MetaboNews -- September 2016
MetaboNews Masthead
Published in partnership between
TMIC and the Metabolomics Society
Issue 61 - September 2016

CONTENTS:


Online version of this newsletter:
 http://www.metabonews.ca/Sep2016/MetaboNews_Sep2016.htm
TMIC Services
TMIC Services

Welcome to the sixty-first 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 Centre Spotlight article by Nicholas Rattray and the SYNBIOCHEM team, and a metabolomics interview with Paulina de la Mata of The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC) and the University of Alberta.
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

2016 Elections: New Directors and Officers
Thanks to all those who voted in the elections for new Directors of the Metabolomics Society. The turnout was the highest ever recorded! Results will be announced in October. The next step is to elect the new team of Officers (President, Treasurer, and Secretary) and voting will open soon. All members (both student and standard) are eligible to vote in the Officer Election. Please use your vote and influence the executive direction of the Society. Watch this space!


CONFERENCE CORNER

 Metabolomics 2017, 26-29 June, Brisbane, Australia
The 13th annual conference of the international Metabolomics Society will be held from 26-29 June, 2017, in Brisbane, Australia. A call will soon go out to all members of the Society to suggest workshop and scientific session topics for next year’s conference. Metabolomics covers many different disciplines, and this will be an opportunity to get your favourite topic on to the biggest stage in the metabolomics field. Further details to follow soon.
http://metabolomics2017.org

Would you like to host the 2019 Metabolomics Society Conference in Europe?
The Metabolomics Society is calling for interested members in the European region to express their interest in hosting the 2019 annual Metabolomics Society meeting (http://metabolomics2019.org/). Please send notice of your interest using this form by 10 September 2016. You should name individuals who will be key to forming a Local Organizing Committee (LOC), and outline the scientific plan for the conference. The LOC will report to the Metabolomics Society and assist A-S-K staff to select a suitable venue and organize the conference. The tasks of the LOC are to ensure national and regional support for the conference, to assist the Society in administrative planning and, most importantly, to chair and organize the scientific management of the conference, including forming an International Organizing Committee that has the responsibility for scientific aspects of the meeting. Please complete the application form outlining your ideas to maximize the scientific quality and outreach of the conference. For further enquires please contact the Society via A-S-K Associates (metabolomics@askusa.com).
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 hosted the 9th session of the EMN webinar series on Friday, 27 July 2016. Our expert speaker for this session was by Associate Professor Peter Meikle, head of the Metabolism Program and of the Metabolomics Laboratory at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia. His talk titled “targeted high-throughput lipidomics platform: development and application”, discussed the development of a targeted high-throughput lipidomics platform and its application in studying cardiovascular diseases. The presentation included discussing the selection and characterization of lipid species, development of chromatography and quality control in the analysis of large sample sets. Specific examples were given to highlight the platform to large cohort studies and their validation in parallel cohorts.

All the videos for the EMN webinar series for 2015 and 2016 can be found on the Metabolomics website. The next EMN webinar series session will follow soon. The details, date and link for registration for this webinar session will be sent out in due course. Please stay tuned and look out for details.

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, workshops, and events). 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!!
TASK GROUPS CORNER

Data Standards Task Group
Data standards task group is planning to collaborate with ABRF-MRG2016 on data analysis reproducibility exercise. To find out more or get involved, see announcement below: 

ABRF-MRG2016 Metabolomics Research Group Data Analysis Study
We are pleased to announce the second Metabolomics Research Group Study. One of the major bottlenecks in the field of metabolomics is the varied application of bioinformatics and statistical approaches for pre- and post-processing of global metabolomic profiling data sets collected using high resolution mass spectrometry platforms. Our study design recapitulates a typical metabolomics experiment where the goal is difference detection of features between two groups.

The primary goal of this study is to examine reproducibility and optimal data analysis strategies for metabolomics studies, by comparing a consortium of analyses using the same dataset. In addition, this study will provide participants with an opportunity to evaluate their approaches with regard to the following:
 For study details and materials please consult the attached pdf and the following Bioshare link:
http://bioshare.bioinformatics.ucdavis.edu/bioshare/view/tthvputgo2am4yo/
Deadline for returning MRG2016 Study results is October 1, 2016!!!
For more detail visit https://abrf.org/research-group/metabolomics-research-group-mrg
The ABRF Metabolomics Research Group: Chris W. Turck (Chair) – Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Tytus Mak – NIST, Maryam Goudarzi – Georgetown University, Amrita K. Cheema – Georgetown University, Andrew Patterson – Penn State University, Christopher Colangelo (EB Liaison) – Primary Ion


INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATES CORNER
Australian & New Zealand Metabolomics Network (ANZMN)
Visit http://www.anzmn.org
IECM 2016 – International Electronic Conference on Metabolomics

Contributions dealing with any discipline promoting metabolism and metabolomics will be considered for the first International Electronic Conference on Metabolomics (IECM 2016), which will be held online at https://sciforum.net/conference/iecm-1 from 1–30 November 2016. The good news is that participation, as an author or a visitor, is free; you just need to create an account on the home page. If you want to present, then the abstract submission deadline is 15 September 2016. You can find all the details at https://sciforum.net/conference/iecm-1 if you want to take part (which I hope you do).

The chair of the conference is A/Prof. Peter J Meikle a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Program leader for Metabolism and Head of the Metabolomics Laboratory within Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
 
 Software Spotlight

Centre Spotlight

Synthetic Biology Research Centre for Fine and Speciality Chemicals (SYNBIOCHEM)

 Feature article contributed by Dr. Nicholas J.W. Rattray and the SYNBIOCHEM team, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, UK

In November 2014, The University of Manchester received joint BBSRC and EPSRC funding to build a multidisciplinary research centre, SYNBIOCHEM, which will focus on delivering new synthetic biology tools and technologies for the production of fine and speciality chemicals. The Centre, which is based at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology and led by Profs Nigel Scrutton, Eriko Takano, and Nick Turner, brings together 29 research group leaders with diverse expertise across the foundational sciences of structural biology, biological catalysis, metabolic engineering, systems biology, analytics, and computational modelling to deliver a bio-foundry focusing its research on microbial-based fine and speciality chemical production (http://synbiochem.co.uk/).

As a convergence of several scientific disciplines, synthetic biology is a revolutionary development of biotechnological tools that have the potential to transform the global industrial landscape by providing sustainable manufacturing processes across all industrial sectors—and metabolomics is an essential core technology contributing to this development1.

At the centre of SYNBIOCHEM’s synthetic biology ethos is the application of an iterative Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle (Figure 1) that utilises a fully integrated set of technology platforms for the engineering of improved biological parts, devices, and systems. To enable this, alongside its academic leads, the centre has recruited a highly experienced team of full-time research scientists, driving the platform development, in close interaction with dedicated data managers; an integrated cross-disciplinary team of social scientists within the Centre ensures the complementary development and implementation of responsible research and innovation strategies.

Iterative development cycle of synthetic biology used at SYNBIOCHEM

Figure 1. The iterative development cycle of synthetic biology used at SYNBIOCHEM, highlighting the multidisciplinary nature of the area and the essential role metabolomics plays within the TEST platform.

The DESIGN platform is responsible for the identification, modelling and design of enzymes, for biosynthetic pathway inference and genome-scale modelling of metabolism to develop new and more efficient routes to desired chemicals. The subsequent production of these catalytic, regulatory, and structural parts, their assembly into pathways, circuits and microbial scaffolds, and the engineering of chassis for efficient expression of target compounds are the main task of the BUILD platform. The Centre has automated many of the relevant processes and scaled up the build capacity by utilising new high-throughput capabilities provided by liquid-handling robotics platforms. The TEST platform is responsible for tracking, assaying, and verifying metabolite production by the newly designed enzymes and pathways in engineered microbes, and providing data to inform the further debugging and improvement of the biological systems. This is mainly achieved by a range of metabolomics approaches (Figure 2), using functional targeted and untargeted high-throughput assays based on mass spectrometry and statistical/computational tools2.

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

Untargeted metabolomics workflow

Figure 2. Untargeted metabolomics workflow being implemented within SYNBIOCHEM.

The Centre’s TEST technologies include a Thermo Q-Exactive Plus and an Agilent 7200 GC-QToF-MS for standard profiling of non-polar and polar species and a Waters TQS for targeted analysis. These systems are complemented by more developmental approaches that include an Agilent 6560 IMS-MS ion mobility platform, which we aim to employ to add drift time and CCS data as extra discriminants in compound identification, alongside a DESI system for live cell imaging.
 
Once generated, raw data from all systems are automatically logged using the web-based SEEK platform3, and processed and deconvolved using the XCMS-based mzMatch toolbox4, a comprehensive collection of computational tools for LC-MS data analysis developed in the MIB. Confident metabolite identifications are then fed back to the DESIGN platform for integration into metabolic network models, and used to inform the next iteration of enzyme and pathway design and engineering.

References
  1. Ellis DI, Goodacre R. Metabolomics-assisted synthetic biology. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2012 Feb;23(1):22-8. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2011.10.014. Epub 2011 Nov 19. [PMID: 22104721]
  2. Carbonell P, Currin A, Jervis AJ, Rattray NJ, Swainston N, Yan C, Takano E, Breitling R. Bioinformatics for the synthetic biology of natural products: integrating across the Design-Build-Test cycle. Nat Prod Rep. 2016 Aug 27;33(8):925-32. doi: 10.1039/c6np00018e. Epub 2016 May 17. [PMID: 27185383]
  3. Wolstencroft K, Owen S, Krebs O, Nguyen Q, Stanford NJ, Golebiewski M, Weidemann A, Bittkowski M, An L, Shockley D, Snoep JL, Mueller W, Goble C. SEEK: a systems biology data and model management platform. BMC Syst Biol. 2015 Jul 11;9:33. doi: 10.1186/s12918-015-0174-y. [PMID: 26160520]
  4. Scheltema RA, Jankevics A, Jansen RC, Swertz MA, Breitling R. PeakML/mzMatch: a file format, Java library, R library, and tool-chain for mass spectrometry data analysis. Anal Chem. 2011 Apr 1;83(7):2786-93. doi: 10.1021/ac2000994. Epub 2011 Mar 14. [PMID: 21401061]

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 Paulina de la Mata.
Paulina de la Mata

 Analytical Chemist, The Metabolomics Innovation Centre, and Research Associate, Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Canada
Paulina de la Mata
Biography

Paulina de la Mata is an Analytical Chemist working for The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC), in addition to being a Primary Research Assistant/Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Harynuk’s group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Alberta. She works with TMIC clients in the design of studies and experiments, developing and optimizing analytical methods, running samples, maintaining instruments, and processing data using a variety of statistical tools. Her current research interests include chemometrics, multiway analysis, exploratory analysis, MATLAB programming, and developing, testing, and adapting new metabolomics methods to GC×GC-TOFMS/FID GC-MS/MS. She has been working for several years, developing chemometric tools and exploring the capabilities and limitations of multidimensional gas chromatography for metabolomic and other analyses. She has a diverse work history including working in Spain and Denmark with HPLC-CAD and FTIR data with chemometrics to obtain models to distinguish adulterations in olive oils as well as being a cosmetics and health care buyer for Comercial Mexicana (retail store) in Mexico.

Paulina de la Mata received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 2002 and an MBA in 2004 from Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, México. She obtained a Master's degree in 2007 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2011 from the University of Granada, Spain. Since 2011, she has worked at the University of Alberta, Canada, in the Department of Chemistry, as a Research Associate.


Metabolomics Interview (MN, MetaboNews; PDLM, Paulina de la Mata)

 MN: How did you get involved in metabolomics?

PDLM: It was without knowing it; my Ph.D. project at the University of Granada, Spain, was a metabolomics project investigating olive oils: identifying different classes, different types of oil, and different origins of oils. The analysis was performed using an HPLC-CAD. I was involved in different types of analysis and chemometrics. Next, I started my post-doc in Edmonton, Canada, in Dr. Harynuk’s group, where I was involved in different Metabolomics projects.

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

PDLM: There are a lot of projects that are exciting, but if I had to choose, the most exciting until now is the analysis of the intensity of odour that develops within clothing fabrics. Little is known about how effective laundering is at removing malodours in clothing which differ by fibre type. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether a selected cotton fabric differed in odour intensity following multiple wear and wash cycles compared to a polyester fabric (see http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-05-2013-0064). We did the GC×GC-TOFMS analysis. It was exciting to analyse smelly t-shirts.

T-shirt sweat VOCs

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

 PDLM: The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC, http://www.metabolomicscentre.ca/) is a nationally-funded research and core facility that supports a wide range of cutting-edge metabolomic studies for clinical trials research, biomedical studies, bioproducts studies, nutrient profiling, and environmental testing (more about us). With more than $20M invested in state-of-the-art metabolomics equipment, TMIC scientists and collaborators have access to a comprehensive set of tools, bioinformatics resources, and scientific expertise.
At TMIC, we use real-world proven technologies, in-house innovations, and years of analytical experience to provide top-of-the line metabolic analysis.

The Metabolomics Innovation Center

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

PDLM: One-third of all metabolomics companies in the world are located in Alberta, Canada, and the University of Alberta houses the world’s largest collection of metabolomics standards and most of the world’s metabolomics data resources (see https://uofa.ualberta.ca/news-and-events/newsarticles/2015/january/federal-funding-keeps-ualberta-at-forefront-of-metabolomics-research).

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

 PDLM: Metabolomics analysis generally uses a combination of NMR, MS, HPLC, UPLC, and GC. However, more complex samples need more advanced separations techniques. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) has emerged as the gold standard technique for the analysis of complex mixtures of small molecules. GC×GC is more sensitive than GC-MS, and provides more information. GC×GC could improve the quality of data and help with our understanding in conventional human and animal metabolomic studies or plants, foods, and flavours/aromas studies.

Algae FAME families

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

PDLM: Metabolomics is faster and cheaper than proteomics or genomics studies. In addition, metabolomics is dynamic and metabolomics studies can analyse thousands of samples in a short time. The sample preparation is relatively easy, with low cost.

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

PDLM: The instrumentation and the data processing is there; however, sometimes we lack a sufficient number of samples to account for biological diversity when studying a problem.
 
MN: What improvements, technological or otherwise, need to take place for metabolomics to really take off?

PDLM: Some metabolomics analyses are performed testing one, or a handful of metabolites at a time, which makes the complete metabolite test very expensive and time-consuming. The use of powerful techniques as GC×GC-TOFMS for testing groups of metabolites at the same time could address this major challenge for metabolomic studies.

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

PDLM: Based on the current state of funding, I hope and expect that metabolomics studies will be funded in the future. There is a need to better understand the function of humans, animals, plants, and the environment. 

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

PDLM: The multivariate statistical analysis of the data is essential in metabolomics studies. Although the use of raw data is not common in metabolomics, it can be useful in many cases. However, proper preprocessing must be applied to the raw data in order to extract meaningful information from the data.

 
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
12-16 Sep 2016


2nd Metabolomics Sardinian Summer School: "How to bridge metabolomics and genomics"
Venue: Polaris Technology Park, Pula, Sardinia, Italy

Course Objectives
The Summer School will offer students theoretical sessions with lectures by experts, and hands-on data analysis aimed to deepen the theoretical and practical knowledge for using the main tools available to integrate metabolomics data.

Main Topics
  • Cancer: genes or metabolism?
  • Chemometric analysis
  • Data Processing ad softwares
  • Molecular Hypotheses from Dynamic Metabolomics Data
  • Omics integration
  • Omics and nutrition
  • Statistical methods for biomarkers discovery
  • Translating big data from genes and metabolites into molecular knowledge
Daily lectures and hands-on sections, plus poster and oral presentations from participants

Target Audience
The Summer School is targeted to researchers at an early stage in their career, from Biological Sciences, Health Sciences and other different background (Including bioinformatics and mathematics) who are interested in learning about both technical and cheminformatics tools to integrate metabolomics data.

Applications               
The course is funded by the Regional Sardinian government and registration will be free of charge for all attendees. Selection will be based on CV and a letter stating the motivations for attending the course and future research plans of candidates. A letter of reference from the current supervisor must also be attached to the application. Registration includes course material, lunches and coffee breaks (not accommodation expenses). For selected participants contribution or reimbursement will be considered.

Organizing Committee
Summer School Secretariat: scientificschool@gruppoideas.it

For detailed information about the Summer School in Sardinia, visit http://sites.unica.it/metabolomicaclinica/events/scientific-school-2016/.
12-23 Sep 2016


2016 International Summer Sessions in Metabolomics
Venue: Campus UC Davis, CA, USA

The course will include:
  • Study design, including pitfall analysis and hidden biases in studies from microbial, plant, mouse and human cohort research
  • Sample preparation and quality control
  • In-laboratory detailed discussions standard operating procedures for GC-MS and LC-MS data acquisitions
  • Targeted metabolomics, including monitoring charts and use of isotope labeled internal standards
  • Exercises on flux analysis in cancer cells by isotope tracer analysis
  • Exercises on identification of unknowns by cheminformatics software workflows (incl. CFM-ID, MassFrontier, and various databases and small software routines)
  • Untargeted data processing and exercises on MZmine and MS-DIAL software
  • Data normalizations and transformations with and without internal standards and Quality Controls
  • Multivariate and univariate statistics (incl. Devium, MetaboAnalyst and other software)
  • Pathway mapping (incl. MetaboAnalyst and MetaMapR)
For further details, visit http://metabolomics.ucdavis.edu/courses-and-seminars/courses.
23-25 Sep 2016


ISN Forefronts Symposium
Venue: San Diego, California, USA

In this symposium the focus will be on the interaction of the Metabolome and Microbiome and its connection to different disease states and how these approaches could be applied to kidney diseases.
Metabolomics, the comprehensive study of small molecules, provides remarkable insights into the underlying biochemistry of disease pathways for basic science and clinical applications.

San Diego has been a bed of much of this fundamental knowledge and houses several institutions, which have led the way to many breakthroughs in our understanding of metabolites. We are very pleased to be able to host the meeting in San Diego and welcome many of the leading scientists and investigators throughout the world for this exciting meeting. See more here: www.isnforefronts.org/sandiego

About ISN Forefronts Symposia:
They focus on emerging and groundbreaking research. They gather nephrologists and active investigators from surrounding medical areas to explore new scientific domains and review the latest developments in kidney disease.
10-12 Oct 2016


Max Rubner Conference on Food Metabolomics
Venue: Karlsruhe, Germany

We are pleased to announce the second international Max Rubner Conference on Food Metabolomics to be held from October 10th -12th, 2016, at the Max Rubner-Institut, the German Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, in Karlsruhe, Germany.

For further information and registration details, please visit https://www.mri.bund.de/de/ueber-das-mri/veranstaltungen/max-rubner-conference/2016/.

12-14 Oct 2016


Multiple biofluid and tissue types, from sample preparation to analysis strategies for metabolomics
Venue: Birmingham Metabolomics Training Centre, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

This 3-day course will provide a comprehensive overview of dealing with complex biological samples for LC-MS analysis. The course is targeted towards students and researchers who are actively applying metabolomics in their research. The course will be led by experts in the field and include
  • An overview of quenching and extraction strategies for different biological samples
  • Hands-on sample preparation using different sample types
  • Hands-on HILIC and reversed phase LC-MS data acquisition
  • Solid phase extraction clean up methods
  • An overview of data analysis and metabolite identification
  • An opportunity to ask questions and seek advice to prepare samples in your own research
For further information and registration details, please visit http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/metabolomics-training-centre/courses/sample-analysis.aspx or contact bmtc@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
15-16 Oct 2016


Mayo Clinic Metabolomics Workshop
Venue: Siebens Building, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Mayo Clinic will host a Metabolomics Symposium from October 15 to October 16 on the Rochester, Minn., campus. The event will feature presentations on the practice and theory of metabolomics applications, the latest research in metabolomics and networking opportunities. The workshop is open to beginning and established researchers, students and postdoctoral fellows.

New this year: A focused workshop is available to a limited group of individuals based on availability.

Scholarships for scholars and junior faculty are available.

For further information and registration details, please visit https://matrix.secureserverdot.com/metabolomics_2016/home_live1.htm.

31 Oct-4 Nov 2016


Hands-on LC-MS for Metabolic Profiling
Venue: Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, UK

Earlybird: £1750
Standard: £1950

This week long course aims to cover how to perform a metabolic profiling experiment, from start to finish. It covers study design, sample preparation, the use of mass spectrometry for global profiling and targeted methodologies and data analysis.

It combines lectures and tutorial sessions to ensure a thorough understanding of the theory and practical applications. Topics covered include:
  • Targeted and untargeted sample preparation
  • Targeted and untargeted data analysis
  • Statistics and OPLS
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/imperial-international-phenome-training-centre/courses/hands-on-lc-ms-for-metabolic-profiling or contact Dr Liz Want (iptc@imperial.ac.uk) for further information.
3-4 Nov 2016


Metabolite identification with the Q Exactive and LTQ Orbitrap
Venue: Birmingham Metabolomics Training Centre, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

This 2-day course will provide a hands-on approach to teach the latest techniques and tools available to perform metabolite identification. We will apply these tools on the Q Exactive and LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometry family. The course is targeted towards students and researchers who are actively applying metabolomics.

The course will be led by experts in the field and include significant hands-on experience using both the Q Exactive and LTQ Orbitrap instruments to perform,
  • Data dependent acquisition
  • Data independent acquisition
  • MS/MS and MSn data acquisition
The course will finish with a session on the tips and tricks from the experts and an opportunity to ask questions.

For further information and registration details, please visit http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/metabolomics-training-centre/courses/metabolite-identification.aspx or contact bmtc@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
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
Pre-registration: Monday 30 May 2016 to Friday 15th July 2016 at Workflow4Experimenters course 2016
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

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.
13-17 February 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.

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
Scientific Employee (Postdoc) as Coordinator for Ecometabolomics Platform
 German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Jena, Germany
 28-Aug-2016 16-Sep-2016
 Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Scientific Programmer (Genetics)
 University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 24-Aug-2016 21-Sep-2016
 Metabolomics Society
Assistant/Associate Professor of Plant Metabolic Biochemistry
 Cornell University Ithaca, New York, USA 19-Aug-2016 18-Sep-2016
 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
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Marine Metabolomics
 Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
 10-Aug-2016
Weizmann Institute of Science
Researcher Position
 Centro Cardiologico Monzino Milan, Italy
 8-Aug-2016
Centro Cardiologico Monzino
Postdoctoral Fellow in Metabolomics/Metabolite Identification
 University of Missouri Metabolomics Center Columbia, USA
 8-Aug-2016
University of Missouri
Metabolomics Research Specialist
 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Memphis, Tennessee, USA 29-Jul-2016 Until filled
 Metabolomics Society Jobs
Metabolomics Staff Scientist
 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Memphis, Tennessee, USA 29-Jul-2016 Until filled Metabolomics Society Jobs
Director, Metabolite Profiling Core Facility
 Whitehead Institute Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 27-Jul-2016 31-Oct-2016 Metabolomics Society Jobs
Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Metabolomics
 Concordia University Montreal, Canada
 14-Jul-2016 31-Oct-2016 or until filled
 Concordia 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.

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