Trans-NIH Metabolomics Core (TNMC)

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Ruin Moaddel, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist

Tel 410-558-8294
[email protected]

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)

Benji Schwarz, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist

Tel 406-363-9285
[email protected]

Group Leader, MetLip Unit, PCS, RTB, NIAID
Benji Schwarz, Ph.D., is the group leader of the Metabolomics and Lipidomics (MetLip) Unit in the Research and Technologies Branch (RTB) of NIAID stationed at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, MT. His group’s mission is to translate chemical analysis into clinically/biologically meaningful stories through partnerships with NIH intramural researchers. His group uses primarily targeted mass spectrometry methods for measurement of metabolic- and lipid-associated processes. Schwarz received his B.S. from Gonzaga University in Biochemistry in 2011 and subsequently a Ph.D. in 2016 in Bioanalytical Chemistry and Nanomaterial Engineering from Indiana University under the supervision of Trevor Douglas in the Dept. of Chemistry. He then joined the lab of Catharine (Katy) Bosio at RML and began building mass spectrometry metabolomics and lipidomics resources in support of disease-focused research. In 2023 he established the MetLip Unit as part of the Proteins & Chemistry Section/RTB/NIAID to support for NIAID DIR researchers. In that same year, his group joined the Trans-NIH Metabolomics Initiative in an effort to expand support for lipidomic and targeted molecular analysis to non-NIAID ICs.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Alan K. Jarmusch, Ph.D.
Director, Metabolomics Core Facility (MCF)

Tel 984-287-4523
[email protected]

Director, Trans-NIH Metabolomics Core (TNMC)
Alan Jarmusch, Ph.D., is the Director of the Metabolomics Core Facility at NIEHS and the Director of the Trans-NIH Metabolomics Core Facility. Jarmusch performed his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Biochemistry. He earned a PhD in Chemistry from Purdue University under the mentorship of Prof. R. Graham Cooks. Jarmusch completed his postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Diego, supervised by Prof. Pieter C. Dorrestein. His broad research interest is the application of mass spectrometry in the biomedical and environmental sciences but has particular interest in developing novel methods and data analysis software to enable discovery. Jarmusch possesses specialized knowledge in electrospray ionization fundamentals, ambient ionization, mass spectrometry imaging, untargeted mass spectrometry, mass spectrometry data processing, cancer research, microbiome, drug metabolism, and metabolomics.

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Danielle A. Lehman
Contractor

Tel 984-287-4707
[email protected]

Danielle Lehman is a contracted lab technician in the Trans-NIH Metabolomics Core at NIEHS. Lehman received her BS in biology from Youngstown State University. She has extensive experience in the field of mass spectrometry, including nontargeted analysis, unknown identifications, quantitative method development and small molecule analysis.

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Kaylie I. Donelson, Ph.D.
Chemist

Tel 984-287-4632
[email protected]

TNMC Coordinator
Kaylie (Kirkwood) Donelson, Ph.D., is a chemist in the Metabolomics Core Facility at NIEHS and a Coordinator of the Trans-NIH Metabolomics Core. Donelson earned both her BS and Ph.D. in Chemistry from North Carolina State University under the advisement of Prof. David Muddiman and Prof. Erin Baker, respectively. She is particularly interested in applying mass spectrometry-based approaches to understand the relationship between human health and the environment, and has experience with ion mobility spectrometry, nontargeted mass spectrometry, PFAS analysis, lipidomics, and metabolomics.

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Kirsten E. Overdahl, Ph.D.
Chemist

Tel 984-287-4562
[email protected]

TNMC Coordinator
Kirsten Overdahl, Ph.D., is a Chemist in the Metabolomics Core Facility and serves as a Trans-NIH Metabolomics Coordinator. She is particularly interested in using high-resolution mass spectrometry as a basis for exploring the human metabolome and the environmental exposome to understand how small molecule exposures may be implicated in health consequences. Her current independent research centers around best practices for untargeted analysis data interpretability and, more specifically, for de novo annotation of previously unrecognized chemicals. Overdahl earned her B.A. in Chemistry with Distinction from St. Olaf College, where she studied with Doug Beussman, Ph.D.; she then earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from Duke University, where she studied with Lee Ferguson, Ph.D., and Heather Stapleton, Ph.D. Overdahl possesses specialized knowledge in untargeted mass spectrometry, experimental design and analysis of emerging environmental contaminants in numerous matrices (particularly azo dyes and other halogenated molecules), mass spectrometry data analysis, and metabolomics.