Abstract:
The inventory of lipid molecules found in blood plasma (plasma lipidome) offers insights into individual metabolism and physiology in health and disease. Plasma lipidomics based on mass spectrometry has become a powerful tool to support clinical research towards innovative approaches in precision health and medicine. However, the translation of laboratory-developed tests towards robust, rapid and quantitative tests that deliver concordant results across different analytical platforms and sites does require considerable efforts. Specifically, I will present results on behalf of an extensive community effort hosted by the International Lipidomics Society (ILS). We compared measurements between 34 laboratories from 19 countries, utilizing mixtures of stable isotope labelled authentic synthetic standards, to quantify by mass spectrometry four clinically used ceramide species in NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) human blood plasma Reference Materials including SRM 1950 (Torta, Hoffmann, Burla et al - Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 3;15(1):8562 - PMID: 39362843).

Bio:
Markus Wenk has been fascinated by the structure and function of membranes since his time as a student at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel in 1994. During his time at Yale, he introduced new techniques to study how cells metabolise phospholipids. He's been a leader in using advanced methods to study lipids (lipidomics), earning recognition such as the European Lipid Science Award in 2018. Markus founded the Singapore Lipidomics Incubator (SLING) and the international Singapore Lipid Symposium (iSLS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), focusing on innovation, education, and collaboration in lipid research. Lately, he's been working on incorporating precise molecular analysis into medical research for personalized health. Markus led the Department of Biochemistry at NUS from 2015 to 2022 and also directed the NUS Precision Medicine Translational Research Programme from 2020 to 2023. In August 2023, he assumed the role of the Dean of the College of Health and Life Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Doha, Qatar.

PubMed: (“WENK MR”, >300 publications)
Google Scholar: 38,000 citations, h-index 103

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Wenk 
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markus-r-wenk