Tissue imaging improving spatially resolved metabolomic analysis of tissue sections characterization.

The research will use mass spectrometry imaging technologies to characterise tissues sections. The focus will be on metabolomic and lipidomic analysis of a number of tissues with the aim of identifying and differentiating specific metabolomic profiles within the tissues. The student will optimize, validate and employ DESI imaging analysis on a range of samples and develop quantitation strategies, evaluate sample preparation and processing protocols. They will also undertake to improve the spatial resolution and speed of analysis. As well as data collection, the project will aim to evaluate and develop improved database interrogation systems for better understanding metabolomic imaging data. The student will liaise with AstraZeneca experts to enable integration of imaging data with their workflows.

Prof. Zoltán Takáts and his group are world leaders in ambient ionization analysis of clinical and pre-clinical tissues. He has personally developed DESI as well as numerous other ionization techniques. His group and collaborators have been developing tools for the analysis of metabolomic datasets collected from wide ranging samples and analytical assays. AstraZeneca are at the forefront of pharmaceutical companies applying mass spectrometry imaging to drug discovery and development.