Xueheng Zhao, PhD

I'm a bioanalytical chemist. My laboratory work using mass spectrometry includes three complementary themes: metabolism, metabolomics and clinical chemistry. My lab develops new tools that support solving biological questions through collaboration with clinicians and basic scientists. We are developing analytical methodologies tailored to biomarker discovery, particularly in the early diagnosis and treatment of pediatric genetic disorders, lysosomal storage and liver diseases. Additionally, my group engineers bioinformatic tools designed for lipidomic and metabolomics projects to enhance batch effect correction, metabolite identification and network analysis.

As a graduate student at the University of Georgia, I used ion trap mass spectrometry to determine biodegradation products from potentially carcinogenic azo dyes by microorganisms. I was amazed by mass spectrometry’s capability to measure metabolites sensitively and quantitatively and uncover unknown biological pathways. This led to my continued interest in mass spectrometry-based research.

Metabolic reprogramming and perturbation by genetic and environmental factors are key characteristics of cancer and metabolic diseases, including neurofibromatosis (NF) and metabolic dysregulation-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). A primary interest of my research is using mass spectrometry and -omics approach to discover novel biomarkers and dysregulated metabolic pathways to improve treatment for these refractory diseases.

My research uses lipidomics profiling to discover the metabolic links of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway and glycosphingolipid metabolism in head and neck cancer cells, published in Clinical Cancer Research. I also identified distinct bile acid signatures in undernourished children with environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), published in the Journal of Nutrition.

I'm honored to have been awarded a National Library of Medicine Fellowship at Stanford University. I have been a researcher for over 20 years and began working at Cincinnati Children's in 2007.