(4gq) Studying Human Metabolic Diseases By Compartmentalized Redox and Metabolic Analyses

Research Interests: Altered metabolism contributes to human diseases, including cancer, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegeneration. By studying how metabolic processes are rewired during disease progression, scientists and engineers can effectively design therapies that treat metabolic dysfunction and improve the quality of life of patients. My research goal is to identify metabolic and redox vulnerabilities by evaluating the metabolic processes and compartmentalized redox metabolism that contribute to human diseases. While traditional multi-omics approaches enable identification of significantly affected genes, metabolites, and associated pathways during disease progression, these approaches lack information on other metabolic features such as compartmentalized redox states, metabolic network structures, and fluxes. Assessment of these features is crucial to identify the regulatory nodes that cause dysregulated metabolism during disease progression. To address this gap, I propose a systems-level approach that integrates image-based compartmentalized redox metabolism analysis and mass-spectrometry based metabolic network and imaging analysis. This strategy will enable me to quantitatively and holistically analyze the complicated metabolic processes that cause disease, leading to identification of key modulators and potential therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases.

Cancer cachexia is a devastating metabolic syndrome that cause severe weight loss and fatigue in up to 80 % of advanced cancer patients, but the metabolic factors that modulate tumor and host metabolism during the progression of cancer cachexia remains poorly characterized. My initial proejct will be to integrate novel multi-omics approach (e.g., spatially resolved isotope tracing, redox proteomics, and metabolomics) with mathematical modeling techniques (e.g., genome-scale metabolic modeling and flux analysis) and redox sensors to identify the dysregulated metabolic pathways and enzyme targets that cause cancer cachexia. Using this information, I will propose therapeutic and preventative strategies, ultimately aiming to improve the quality of life for patients suffering from cancer cachexia.

Teaching Interest: I have a strong foundation in chemical and biological engineering, which has provided me with robust skill sets in quantitative analysis and the application of chemical engineering principles to solve complex biological systems. I am particularly interested in teaching metabolic engineering: applications to cancer metabolism, cancer metabolism, kinetics, biochemical engineering, biochemistry, thermodynamics, and technologies for evaluating complex biological systems.