EMBO Practical Course: “Metabolomics bioinformatics in human health”

The objective of the EMBO Practical Course “Metabolomics Bioinformatics in Human Health” is to provide an advanced overview with hands-on practical on key issues and challenges in metabolomics, handling datasets and procedures for the analysis of metabolomics data using bioinformatics tools.

Hosted for the first time in IARC on 16-20 September 2019 in Lyon, France, this five-day course was designed in a comprehensive approach combining lectures, practical exercises and interactive discussions designed to provide participants with a firm understanding of optimal study design to data analysis techniques for metabolomics studies applied to human health. Our course enabled participants (PhD students, post-doctoral scientists and researchers) to explore the current challenges faced by the metabolomics community with opportunities to share ideas, network and discuss their research.

Attended by 30 participants from 16 countries, the course has been an enormous success with excellent feedback. Attendees along with trainers delivering the course interacted daily over the five days enhancing the experience and the quality of the sessions. The course was particularly successful at stimulating cutting-edge discussions relying on collective group experience. We had several icebreaker sessions for the participants to get to know each other, including flash presentation by each attendee followed by the experimental design activity where participants planned a metabolomics research project and presented it to the rest of the course for open critique.

Highly recommended by our attendees! View the abstract book and detailed programme.

READ WHAT THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE TO SAY…

“We live in Information Age and the early career researchers in today’s era are expected to deal with information overload and extract out knowledge out of it. This course equips one with learning tools that can facilitate knowledge creation and extraction.I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and considering the fact that organising such practical courses require substantial efforts and funding, this one goes beyond expectations. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to attend this.” Alpesh Thakker, Postdoctoral researcher Lipidomics, University of the Highlands and Islands, UK

“This is an intensive practical workshop for learning some of the intricate aspects of metabolomics data analysis covering a broad range of topics. This course has provided a great kickstart for establishing a robust metabolomics workflow in my lab. The course was very well organized and the speakers were phenomenal.” Ambily Sivadas, Postdoctoral fellow, St. John’s Research Institute, India

“My experience at this course has been wonderful and exceeded my previous expectations. It has been an amazing opportunity to learn from world recognized experts in the field all the distinct aspects that are covered by computational metabolomics. It undoubtedly provides both a panoramic and detailed view of this importantly consolidating discipline, as well as providing the metabolomics scientist with a set of open-source, powerful tools. It is also remarkable the warm atmosphere that dominates the whole event, which arises from a combination of a high interaction between the different participants with very diverse backgrounds, in a space which is optimal in terms of organization and installations. 100% recommendable!” Miguel Fernández García, PhD Student, CEMBIO – Center for Metabolomics and Bioanalysis of San Pablo-CEU university, Spain

“The course was intense and extremely useful for people working in the metabolomics field. It covered from experimental design up to statistical analysis and modelling. Besides, many technological aspects to be considered when dealing with metabolomics experiments were easily explained. Finally, posters sessions as well as lunch&coffee breaks allowed us to nicely interact with speakers/trainees as well as the other attendees. Highly recommended course in a fab location!” Giovanny Rodriguez Blanco, SSO Metabolomics, CRUK Beatson Institute, UK