015
Metabolomic Discoveries Launches Personalized Metabolomics Service Kenkodo Through Crowdfunding Platform Indiegogo
German biotech company Metabolomic Discoveries announced the launch of personalized metabolomics tool Kenkodo. Through a smartphone app and sampling kit, users will soon be able to improve their well-being. Starting today, Kenkodo is available through the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. This product offers people the possibility to track and understand the influence of factors, such as nutrition, sports and stress on their metabolism. Through lifestyle changes, shifts in the metabolism become measurable and can be optimized accordingly. Kenkodo builds the biochemical fingerprint of every single participant.

Dr. Nicolas Schauer, CEO of Metabolomic Discoveries, is very excited about the development of Kenkodo. “Over the last couple of years we have gained a lot of knowledge and experience in metabolomics technology. It tracks more than 1000 small molecules in human samples. Metabolomics has the potential to resolve many questions regarding your wellness and your general constitution. Kenkodo will empower people to understand the effect of their daily lifestyle habits on their body. And finally, to find a lifestyle that keeps them healthy.”

Every human has a different, very individual biochemical fingerprint. It combines information about our body’s building blocks like amino acids or lipids and is the ultimate indicator of our level of well-being. “People respond differently to food, beverages and sports. By analyzing the metabolome of a large group of people, we will be able to make links to their lifestyle and well-being and draw meaningful conclusions, for example about food intake.” says Dr. Josephine Worseck,  Head of Business Development at Metabolomic Discoveries.

Dr. Isam Haddad, Bioinformatics expert at Metabolomic Discoveries, commented about Kenkodo. “We will build a predictive model that relates your lifestyle habits to your body’s response. Our vision is that people will ultimately be able to recognize the metabolic pattern of a great week and repeat it by using the knowledge of Kenkodo.”

 Source: Metabolomic Discoveries

Metabolomics Events

Metabolomics Events
9-12 Feb 2015

3rd Annual Practical Applications of NMR in Industry Conference (PANIC)
Venue: La Jolla, CA, USA

You are invited to attend Practical Applications of NMR in Industry Conference (PANIC), February 9 - 12, 2015 in La Jolla, CA.  Students are encouraged to apply for travel awards, and the Metabolomics Society has sponsored one award (free registration) that is exclusively available to Early-Career Members of the Metabolomics Society!

The PANIC meeting is intended to address topics that occur daily in industrial, government, and academic research laboratories whose primary task entails the application of NMR to a diverse set of analytical problems. Topics include quantitation, molecular structure characterization, trace component and mixture analysis, and product support for a variety of materials that include small molecules, polymers, heterogeneous mixtures, natural products, biosimilars, polysaccharides, and proteins. The conference provides in-depth discussions of the "nuts and bolts" of basic NMR experiments that accent the underlying best-practices developed to address these everyday problems. It also explores the regulatory aspects of the applications of these experiments.

Greater insights will be provided into the less frequently explored techniques used in NMR such as quantitation, chemometrics, automation, relaxometry, and at/on line instrumentation. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about and discuss applications of NMR to polymers, petroleum, food, agriculture, and nutritional supplements that are rarely discussed at other NMR meetings. Ample opportunity will be given to Network with people who are experts in inventing NMR experiments to solve real world problems in a timely and efficient manner that is demanded by working in the venue of product delivery.

For more details, visit http://www.panicnmr.com.
16-20 Feb 2015

EMBO Practical Course on Metabolomics Bioinformatics for Life Scientists
Venue: European Bioinformatics Institute, CB10 1SD, United Kingdom (Google Maps)

Organizers

Participation: Open application with selection

Course overview
This course will provide an overview of key issues that affect metabolomics studies, handling dataset 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 two or three years 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 details, visit http://www.ebi.ac.uk/training/course/metabolomics2015.
3-6 Mar 2015

Introduction to Integrative Omics
Venue: European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom (Google Maps)

With the increase in the volume of data across the whole spectrum of biology, more researchers are looking to integrate data of different types to inform hypotheses and biological questions. This may be public domain data which researchers themselves have not generated, but can provide added value to datasets derived through their own work. This course will provide participants with an overview of working with a number of 'omics' data types in a more integrated manner; considering both its potential and caveats. The course will focus on the use of public data resources and open access tools for enabling integrated working, with an emphasis on data visualisation.

For more details, visit http://www.ebi.ac.uk/training/course/introduction-integrative-omics.
28 Mar to 1 Apr 2015

Plant Metabolism Session at the ASBMB Annual Meeting
Venue: Boston, Massachusetts

Plant Metabolism will be a 4 day-session at the ASBMB meeting: http://www.asbmb.org/meeting2015/ and http://www.asbmb.org/meetings/annualmeeting2015/sessions/themes/plant/

The abstract submission site is open and accepting abstracts at http://www.asbmb.org/meetings/annualmeeting2015/abstracts/instructions/

Short talks will be chosen from the submitted abstracts. Volunteered abstract submission deadline is THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2014 (a strict deadline for short talk programming consideration). Plant Metabolism abstracts should be submitted using ASBMB Abstract Topic Categories # 2350 – 2360.

For more information, click here and visit http://www.asbmb.org/meetings/annualmeeting2015/sessions/themes/plant/.
21-22 May 2015

2nd Metabolomics - Advances & Applications in Human Disease Conference
Venue: Boston, Massachusetts

GTCbio is proud to present the 2nd Metabolomics - Advances & Applications in Human Disease Conference, which will be part of The Pan-Omics Summit and takes place May 21-22, 2015 in Boston, MA.

There is still significant human variability in metabolite identification for targets and pathways. These challenges affect the advancement in metabolomics, the use of biomarkers, and its application towards cancer, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Join us for an event that presents new research and offers networking opportunities with the researchers and scientists who are working on developing clinical assays, connecting the metabolome and the genome, and establishing common quality standards for experimental data.

Sessions:
     I. Advances in Metabolite Markers
     II. Metabolite Identification - Targets and Pathways
     III. Computational Approaches to Assessing the Metabolome
     IV. Technological Advances in Metabolomics

Panel:
     I. Clinical Applications of Metabolomics

For more information, visit https://www.gtcbio.com/conferences/metabolomics-overview.
15-16 Jun 2015

Informatics and Statistics for Metabolomics (2015)
Location: Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Course Objectives
 A poster announcing this workshop can be found here.The workshop will cover many topics ranging from understanding metabolomics technologies, data collection and analysis, using pathway databases, performing pathway analysis, conducting univariate and multivariate statistics, working with metabolomic databases and exploring chemical databases. Participants will be given various data sets and short assignments to assist with the learning process.

Target Audience
 This course is intended for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, clinical fellows and investigators who are interested in learning about both bioinformatic and cheminformatic tools to analyze and interpret metabolomics data.

Prerequisite: Familiarity with R is required. Familiarity can be gained through online activities. You should be familiar with these R concepts (chapters 1-5) or review the past Statistics tutorials provided by CBW.

Apply Now
Award Opportunities

 For further details, visit http://bioinformatics.ca/workshops/2015/informatics-and-statistics-metabolomics-2015.
29 Jun to 2 Jul 2015

Metabolomics 2015: 11th Annual Conference of the International Metabolomics Society
The Official Annual Meeting of the International Metabolomics Society
Location: San Francisco, USA
Venue: Hyatt Regency, Burlingame, USA

You are invited to join us for Metabolomics 2015, the official annual meeting of the Metabolomics Society.

This stunning world-class venue will host the most exciting metabolomics conference of 2015. Your host institution, the University of California, Davis, will gladly welcome scientists from all around the world to feel at home and relax while hearing of the latest innovations and breakthroughs in metabolomics.

Please see the Open Call for Organization of Workshops

Stay abreast of the latest Metabolomics Society news via the Twitter feed on the front page of the website (http://www.metabolomicssociety.org). Also you can follow us on Twitter: Metabolomics Society @MetabolomicsSoc and Metabolomics journal @Metabolomics. And you can visit us on Facebook.

 For further details, visit http://metabolomics2015.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 4 issues (8 weeks) unless the position is filled prior to that date.

Jobs Offered

Job Title Employer Location Posted Closes Source
Computational Metabolomics Professor
 Pennsylvania State University
State College, Pennsylvania, USA 26-Jan-2015
Metabolomics Society Jobs
Postdoctoral Fellow in Environmental Metabolomics 
 University of Toronto
 Toronto, Canada 8-Jan-2015
 28-Feb-2015
 naturejobs.com
Vice Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship
 RMIT University
 Melbourne, Australia 18-Dec-2014
 8-Feb-2015
 RMIT University
Vice Chancellor's Research & Senior Research Fellowships
 RMIT University
 Melbourne, Australia 18-Dec-2014
 8-Feb-2015
 RMIT University


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.



Funding Opportunities
  • The NIH West Coast Metabolomics Center at UC Davis (WCMC) [PDF]
  • The University of Michigan Regional Comprehensive Metabolomics Resource Core (MRC)2 [web page]


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