Student research project
Supervisors: Professor Peter Meikle, Dr Corey Giles
Research focus
The Metabolomics Laboratory uses state-of-the-art tandem mass spectrometry to obtain metabolic/lipid profiles from cell and animal models in addition to clinically relevant human samples to develop new approaches to diagnosis, risk assessment and therapy for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Project summary
Cardiometabolic diseases represent the number one cause of death in the world, encompassing cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), chronic kidney disease, and others. Dysregulation of lipid metabolism is intimately linked to the aetiology, progression, and sequelae of this collection of diseases.
The Metabolomics laboratory has developed a state-of-the-art lipid profiling methodology. Capable of measuring over 800 lipid species from less than a drop of blood, our lipid profiling has been used to improve the detection of people at risk of a large spectrum of conditions, including CVD, T2D, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.
To further drive innovation in the field, we are integrating lipidomic and genomic data. Using novel statistical techniques, we aim to identify and evaluate the causal role of lipid metabolic pathways in cardiometabolic disease. With over 50,000 clinically relevant human samples already profiled, an exciting opportunity exists to identify new targets to prevent cardiometabolic diseases.
This project is suitable for an Honours or PhD student and will focus on bioinformatic/statistical modelling with human clinical/population cohorts to investigate the relationship between lipid metabolism and cardiometabolic diseases
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