MANA Newsletter – The Brief

December 2023

Issue 10

The Brief

From the Metabolomics Association of North America

In This Issue

Message from MANA President, Tom Metz
MANA News
MANA 2023 Post-Conference Reflections
Corporate Member Updates
MANA Interest Group Updates
Metabolomics Related Events
Publication Corner

Message from MANA President, Tom Metz

Wow - time flies! This is my last president's message, as my term as MANA President comes to an end on December 31. I have enjoyed my time on the MANA Board of Directors working with many special colleagues over the past 5 years to further develop the association and increase its impact on behalf of metabolomics researchers in North America. I look forward to the perspective and leadership that my colleague, Dr. Ewy Mathé, will bring as the next MANA President.

I enjoyed greeting those MANA members who attended the 5th Annual Conference on the beautiful University of Missouri campus in October. Many thanks to Prof. Lloyd Sumner and the Local and Scientific Organizing Committees for a stellar program and event!

Lastly, as an international affiliate of the Metabolomics Society, MANA is excited to participate with the Society and other international affiliates to establish an 'affiliate network' to support cross-training activities for our respective members. A pilot program will be put in place in the coming year, so watch for details there.

The Brief | Issue 10

MANA News

MANA 2023 BOD Elections concluded this month:

On November 17, 2023, we welcomed Dr. Yamile López Hernández, National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT, Mexico), Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Dr. Ryan Sheldon, Van Andel Institute, and Dr. Erica Forsberg, Bruker as new Directors on the board.
On December 7, 2023, we welcomed Dr. Ewy Mathé, Bethesda, MD as the next MANA President. She'll start her role on January 1, 2024.

Thank you to our outgoing Board members whose terms on the Board will end at the end of the year: Dr. Tom Metz, Dr. Mark Styczynski, and Dr. Timothy Garrett. We appreciate their outstanding contributions, which have been vital to many MANA events, programs, and interest groups. Thank you for your continued involvement in leading MANA efforts as the organization moves forward.

Save the date, MANA 2024 was announced at the Townhall Meeting at MANA 2023!

When: October 22-24, 2024
Where: Tampa, FL
Hosted by: Tim Garrett (University of Florida) & John Koomen (Moffitt Cancer Center)

MANA 2023 Post-Conference Reflections

The MANA 2023 conference was hosted by Prof. Lloyd W. Sumner at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO from October 24-26, 2023. Take a moment to reflect on the insightful discussions, new connections made, and the valuable knowledge gained during the conference. For more details about the conference check out our website here!

Thank you to our Plenary Speakers for sharing their invaluable insights and expertise.

Thank you again to Prof. Lloyd W. Sumner, the Local Organizing Committee, and the Scientific Organizing Committee for hosting a great conference.

Lastly, thank you to our 2023 Corporate Members for supporting MANA and whose technologies and involvement help drive the field of metabolomics forward.

MANA 2023 Awardees

MANA offered a variety of awards for the MANA 2023 conference. We had many great applicants. We would like to thank all of our lightning talks and poster judges. If you have any questions regarding awards and opportunities for MANA 2024, please email us at awards@metabolomicsna.org.

MANA 2023 Conference Awardees:

Early Career Rising Star Award

Dr. Oana Zeleznik, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School

Mark P. Styczynski Early Career Award in Computational Metabolomics

Dr. Gayatri Iyer, University of Michigan

Emerging Leader in Metabolomics Service Cores

Dr. Khyati Pathak, Translational Genomics Research Institute

WomiX Mentorship Award

Prof. Caroline Johnson, Yale University

ECM Lightning Talk Awards

Jessica Deutsch, Georgia Institute of Technology: “Investigation of stony coral metabolomes reveals inter and intra-specific variation”
Harini Sridharan, Georgia Institute of Technology: “Metabolomic analysis of the Crabtree effect in yeast”

ECM Best Poster Awards

Dr. Erika Palmieri, NCI, Postdoc

Dr. Stephanie Momeni, Oregon Health and Science, Postdoc

Dr. Sonam Tamrakar, Michigan State University, Postdoc

Dr. Kayla Getz, Washington U in St. Louis, Postdoc

Dr. Prasanna Kumaara, Buck Inst for Res on Aging, Postdoc

Jessica Deutsch, Georgia Tech, Graduate Student

Pawanjit Kaur Sandhu, University of BC, Graduate Student

Darcy Cochran, University of Neb- Lincoln, Graduate Student

Harini Sridharan, Georgia Tech, Graduate Student

Micah Jeppesen, University of Neb- Lincoln, Graduate Student

Lara Stefani, University of Missouri, Undergraduate Student

ECM Travel Awards

Dr. Stephanie Bishop, University of Calgary, Postdoc

Dr. Gayatri Iyer, University of Michigan, Postdoc

Dr. Ipsita Mohanty, University of California, San Diego, Postdoc

Dr. Silvia Radenkovic, Mayo Clinic, Postdoc

Dr. Simone Zuffa, University of California, San Diego, Postdoc

Dr. Michael Eze, Missouri University, Early Career Professor

Erik Andersson, University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate Student

Nicole Bruce, Florida State University/ACESO, Graduate Student

Oluwatobi Fijabi, University of Alabama Graduate Student

Jasmine Gill, Clemson University Graduate Student

ECM Dependent Care Grant: 3 awards provided

Metabolomics Service Cores Best Poster Award

Oral: Dr. Uri Keshet, University of California, Davis, “QA/QC for Untargeted Metabolomics in a Large Core Lab: Current Best Practices & Innovative Strategies”
Poster: Dr. Rupasri Mandal, University of Alberta, “Comprehensive, quantitative analysis of SRM 1950: the NIST human plasma reference material”

MANA 2023 Workshop Recap

MANA 2023 offered 13 workshops spanning data management, advanced analysis techniques, and interdisciplinary approaches, showcasing practical applications, tool development, and fostering collaboration within metabolomics. Check out the recaps from a few of the workshops below. For more details about the workshop click here!

Read article

MANA 2023 Memories!

The Brief | Issue 10

Corporate Member Highlights

Thank you to our 2023 Corporate Members for supporting MANA and whose technologies and involvement help drive the field of metabolomics forward.

If you are interested in being our next corporate member to be highlighted submit your content to our email mana@metabolomicsna.org!

SCIEX shared their experiences at MANA 2023:

Recap: MANA was a well-organized event. The combination of presentations, workshops, posters and vendor lunches was a great mix of science and forward-focused planning for the field.
Outcomes: We enjoyed lots of engagement with existing colleagues as well as compelling discussions with new connections.
Key takeaway: As a solutions provider, there is a lot to gain from interactions with MANA leadership and members not only at the annual meeting, but also throughout the year.

The Brief | Issue 10

MANA Interest Group Updates

WomiX: Womxn in Metabolomics

WomiX is committed to the advancement of Womxn in Metabolomics. Using “womxn” with an “x” in order to explicitly welcome trans women, transfeminine, genderfluid, and nonbinary participants. All MANA members and allies are welcome to our community regardless of gender!

Recent WomiX Activities:

Prof. Caroline Johnson gave an inspiring talk for the 2023 WomiX Mentorship Award Lecture at MANA 2023. She shared her journey both in life and career where she explained the key elements of why mentoring is important in STEM and ultimately how it shaped her to be the mentor she is today!
December marks the end of the 2023 WomiX Mentorship Program. This year we had 11 mentors and 14 mentees. A special thank our mentors for contributing their time - Elena Diaz, Stephanie Bishop, Susan Bird, Facundo Fernandez, Annie Evans, Soha Hassoun, Maryam Goudarzi, Dajana Vuckovic, Jonathan Mosley, Oana Zeleznik, and Marissa Jones!

Current WomiX Opportunities:

Sign up as either a mentor or mentee in the 2024 WomiX Mentorship Program:
Mentee sign-up link here, deadline Jan 26, 2024
Mentor sign-up link here, deadline Jan 26, 2024
Nominate your mentor for the 2024 Womix Mentorship Award, self-nomination is encouraged!
The WomiX organizing committee is seeking nominations for the 2024 WomiX Mentorship Award. This award will honor a womxn in metabolomics that has demonstrated strong mentorship and leadership skills and has made a large impact on other researchers in their field.
Submit your nominations here, deadline Jan 26, 2024
2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Summer Internship
We officially have a job link from Thermo for this opportunity, click here to find out more.

WomiX is still growing! All MANA members are welcome to join regardless of gender. Join here to get updates about WomiX.

Stay Connected!

MANA Early Career Members

ECM (Early Career Members) strives to empower the next generation of scientists in the field of metabolomics in North America by supporting opportunities for mentorship, networking, training, and career development opportunities.

Recent ECM Activities:

MANA 2023 Workshop, see above for details
The networking event at MANA 2023 was a great way for ECMs to catch up, grab food, and play the annual ECM Trivia! Other activities at MANA 2023 included coffee breaks (we had our official table, making it easy for ECMs to gather and meet), conducted interviews of our awardees, took headshots, we also had an ECM poster, we gave out 10 ECM Travel Grants and 3 Dependent Care Grants, and lastly media was covered by our very own ECM members: Arpana Vaniya & Lara Stefani.

MANA ECM's Chair: Farewell Message

As my two-year position as Chair concludes, I'm deeply grateful for this incredible journey. Our community's resilience and collaborative spirit have shown me the power of the saying 'when great minds think alike'. Serving as Chair has been a privilege, rooted in my passion for helping people.

Before this role, I served as an at-large council member for 1 year. Overall, I've met exceptional individuals across ECM Committees, MANA's Board of Directors, and the broader metabolomics community—many of whom I now consider friends.

Our efforts have given way to numerous programs, events, awards, and initiatives that enriched our community. Facilitating connections and networking has been particularly rewarding. I leave with a heartfelt appreciation for the friendships and experiences. I'm confident our collective efforts will continue to drive us forward with the next Chair and new At-large committee members joining in Jan. 2024.

Regards,

Arpana Vaniya, Ph.D.

If you’re not already part of the email list, please send us an email with your name, the year of the last degree, and what email address you would like to use. We can be reached at earlycareer@metabolomicsna.org.

Interest Groups

If you want more information about these interest groups or want to start an interest group please check our website. All interest groups are open to new members.

The Brief | Issue 10

Metabolomics Related Events

2024 UC Davis WCMC Metabolomics Courses

The UC Davis WCMC holds a series of training courses throughout the year for professional researchers, graduate students, postdocs, staff, and scientists.

Hands-on LC-MS Data Processing & Statistics 2024 (In-Person, Arc UC Davis) | March 4-8, 2024
Bits & Bites 2023: 10-Part Short Course Series (Online) | Jan - Dec, 2024
For more information: Please contact Jeannette Martins jmartins@ucdavis.edu or visit our website

UBC Metabolomics Micro-credential Course

Learn modern approaches and technologies to discover, identify, and quantify metabolites in any biological sample over the span of this 39-hour micro-credential.

Course dates: Spring 2024. For more information visit our website

Have instructional courses to offer?

If you are interested in submitting content regarding instructional courses email us at mana@metabolomicsna.org!

The Brief | Issue 10

Publication Corner

Metz, Thomas O., et al. "Decoding the Molecular Universe--Workshop Report." arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.11437 (2023).

Have publications you'd like to share or highlight?

If you are interested in submitting content regarding metabolomics-related publications email us at mana@metabolomicsna.org!