Metabolomics SocietyMetabolomics SocietyMetabolomics Society
All members of the Metabolomics Society are welcomed and encouraged to participate in the 2023 Board of Directors election. Voting is open now through September 15, 2023, at 11:59pm USA CST. Complete details on elections can be found here.
This webpage contains a list of nominees as well as biographies and statements of interest regarding serving on the Board. Please take a moment to review this information before placing your votes.
Biography: Kati Hanhineva is a professor in food development with a special focus on Nordic foods and health effects at the University of Turku, Department of Life Technologies, Food Sciences unit since beginning of 2020 (hanhinevalab.com). She also holds a Research Director position at the School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland, Hanhineva completed PhD in biotechnology at the University of Kuopio 2008. During years 2008-2014 she conducted post-doctoral research at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, at the University of Eastern Finland with several research visits to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She has been affiliated as visiting scientist (Marie Curie MoRE2020 Fellow) at the Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden 2019-2022. Since 2014 she has been the principal investigator in food, gut and nutritional metabolomics research group and led and participated in several national and EU-funded research projects including Academy of Finland Researcher Fellowship 2014-2019. Prof Hanhineva is also the founder and Chairperson of the company Afekta Technologies focusing on developing and providing metabolite profiling analytics for industry and academia, especially within food, gut and nutrition-related applications. The main research focus of Prof Hanhineva is within the biochemistry of foods, especially phytochemical compounds and the effect of food processing such as fermentation on their composition. Likewise, molecular level understanding of the role of nutrition in maintaining good health, and food – gut microbiota interactions are within the core of the research.
Statement of Purpose: I have served as a Board member of the Metabolomics Society for the past two years and would be happy to continue for the second term. If re-elected, I would continue reinforcing the approaches necessitated for efficient metabolomics data-preprocessing that is prerequisite for efficient and reliable data analysis of dense metabolomics matrixes. Furthermore, I will promote the discussion for formulating policies and actions to unify the downstream metabolite annotation practices that require focus in order to diminish the problematic issues related to overlapping nomenclature of biochemicals in metabolomics studies. In general, I will bring to the Board the expertise related to food and nutritional metabolomics applications, especially highlighting the necessity of multiple analytical approaches to gain comprehensive views of the extremely complex biochemical composition of plant-based foods and their health effects on the molecular level. Yet another intriguing aspect of food and nutritional metabolomics is the involvement of gut flora in the modulation of dietary compounds, and novel, straightforward tools and pipelines are required for the analysis of this interaction, combined smoothly with metagenomics applications. Furthermore, I would like to highlight the importance of efficient workshops and hands-on training activities to enable the scientific community to utilize the cutting-edge approaches constantly developed for various aspects of metabolomics data analysis, and I will promote these as a member of the Conference Committee, and in general in various Society-driven actions. Moreover, I will serve in the Publication Committee and focus especially on the topic of recommendations of reporting standards for metabolomics studies.
Biography: I am leading the Advanced Metabolomics Team from GIOTEC (IISPV, Spain). As a postdoc, I secured two competitive fellowships: Martí-Franquès fellowship (unique university recipient), and European Marie-Curie Fellowship (14% success rate). During my Marie-Curie postdoc, I did a 2-years stay at UCDavis with Prof. Oliver Fiehn. I am versatile with different metabolomics, lipidomics and volatilomics instrumentation (GC-MS, GCxGC-MS, LC-MS and NMR).
My current research is focused on: i) clinical metabolomics, especially on the discovery, validation and innovation of oncological diagnosis and prognosis biomarkers; ii) developing tools: Amanida solution for meta-analysis (Bioinformatics 2022 38(2):583-585), GcDuo algorithm for GCxGC-MS data (under development, in collaboration w/Dr. Pierre-Hugues Stephanuto); and iii) databases (LifeFluids multi-omics database, https://lifefluids.com/composition/).
I believe that serving scientific societies makes us all improve. I am a council member of MANA's early career members. At mQACC I am co-chair of the reference and test materials working group, for which we have an open call to provide qualitative and quantitative data for the SRM1950, with the aim to go beyond the certificate of analysis (https://www.mqacc.org/srm1950). The first results were presented at MetSoc’23 in Niagara Falls. I’m also member of GIPS, the Catalan interdisciplinary health professionals’ group. In October we will release the first Good Praxis guide for the incorporation of medical technology in the Catalan environment. And finally, at EOSC European Open Science Cloud I am member of the future users’ group, helping to shape the portal.
All this, amidst a career break after my first postdoc, covid lockdowns, and having two kids.
Statement of Purpose: I want to bring fresh ideas to the Metabolomics Society, like the creation of a Metabolomics Innovation and Entrepreneurship Task Group (MIETG), aimed at cultivating innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset. By showcasing innovative solutions, providing resources for entrepreneurial endeavors, and promoting research translation, the society will strengthen its position as a catalyst for transformative metabolomics advancements with real-world impact.
Ensuring the clinical relevance of metabolomics is key to becoming a regular practice in clinics. By better reporting our results (w/means and SD or SE!) we will be able to perform regular meta-analyses (Cochrane), the MD’s gold standard. I’ve led the first meta-analysis tool for non-integral data (p-values and fold-changes/trends), however much more is needed. Societal implication through white papers or guidelines is needed. During the Gordon Research Conference in March’23, we had a very stimulating discussion within MANA and MetSoc Precision Medicine groups led by Rima Kaddurah-Daouk on this regard and about precision medicine, and I am eager to further contribute to this endeavor.
My previous societal services have prepared me to embrace the responsibilities and time commitments associated with the esteemed role of Metabolomics Society director. My best fit will be in the Membership Committee, to help with awareness of society services or news. Nonetheless, I am willing to help wherever I am needed (I am not afraid of challenges!). In conclusion, I believe my extensive background and passion for advancing metabolomics make me well-suited to uphold the metabolomics society's values and drive its continued growth.
Biography: Dr. Evans is a Senior Director and Head of Core Research for the metabolomics and lipidomics profiling and targeted technologies at Metabolon where she has been working for 18 years. The metabolomics and lipidomics technologies developed under Dr. Evans have been the analytical basis for thousands of commercial studies from over 700 institutions worldwide since 2004. Dr. Anne Evans received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Virginia in 2004 where her research was focused on mass spectrometric detection of protein and peptides. Currently, much of her research is focused on developing the global metabolomics and lipidomics technologies to be able to support initiatives into large human cohort studies while also making the technology precise and robust enough to study individual patient health (precision medicine).
Statement of Purpose: I have been an advocate for high quality metabolomics data from the onset of my career and believe in the power of education to bring about greater visibility of metabolomics to the broader scientific and medical community. I am particularly passionate about bringing discovery-based metabolomics sciences into patient care. I have been incredibly lucky in my career to see individuals whose quality of life has been drastically improved through discovery-based metabolomics analysis. Having witnessed these examples, it is impossible to not want to see more of these successes for more individuals. I believe the Metabolomics Society is capable of being a powerful force toward achieving this goal. The members of the Metabolomics Society have the knowledge, experience, and global presence to identify gaps and chart a path to tackle the challenges. As Director, I will work to understand the international landscape and regulatory systems at play and work with experts within the society to identify paths forward. I am personable, action oriented, and delight in working collaboratively with others. Thank you for your consideration.