About Lipidomics Core
The LIPID MAPS® Lipidomics Core is a service core at the University of California, San Diego that provides broad lipidomics analyses using gas or liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The facility was established as a service core by Prof. Oswald Quehenberger and Prof. Edward A. Dennis in 2013. The Lipidomics Core builds on unique expertise acquired during the tenure of the NIH-funded LIPID Metabolites And Pathways Strategy (LIPID MAPS®) program. Dr. Dennis organized this multi-institutional effort in 2003 and served as its Director until 2013, when the program officially ended. LIPID MAPS® succeeded in its aim to identify and quantitate all of the major and many minor lipid species in mammalian systems, using a systems biology approach and sophisticated mass spectrometry techniques. The LIPID MAPS® Consortium developed and established protocols, standards and quantitative measurements for lipidomic analysis, including identification and quantification of over 600 lipid molecular species in human plasma, which represent the first comprehensive lipid profiling effort of human tissue.
The instrumental infrastructure and all developed methodologies were migrated to the LIPID MAPS® Lipidomics Core. Since then, we have continued to improve the analytical processes and are offering our cumulative expertise in lipid analysis to the research community.
Core Leadership
Oswald Quehenberger, Ph.D., Core Director
Oswald Quehenberger directs and manages the LIPID MAPS® Lipidomics Core. Dr. Quehenberger is Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego. He received his M.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Graz, Austria. He has expertise in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, was a principal investigator at the Specialized Center of Research on Atherosclerosis at UCSD and Scientific Director of the LIPID MAPS® Consortium. He has a broad background in immunity and inflammation with specific expertise in research pertaining to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome with underlying acute, chronic and subclinical inflammation.
Edward A. Dennis, Ph.D., Founding Director
Dr. Dennis is Chancellor Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego. He received his B.A. degree in Chemistry from Yale University and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Harvard University. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Lipid Research and Co-Chairs the biennial International Symposia on Eicosanoids and Bioactive Lipids. He was awarded the Avanti Award, Research in Lipid Biochemistry in 2000, the European Lipid Science Award in 2007 and the Yale Medal in 2008. Dr. Dennis is a member of the Board of Directors for the Keystone Symposia.
Aaron M. Armando, M.S., Technical Director
Aaron Armando directs lab operations for the LIPID MAPS® Lipidomics Core. He received his M.S. in Biochemistry from Loma Linda University and has been involved with the LIPID MAPS® project since 2008. Aaron’s expertise in Lipidomics includes mass spectrometry, chromatography, and extraction techniques, and he can assist with any inquiries regarding technical aspects of lipidomic analysis. He has developed and contributed to all methodologies used in the Core.
Milda K. Simonaitis, M.A., Administrative Director
Acknowledgements
Citing the LIPID MAPS Lipidomics Core
The UCSD Lipidomics Core welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on a broad range of projects. As an academic facility, a publication record is instrumental for the professional advancement of the staff and the maintenance of top-quality analytical service. We ask the users of our facility to consider the scientific contributions of the core members for any ensuing publications.
We ask that core users who include data generated by the UCSD Lipidomics Core include the following statement, "Lipid analysis was performed at the UCSD Lipidomics Core", and cite the core paper, Quehenberger et al. (2010) Lipidomics reveals a remarkable diversity of lipids in human plasma. J Lipid Res, 51: 3299-305 (PMC2952570), in any resulting publications.