Robert Moritz, Chair
Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, USA
Dr Robert Moritz began his full-time career from 1983 to 2008 at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne, Australia. He received his PhD from the University of Melbourne in Biochemistry during that time. Dr Moritz moved to the Institute for Systems Biology as faculty member in 2008. Dr Moritz is currently the Vice-President of the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) and plays a large role in growing the society.
His research interests in proteomics include the discovery of normal and disease markers using targeted quantitative mass spectrometry. He is active in teaching and dissemination of proteomics technologies, fosters education exchanges and create forums for collaborative relationships centered on the proteome.
The Moritz group is a primary developer of the world renowned Trans-Proteomic Pipeline proteomics software tools for statistical validation of proteome identifications, protein crosslinking analysis with Kojak and many online resources for quantitative proteomics. His group developed the complete Human PeptideAtlas, SRM-Atlas, SWATHAtlas and related software routines to provide quantitative resources and repositories of mass spectrometric assays to all proteins.
Hyungwon Choi, Associate editor
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Hyungwon Choi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. He received B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from Seoul National University in South Korea and M.S. in Statistics from Stanford University. He completed Ph.D. in Biostatistics at the University of Michigan and worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Since arriving in Singapore, he and his team have actively developed computational and statistical solutions for the analysis of high-throughput molecular data and integration of heterogeneous multi-omics data. His main research topics include network-driven integration of multi-omics data, protein-centric analysis of genomic and transcriptomic data in large-scale clinical studies, and bioinformatics pipeline development for mass spectrometry data extraction in metabolomics and lipidomics. His most recent research is also expanding into systems biology-oriented design and implementation of deep learning algorithms for predictive analytics with massively sparse high-dimensional (-omics) data.
Richard Unwin, Associate Editor
University of Manchester, UK
Richard Unwin graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BSc in Biology and MSc in Oncology before obtaining his PhD from the University of Leeds in 2001 in what was then the new field of proteomics. He subsequently joined The University of Manchester, developing new methods for analysing cancer proteomes, including isobaric tagging, global and targeted analysis of protein phosphorylation, and methods for comparing proteomic and transcriptomic data.
In 2010 he moved to manage a new mass spectrometry research laboratory within the UK National Health Service, where he worked on the study of proteins and metabolites in chronic disease, and developed new targeted assays which have now been moved into hospital laboratories.
Richard moved back to the University of Manchester in 2017 to continue a research programme developing tools for mass spectrometry data acquisition and analysis for the study of age-related chronic diseases. He collaborates widely with academic and commercial partners and has also established a spin-out company, Complement Therapeutics, to develop novel therapeutics and an accompanying precision medicine platform for conditions characterised by dysregulation of the complement system.
Celia Berkers
Utrecht University, Netherlands
Celia Berkers is Professor of Metabolomics at Utrecht University (the Netherlands). She started her PhD at Harvard Medical School (Boston) before moving to the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam) where she completed it in 2010. Berkers did her post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Karen Vousden at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research (Glasgow). She joined the Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Group at Utrecht University in 2013 as an independent group leader Metabolomics and was appointed full Professor in 2018. She is currently affiliated with both the Division Cell Biology, Metabolism & Cancer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Biomolecular Mass spectrometry and Proteomics Group at the Faculty of Science.
The Berkers group develops and applies metabolomics and fluxomics tools to advance our understanding of the (re)wiring of metabolism in health and disease. Her team combines these metabolomics methodologies with advanced in-vitro model systems and cross-omics data analysis, with the ultimate goal of identifying novel metabolic targets that can be exploited for therapy. The team’s research currently focusses on applications in cancer- and immuno-metabolism.
Maria do Rosário Domingues
University of Aveiro, Portugal
Rosário Domingues graduated in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Coimbra (1990), and received her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry (1998), and Habilitation in Biochemistry (2014) at the University of Aveiro. Since 2016 she held the contract of Associated Professor with habilitations in the Mass Spectrometry Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro (UA). She is the Director of the Doctoral Program of Biochemistry at UA.
She has over 25 years of research experience in the field of mass spectrometry and is a well-established researcher in the field of Lipidomics in different fields, such as Lipidomics in Heath and Disease, Oxidative Lipidomic, Algae & Marine, Food and Microbial lipidomics.
She is the leader of the Lipidomic Laboratory of the Mass Spectrometry Centre of the UA and the Marine Lipidomic lab at CESAM-UA. She is the author of one book and ten book chapters, more than 390 articles published in international journals with referee. She coordinated and participated in several research projects funded by national and European programs (35 in total). In present, she is the coordinator of the European project Cost Action CA19105 Pan-European Network in Lipidomics and EpiLipidomics.
Benjamin Garcia
Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, USA
Benjamin Garcia completed his undergraduate studies at UC Davies with Prof. Carlito Lebrilla, before embarking on a PhD with Professor Donald Hunt at the University of Virginia. After a postdoctoral position with Professor Neil Kelleher at the University of Illinois, Ben took up an Assistant Professor position at Princeton University (2008). He worked as a Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine from 2012 and moved to his current faculty position in 2021.
Ben has received numerous awards including a National Science Foundation Early Faculty CAREER award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, awarded by President Obama) and the 2018 American Society for Mass Spectrometry Biemann Medal.
The Garcia Lab focuses on developing new mass spectrometry based proteomic methodologies for the quantitative characterization of changes in protein and proteome expression and post-translational modification state in response to external stimulus, or during significant biological events. Their research interests include deciphering the epigenetic histone code, the dynamics of proteome-wide PTM mediated biological pathways, the comprehensive characterization of crosstalk between cellular signaling pathways and epigenetic networks and understanding cellular and epigenetic mechanisms involved in normal and disease physiology.
Ling Hao
George Washington University, USA
Ling Hao is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the George Washington University in Washington DC. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Prof. Lingjun Li in mass spectrometry method development and conducted postdoctoral research in neurobiology in Dr. Richard Youle’s lab and Dr. Michael Ward’s lab at the National Institutes of Health.
Since starting her own research group, she has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, a Rising Star Award from the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), a Ralph E Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and a Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement.
Research in the Hao Lab focuses on developing mass spectrometry-based proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics methods to study neuroscience questions. Her team combines analytical chemistry, cell biology, and bioinformatic strategies to understand organelle dynamics, proteostasis, and molecular interactions in human stem cells and stem cell-derived neurons, with the goal of deciphering molecular mechanisms underlying brain diseases.
Nicolle Packer
Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Professor Nicki Packer has had an extensive and varied career in biochemical research in both Chemistry and Biological Sciences. She was part of the team that established the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility (APAF) and co-founded Proteome Systems Limited, an Australian biotechnology company in which her group developed a platform of glycoanalytical technology and informatics tools. She is now Professor of Glycoproteomics, Director of the MQ Biomolecular Discovery & Design Research Centre and Consultant to APAF at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She has gained international and national profile by linking glycomics with the proteomics and bioinformatics approaches to biological functional research.
Nicki’s research focuses on glycomics, the investigation of post-translational modifications of proteins by sugars. Her main research interests lie in the role of glyosylation in different systems, glycoproteins in the innate immune system, cancer glycomics, and the advancement of glycomics technologies. She is also interested in the structure, function, informatics and application of glycans and their conjugates as molecular markers, particularly in their role in cancer, therapeutics and microbial infection.
Xiaohua Shen, Ph.D.
Tsinghua University, China
Xiaohua Shen is an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and an Associate Investigator in the Center of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University. Her main research interest is to understand how the noncoding portions of the genome, particularly noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and genomic repeats, act with their associated proteins to shape distinct epigenetic and cellular states during stem-cell differentiation and in development. In the past years, the Shen lab has rigorously investigated novel aspects of ncRNAs, genomic repeats, and RNA-binding proteins and revealed important paradigms of noncoding RNA-mediated regulation in transcription, chromatin structure, and genome organization.
Michael Washburn
University of Kansas Medical Center, USA
Michael Washburn graduated from Grinnell College, Iowa in 1992. He then received his PhD in Biochemistry/Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University in 1998 under the direction of Professor William W Wells. He was a post-doctoral fellow with Professor John Yates, III at the University of Washington from 1999-2000. He then worked in industry at the Torrey Mesa Research Institute until 2003. In 2003 Washburn joined the Stowers Institute for Medical Research where he is the Director of Proteomics. He also is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Centre.
His research interests lie in the development and application of tools to study of protein complexes and protein interaction networks. His group uses a variety of technologies to accomplish this including quantitative proteomics, computational network analysis, microscopy, and biochemistry. On the biological side, they are particularly interested in the discovery of novel protein-protein interactions with well characterized chromatin complexes, the proteomic based analysis of the dynamics of epigenetics regulatory complexes, and characterization of protein interaction networks.
