Jena/London/Zürich. What started as a mere idea has now turned into reality. Dr. Clara Correia-Melo, Dr. Kasper Fugger, and Prof. Dr. Pedro Beltrão have joined the ranks of top 5% of scientists worldwide, to be awarded funding by the Human Frontier Science Program. What sets this grant apart is its focus on bringing together diverse fields of science to foster highly innovative research.
In her Junior Group "Host-Microbiome Metabolism in Aging" at the FLI in Jena, Clara and her team investigate the chemicals synthesized by cells, known as metabolites, but also how their exchange between cells, change during aging or upon stress. The focus is to understand and how these chemicals impact the onset, progression, and response to therapy of diseases. They approach this research from various angles, including in vitro characterization of cell-cell metabolite exchanges and in vivo validation of metabolic modulators of cellular and tissue function, within the host, host-microbiome, and microbial contexts.
This research is made possible through the integration of high-throughput platforms, metabolomics, proteomics, and computational approaches. The team has recently established robotic platforms for high-throughput functional characterization of mammalian and microbial systems. Additionally, they have set up a high-sensitivity mass spectrometry-based targeted metabolomics platform and continue to develop methods to comprehensively and precisely quantify metabolites involved in key metabolic pathways. These platforms not only play a critical role in the lab's research but also offer significant benefits to other research projects at FLI, which aim to incorporate metabolomics and microbiome analysis into their inquiries.
With the newly awarded HFSP Research Grant, the expertise and excellent technical resources of the FLI will now be combined with the renowned expertise of researchers from London and Zurich as part of the multidisciplinary project.
"Our current knowledge is just the tip of the iceberg. We are now poised to delve deeper and anticipate making intriguing discoveries on the nature and origins of fundamental molecules of life, as well as the machinery that enable their synthesis within cells," says Clara. This collaborative project will look into the chemical modifications that are added to nucleotides, which are essentially the 'building blocks' of life, forming the backbone of DNA and RNA, the molecules that carry our genetic information. “We expect this research to expand our fundamental understanding of life. By tracing the origins, impacts, and interactions of these nucleotides across various species, we aim to unlock new scientific knowledge and potentially pave the way for innovations in medical therapy” says Clara. Additionally, the team hopes to provide fresh insights into evolutionary biology, exploring the 'chemical conversations' occurring between different life forms at the molecular level, thereby enriching our comprehension of the intricate web of life on Earth.
Additional Information
The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) is an international funding organization for research in the life sciences. The program aims to support groundbreaking and interdisciplinary research aimed at addressing fundamental questions in biology. It promotes collaboration among scientists from different disciplines and countries to gain new insights into complex biological processes. HFSP funds research projects, fellowships for young scientists, and organizes programs for scientific collaboration and communication.
