Volatile Biomarkers and Non-Invasive Breath Tests for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Diseases: from bench-to-bed
Abstract
Mass spectrometry has been extensively used to investigate trace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are found in exhaled breath. Many of these investigations are associated with clinical attempts to find VOCs that are associated with a disease, with the expectation that those found in the advanced stages of a disease will be present in its early stages. At first glance this seems to be a reasonable assumption, given that exhaled volatiles, and especially those that are endogenously produced, reflect changes in metabolic processes occurring in the human body. However, this holy-grail for breath research has remained elusive owing to various confounding factors. Even if these confounding factors could be taken into account, it is still unlikely that endogenous VOCs will provide the unique signatures needed to identify a specific disease. This is mainly because they are not exclusive enough, i.e., exhaled endogenous volatiles can often be attributed to several metabolic processes. In contrast, exogenous compounds, and any resulting volatile metabolites, have the ability of providing distinctive probes to metabolic processes that have significant potential for diagnosing disease and for use in personalized medicine, e.g., monitoring disease progression or for determining the efficacy of drugs. In this seminar we will discuss a number of recent in vitro and in vivo mass spectrometric volatile investigations that provide useful underpinning knowledge to guide and enhance the development of exogenous metabolic volatile breath tests, thereby beginning to fulfil a goal of providing non-invasive breath tests that bridge bench-to-bed.
Details
Date: 16th June
Time: 13:00
Venue: Ingram Lecture Theatre
Biography
Background
Chris Mayhew is the Director of the Institute for Breath Research at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. The mission of the Institute is to deliver world-class interdisciplinary research tackling the challenges of applying non-invasive breath, skin and urine analyses for pharmacokinetic studies, and medical diagnosis, monitoring and screening. Our activities include fundamental research, clinical studies, mathematical modelling, and knowledge transfer between scientific, medical and industrial communities.
Career-to-date
Imperial College London Research Fellow, London UK 1985-1987
Argonne National Laboratory Research Fellow, Chicago, USA 1987-1988
Alexander von Humboldt Fellow University of Bonn, Bonn, West Germany 1988-1989
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK:
Lecturer, 1989-1997
Senior Lecturer 1997-2006
Reader in Molecular Physics 2007-2018
Professor of Molecular Physics 2018-2020
Director of the Institute for Breath Research and University Professor, University of Innsbruck, Austria, 2016 – present.