CRBI seminar – Philip Britz-McKibbin

Abstract:

New advances in analytical chemistry for large-scale epidemiological studies: Insights into nutrition and smoke exposures for global health

A suboptimal diet and tobacco smoking are two leading modifiable risk factors in chronic disease burden globally that are typically evaluated using questionnaires by epidemiologists despite being prone to bias and misreporting. This presentation will focus on new advances in mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics research when coupled to capillary electrophoresis (CE) that may allow for more reliable assessment of exposures and their health impacts in large-scale epidemiological studies. A capillary electrophoresis assay for surveillance of iodine deficiency in the Canadian population will first be presented. This work revealed differences in iodine nutrition and exposures to environmental iodine uptake inhibitors in four different regions across Canada. Also, recent developments to expand CE-MS techniques for untargeted lipid profiling when using nonaqueous conditions will be discussed. This approach was used to identify specific circulating lipids associated with omega-3 index status, including biomonitoring changes following high-dose fish oil supplementation. Lastly, I will present a new approach for biochemical verification of tobacco smoke exposures in various countries at different socioeconomic status in support of global health and chronic disease prevention. Stratification of fast from slower nicotine metabolizers offers a unique way to better assess the true hazards from tobacco smoking in diverse populations.