Lipids have significant potential to inform on human health owing to the pivotal role lipids play in many biological processes including cellular integrity and permeability, energy storage and metabolism, and signaling pathways. Heightened interest in the mechanism by which disruption of lipid metabolism and homeostasis contributes to a variety of human diseases and injuries (e.g., cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, infectious diseases, and pulmonary conditions) has led to a substantial increase in lipidomic research. The field of lipidomics, broadly described as the comprehensive biochemical characterization of ‘all’ lipids (referred to as the lipidome) within a cell, tissue or organism presents a variety of analytical challenges resulting primarily from the dynamic range, vast structural diversity, and spatial localization of biological lipids. At the forefront of tackling the analytical challenges of lipidomics research is mass spectrometry (MS). Attendees of this workshop will be introduced to the necessary aspects of conducting lipidomics research, exposed to the current state of MS-based lipidomics, and presented with innovative developments in lipidomic research from leading experts in the field. The workshop presenters will engage the participants with interactive and instructive presentations.
At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to design and implement a mass spectrometry-based lipidomics experiment. Participants will be equipped with context-based knowledge to determine when chromatography (and ion mobility) is necessary, which ionization mode is most appropriate, which ion activation method is most suitable, and which data acquisition mode will provide the most informative data. Participants will also be educated on how to select the most applicable data processing tools for instructive interpretation of their lipidomic data. It is our intention to not only educate the participants but inspire them to become the next crop of leading experts in lipidomics research.