Xiang Zhang
University of Louisville, KY·Biochemistry
Liver disease, whether driven by alcohol or by toxic exposures, begins with changes in the molecules a cell makes and modifies long before damage is visible. Reading those molecules out comprehensively — all the proteins, fats, small metabolites and chemical marks in a sample — requires instruments and analytical expertise that few individual labs can maintain.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Medicine & Clinical Research
Chemistry
- Topics
omics
bioinformatics
mass spectrometry
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jun 2031
What they work on
- Support hepatobiology and toxicology research projects with established omics technologies, providing metabolomic, proteomic, lipidomic and bioinformatic analyses of investigator samples.
- Develop new chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry protocols for fit-for-purpose multiomics measurements matched to the specific needs of center investigators.
- Measure proteins, peptides, metabolites, and protein and RNA modifications in samples from alcohol research projects to identify molecular mechanisms that correlate with or contribute to liver dysfunction.
- Standardize sample preparation, instrument performance, data collection, reporting and sharing across center projects so omics results are uniform and comparable.
- Train center and university investigators in the theory, application and analysis of multiomics data, and establish a business model that makes the core financially self-sustaining.
More about the research
Both of these awards fund shared omics cores that provide that capability to liver-focused research centers, and together they support measurement, method development, training and data standards across many investigator projects.
Why it matters
Alcohol-associated and toxin-associated liver disease is hard to detect early and hard to treat. By measuring proteins, lipids, metabolites and chemical modifications in biological samples with standardized methods, these cores give liver and toxicology researchers the molecular readouts needed to pinpoint mechanisms of liver dysfunction and candidate markers of damage. Standardization also makes results comparable and reusable across projects, and the training provided builds omics capability among investigators at the institution.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
James Papin
University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences Center, OK·Biochemistry
Provide next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis of combined genomic, proteomic and metabolomic data, to cancer center members and other investigators.
Drew Jones
New York University, NY·Biochemistry
Provide metabolomics services to cancer researchers, including global and untargeted metabolomics, lipidomics, mass spectrometry imaging and custom targeted methods for measuring specific metabolites.
Erik Soderblom
Duke University, NC·Biochemistry
Provide untargeted (omic) and targeted mass spectrometry measurements of proteins for Duke Cancer Institute researchers, using high-resolution instruments such as the Orbitrap Astral and Fusion Lumos Tribrid.
The school
University of Louisville: 15 labs on PI Pages, $225M a year on research, 159 research doctorates a year.
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