Exposome: Measuring Exposures on an Omic Scale
Explore exposome research in this two-day boot camp through seminars and hands-on analytical sessions, mastering concepts, techniques, and data analysis methods for exposome studies.
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Course Description
The Exposome Boot Camp is a two-day intensive workshop that combines seminars and hands-on lab sessions to explore concepts, techniques, and data analysis methods used in exposomics research.
- Understand the core principles of exposomics, including study design strategies, laboratory methods, and instrumentation platforms for analyzing complex environmental exposures across the life course.
- Apply data handling techniques, including data extraction, cleaning, and management of exposomics data, with a focus on peaks, feature tables, and quality control.
- Utilize pathway data analysis tools, identification databases, and data visualization methods to interpret exposomics data and explore network-based relationships.
- Evaluate the advantages and challenges of study design in exposomics research while exploring emerging laboratory platforms and topics in the field.
To contact support for this course, please email [email protected].
Course Prerequisites
The Exposome Boot Camp welcomes investigators at all career stages, with a special emphasis on trainees and early-stage researchers. While a basic understanding of R and statistics is recommended to fully engage in hands-on lab sessions, it is not required, and tutorials are available for those new to R or needing a refresher; participants must have a personal laptop with R installed if they plan to join the data labs.
What You Will Learn
By the end of this boot camp, learners will be able to:
- Understand the core principles of exposomics, including concept ideation, study design strategies, and the role of laboratory methods and instrumentation platforms in exposure analysis.
- Apply data extraction, cleaning, and handling techniques, with a focus on managing peaks, feature tables, and preparing exposomics data for analysis.
- Utilize pathway data analysis tools, identification databases, and data visualization methods to interpret complex exposomics data and explore network-based relationships.
- Evaluate study design strategies, recognize potential pitfalls, and explore emerging exposomic topics, laboratory platforms, and their implications for environmental health research.
Instructors
Gary W. Miller, PhD, is the Vice Dean for Research Strategy and Innovation and a Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. A pioneer in exposomics, Dr. Miller has advanced high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques to analyze the human exposome comprehensively. He serves on advisory panels for the NIH All of Us Research Program and the National Environmental Health Sciences Advisory Council, and is the founding editor of the journal Exposome.
Douglas Walker, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. As an environmental engineer and analytical chemist, his research focuses on developing high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques to measure over 100,000 chemical signals from a single human blood sample, advancing exposome research and precision medicine. Dr. Walker leads the Comprehensive Laboratory for Untargeted Exposome Science (CLUES), aiming to elucidate the mechanisms underlying environment-related diseases in humans.
Xin Hu, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Emory University. With over 15 years of research experience in environmental health and molecular pulmonary toxicology, Dr. Hu specializes in metabolomics and integrative omics. Her multidisciplinary research leverages metabolomics, exposomics, bulk and single-cell transcriptomics, and epigenomics to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which environmental factors influence lung pathology.
Dean P. Jones, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, with a secondary appointment in Biochemistry. As Director of the Clinical Biomarkers Laboratory, his research focuses on redox systems biology, oxidative stress, and high-resolution metabolomics to advance precision medicine. Dr. Jones has held several leadership roles at Emory, including Program Director of the PhD program in Nutrition and Health Sciences and Core Laboratory Director of the Emory University General Clinical Research Center.
Shuzhao Li, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at The Jackson Laboratory, specializing in metabolomics and immunometabolomics to advance precision medicine. His research employs high-resolution mass spectrometry and computational algorithms to analyze the metabolome, lipidome, and small molecules of dietary, microbial, and environmental origins, bridging the gap between genome and environment. Dr. Li's current projects include developing probabilistic metabolite and network models, reconstructing biochemical networks for immunometabolism, and creating multi-omics models of human immunology to enhance vaccine development and immunotherapy.
Jianguo (Jeff) Xia, PhD, is an Associate Professor at McGill University, holding a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Bioinformatics and Big Data Analytics. His research focuses on developing computational tools to analyze high-throughput omics data, aiming to understand gene-environment interactions involving diet, microbiome, infectious agents, and environmental chemicals. Dr. Xia has received several honors, including being named among the Global Highly Cited Researchers since 2019 and receiving the McGill Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researchers in 2019.
Randolph Reyes Singh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. His research focuses on utilizing high-resolution mass spectrometry-based nontarget analysis to explore the exposome, particularly in large human disease cohorts such as Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative conditions. Dr. Singh combines analytical chemistry and environmental cheminformatics to identify organic contaminants in human biospecimens, aiming to understand how chemical exposures contribute to disease development and progression.