Metabolomics

Vijay Soni, Ph.D. is associated with Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, since 2016 and has 13 years of research experience in the field of microbial metabolism. He received his Ph.D. (in 2016) jointly from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi and Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani Hyderabad, India. Soon after that he joined Weill Cornell Medicine as a postdoctoral research associate followed by instructor of microbiology in medicine in the same department. His area of research revolves around the metabolism of cell wall of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Using metabolomics as a core approach, he is applying multiomics to solve the complex metabolic reprogramming upon antibiotic treatments and resistance. His research also involves identification of various metabolic pathways, metabolites, and their regulators to enable the therapeutic potential of anti-tuberculosis drugs and combination therapies. Dr. Soni has also been serving as editor and reviewer for many prestigious scientific journals. He has authored several high impact research articles, reviews, editorials, book chapters and books. His research work has been recognized by various national and international awards. He is also involved in entrepreneurial ventures and developing novel avenues for drug discoveries and diagnosis.

Travis E. Hartman, Ph.D. is an Instructor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Course Leader for the Research Education Course in Metabolomics as a joint venture between scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute- a comprehensive course geared at relaying the necessary skill set for independent metabolomics experimentation. He has researched prokaryotic metabolism for 15 years and has developed novel methodologies for the acquisition of metabolites via LC-MS and pioneered analytic approaches for data analysis. Travis earned his Ph. D. in Molecular Genetics form the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2015, where he was mentored by HHMI Instructor William Jacobs Jr. He has mentored and tutored numerous undergraduate and graduate students over the years and hopes for their success. His primary research goal is to uncover the mechanistic basis of the phenotypic switch that allows sub-populations of pathogenic bacteria to evade chemotherapy and persist in the host. Working with pathogenic strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, his recent work focuses on the metabolic response to diverse antitubercular drugs and drug candidates to curtail drug tolerance and avoid antibiotic resistance. Ultimately, he hopes to contribute toward a fundamental understanding of cellular senescence and its associated pathology.