The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will invest $14.3 million this year and potentially more than $51.4 million over five years to accelerate the emerging field of biomedical research known as metabolomics. Metabolomics is the study of small molecules called metabolites, found within cells and biological systems. Metabolites are produced or consumed in the chemical reactions that sustain life.
The sum of all metabolites at any time—the metabolome—is a form of chemical readout of the state of health of the cell or body that provides information about nutrition, infection, health, and disease status. Metabolomics technologies can potentially measure hundreds to thousands of unique metabolites, which can change as the result of disease, environmental exposures, or nutrition. In a clinical setting, metabolomics technologies can be powerful tools for diagnosis and disease follow-up. In basic research, these technologies will transform the ability of investigators to define the mechanisms underlying disease and develop new treatment strategies.
The awards are supported by the NIH Common Fund. The Fund is supporting a variety of initiatives to increase the research capacity in metabolomics, including training, technology development, standards synthesis, and data sharing capability. Three Regional Comprehensive Metabolomics Resource Cores have been awarded from the first round of applications; two or three more may be awarded at a later date. The Cores will increase the national capacity to provide metabolomics profiling and data analysis services to investigators.
Read more about the funded metabolomics awards.
