Research Themes and Impact

Metabolomics research at the University of Birmingham spans the breadth of the Life Sciences from fundamental biochemical studies in bacteria, to toxicological investigations in algae, invertebrates, fish and human cells, through to clinical studies of cancer, inflammatory diseases, organ transplantation and heart disease.

Metabolomics is even being developed and applied outside of the life sciences, in science-based archaeology. While these applications are wide ranging, the primary foci of metabolomics research at Birmingham are in two areas:

Clinical Metabolomics

NMR

Metabolomics is one of the core technologies underpinning the University’s biological research and is highlighted as a hotspot for research and translation at the University of Birmingham. Here we apply analytical approaches to investigate the role of metabolites in human musculoskeletal aging and diseases from across the life course from conception to old age including complications of pregnancy, inflammatory and immunological diseases and cancers. Here we apply assays to quantify metabolites at single points in time and to apply 13C and 15N-enriched metabolites to temporally determine the dynamics and pathways of metabolism.

Researchers in this area include:

Metabolomics & Systems Toxicology

Daphnia

The Metabolomics & Systems Toxicology Laboratory is highly active in a series of coordinated research activities, from innovating new metabolomics technologies and methods to enable more informative toxicology studies, to testing those methods in research projects, through to translating the approaches as novel solutions for our industry and regulatory collaborators working in chemical safety science.

Broad research areas are:

  • Systems Toxicology
  • Metabolomics method development
  • Deep Metabolome Annotation
  • Metabolomics Standardisation in Regulatory Toxicology