Research Overview

The research in our group leverages multidisciplinary approaches at the interface of chemistry and biology. We use state-of-the-art mass spectrometry instrumentation to profile thousands of metabolites in complex biological samples.

Our current understanding of the human cell metabolome is limited in both function and composition relative to the genome, transcriptome and proteome. Thus, our lab is working towards characterizing the complex chemical landscape encompassed by the metabolome across various cell types. By generating a metabolic map across various tissue types, we can better understand how metabolite diversity is recognized and utilized in living systems.

To better understand the depth of genotype-to-metabotype relationships, our lab is characterizing the effect of genes and how they can rewire the metabolome of human cells. Specifically, we are mapping the extent of metabolic rewiring linked to loss-of-function mutations of genes involved in diseases as well as different biological processes. This allows us to study the different adaptation mechanisms in human cells.

Decades of ‘omics research have provided unequivocal evidence that human diseases (e.g., cancer) are associated with or caused by the rewiring of metabolic pathways. Identifying cell- and disease-specific metabolites and metabolic profiles is one of the main components in our lab. It allows us to interrogate the specific functions of metabolites and metabolic pathways in disease in order to identify therapeutically actionable metabolic vulnerabilities of disease states.