[CEPCEB_All] *TODAY* SEMINAR: Helena Russo Mannochio Candidate for Assistant Professor in Computational and/or Analytical Metabolomics

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Helena Russo Mannochio

University of California, San Diego

Candidate for  Assistant Professor in Computational and/or Analytical
Metabolomics
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*Putting together the million-piece metabolomics puzzle: my journey from
natural products to data science*

*Date:* Tuesday, February 17, 2026

*Time: *10:30-11:30am

*Location: *Genomics Auditorium

*Abstract:*
Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics is a powerful analytical tool to study
small molecules in complex biological systems. Despite the significant
advancements in annotation techniques over the past decade, the vast
majority of metabolomics data remains underexplored, with only about 10% of
the detected features successfully annotated. It’s like being handed a
million- piece puzzle with no picture on the box. With the increasing
availability of public metabolomics data, new opportunities to reuse this
information have recently emerged, enabling the discovery of new molecules
from existing datasets - a pioneer approach compared to the traditional
techniques for molecule discovery. In this presentation, I will trace my
academic journey, beginning with traditional natural products research,
transitioning into plant metabolomics, and further advancing into data
science techniques and their application in clinical metabolomics. This
approach led to the discovery of thousands of molecules, including N-acyl
lipids with potential associations with HIV and neurocognitive impairment.
Additionally, I will highlight the development of the plantMASST, a
community-built resource and the largest spectral database of plant
extracts to date, which has accelerated the discovery of specialized plant
metabolites. Together, these efforts illustrate how we can unlock the
hidden chemical diversity within metabolomics data, bringing us closer to
completing the puzzle.
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