Zhi-Xin YUAN

Biography

Dr. Yuan received her B.Sc. degree in Aanlytical Chemistry from Shengyang Pharmaceutical University (China) and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of London (UK). She have over 30 years of experience in the field of metabolism and bioanalysis with expertise in isolation, separation, structure characterization, and quantitation. During her work with Palatin Technology and Quest Pharmaceutical Services as a principal scientist and study director and principal investigator, she carried out biotransformation studies and developed, optimized, and validated many bioanalytical methods to facilitate drug discovery and development using tandem LC-MS.

Since she joined NIA, Dr. Yuan conducted targeted lipidomic profiling of oxylipins and polyunsaturated fatty acids, so as to reveal the relationship among lipid mediators, the mechanisms involved in the pathology of diseases, and nutrition. She developed and validated a lipidomic profiling method to identify and quantify up to 57 oxylipins and 14 polyunsaturated fatty acids simultaneously.

Currently, her research focuses on establishing an untargeted lipidomic profiling method for the analysis of cardiolipins, oxidative cardiolipins, and monolysocardiolipins using liquid chromatography-high resolution electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Since the alteration of cardiolipins in acyl chain composition, oxidation, and hydrolysis to monolysocardiolipins can result in mitochondrial dysfunction leading to various aging-related diseases. The methodology will assist in improving our understanding of mechanisms associated with these diseases and provide more opportunities for biomarkers discovery.