Metabonomics to be Focus of Lectures, Workshop

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Metabonomics, the analytical profiling of metabolites in living systems, will be the subject of a free, day-long program to be held at the University at Buffalo on Jan. 8.

The morning program of the Metabonomics Research Day will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Room 225 of the Natural Sciences Complex on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The afternoon workshop will be held in the Center for Tomorrow on the UB North Campus. It will include lunch and requires registration.

"Metabonomics is an exciting new area of research that aims to diagnose diseases by profiling body fluids," said Thomas A. Szyperski, Ph.D., UB professor of chemistry and biochemistry, director of UB's high-field NMR facility and chair of the conference. "As such, it is expected to have tremendous impact on the development of diagnostic tests in the coming years.

"This conference marks the beginning of a major effort to establish a strong research program in metabonomics in Buffalo," he said.

Jeremy Nicholson, Ph.D., professor and chair of biological chemistry, Imperial College in London and one of the world's pioneers in metabonomics, will deliver the conference's keynote address at 8:30 a.m.

Also speaking will be Kunle Odunsi, M.D., Ph.D., attending surgeon and research program director in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and Department of Surgical Oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI); Gail R. Willsky, Ph.D., UB associate professor of biochemistry, and Troy D. Wood, Ph.D., UB associate professor of chemistry.

The afternoon program will feature roundtable discussions about current topics in metabonomics research and future directions for the field to be led by researchers from UB, RPCI, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) and other academic institutions.

The conference is being co- sponsored by the UB College of Arts and Sciences and Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Additional support is being provided by Varian, Inc., Bruker BioSpin, Protatsis and HWI. For additional information, contact Donna Banach at 716-645-6800 ext. 2250 or dbanach@buffalo.edu.