Date
October 4 | 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Metabolomics: An Emerging Tool in Biomedical Research
The Schroeder Arthritis Institute’s Metabolomics Facility and Office of Research Trainees are hosting an in-depth workshop on the field of metabolomics! Join us on October 4, 2023 from 1 to 3 pm on Zoom for an introduction into metabolomics and it’s applications in research. You’ll learn about the services offered by the metabolomics facility and hear from some of their users on how metabolomics has accelerated their research.
This interactive workshop includes:
- An introduction to metabolomics and how it can be used in research by Nikita Looby, PhD.
- Presentation by John Koussiouris, MSc on “Classifying Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis According to their Disease Activity Status using Serum Metabolites and Machine Learning”
- Presentation by Sheng Han Li and Hani Choski on “Identifying Serum Metabolomic Markers Associated with Psoriasis Skin Disease Activity in patients with Psoriatic Arthritis”
- Presentation by Nikita Looby, PhD on “Metabolomic fingerprinting of porcine lung tissue during pre-clinical prolonged ex vivo lung perfusion using in vivo SPME coupled with LC-HRMS”
This webinar is free and open to all trainees, postdoctoral researchers, and staff at UHN. All event registrants are asked to make sure they have read and agree to abide by the ORT’s Code of Conduct.
Click here for more information on the metabolomics facility. Click on the “Metabolomics Core Facility” tab to learn more about the services offered!
Speaker Bios:
Nikita Looby, PhD.
Nikita Looby, PhD completed her Hon. BSc. at the University of Toronto in the chemistry specialist program and her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at the University of Waterloo. Nikita is currently a Scientific Associate managing the Schroeder Arthritis Institute’s Metabolomics Core Facility at Krembil Research Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. Nikita is a sample preparation specialist and has 7+ years of experience as an LCMS application scientist, specializing in solid phase microextraction (SPME) and the niche field of metabolomics, an emerging branch of systems biology. Her work consists of facility management, scientific project management, student development mentoring MSc and PhD candidates, business development and marketing. Her research currently focuses on the use of LC-MS based metabolomics to aid in elucidating psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis pathophysiology and finding novel markers for psoriatic arthritis disease diagnostics and treatment response.
John Koussiouris, MSc.
John Koussiouris is currently a second year medical student at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. He completed a Hon. BSc at the University of Toronto with a double major in immunology and human biology: global health. He subsequently completed a MSc. at the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. He was supervised by Dr. Vinod Chandran at the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, University Health Network. His research project focused on investigating lipid metabolites in the serum of psoriatic arthritis patients using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) – liquid chromatography (LC) – high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS).
Sheng Han Li
Shen Han Li did his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto in human biology health and disease. Han is currently a MSc. student at the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology department at University of Toronto and undertaking steps to transfer to a PhD. His project is on identifying serum metabolites associated with ultrasonographic scores measuring musculoskeletal joint disease activity in Psoriatic Arthritis patients.
Hani Choksi
Hani Choksi completed her undergraduate studies in Chemical Biology at McMaster University and currently is now currently pursuing graduate studies in Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto. As a summer student in the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, supervised by Drs. Chandran and Kulasingam, Hani’s project utilized a metabolomics approach to uncover serum biomarkers for psoriatic arthritis. She had the opportunity to employ exciting techniques such as solid phase microextraction (SPME) and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) during her summer studentship which allowed broad phenotyping of metabolomic profiles of psoriatic arthritis patient samples and healthy individuals to discover potential biomarkers.