Department of Chemistry Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Box 599, 751 24, Uppsala, Sweden
Title: Mass Spectrometry in Precision Medicine
ABSTRACT: It has been estimated that only Alzheimer’s disease (AD) alone, the most common form of dementia, will affect approximately 81 million individuals by 2040. To date, the actual cause and cascade of events in the progression of this disease have not been fully determined. Furthermore, there is no definitive blood test or simple diagnostic method for AD so far available. Fibril formation of proteins, together with a dysfunctional regulation of lipids and steroids have been shown to play a fundamental role influencing various risk factors of AD and are closely involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Recently, there has been a stronger focus on metabolomics (eg. lipidomic) studies with the hope of increasing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms leading to AD. Technological advancements in high-resolution mass spectrometry and rapid improvements in chromatographic techniques have led to quick expansion of the field of this research. In this presentation, emphasis is given to the new developments in technologies and their applications in disease biomarker discovery.
BIOSKETCH: Jonas Bergquist, MD-PhD, is Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry at Uppsala University, Sweden, Adjunct Professor in Pathology at the Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Utah, USA, and Distinguished Professor in Precision Medicine, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China. According to the Precision Medicine Initiative, precision medicine is "an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person." This approach will allow doctors and researchers to predict more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies for a particular disease will work in which groups of people. It is in contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach, in which disease treatment and prevention strategies are developed for the average person, with less consideration for the differences between individuals. Professor Bergquist's group is continuously developing general analytical tools for screening and discovery of biomarkers of pathological states. Technologies include all important links: identifying relevant clinical applications, invasive in-situ sampling of complex samples, advanced sample pretreatment, multidimensional liquid based separation, high resolution mass spectrometry, and multivariate data analysis. Professor Bergquist among other things focus to explore the neuroimmunological involvement in neurodegenerative diseases by using proteomics and metabolomics with a special interest in cerebrospinal fluid and hard-to-reach tissue studies.
Time: Tuesday, April 10th, 11.00-12.00
Location: Fróði auditorium, Sturlugata 8