# Integrative Analysis of GC-MS and LC-MS Data for Biomarker Discovery

> **NIH NIH R01** · GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $12,480

## Abstract

Integrative Analysis of GC-MS and LC-MS Data for Biomarker Discovery
PROJECT SUMMARY
Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass
spectrometry (LC-MS) have been extensively used for high-throughput comparison of the levels of
thousands of metabolites among biological samples. The use of the metabolomics data acquired by both
platforms helps increase the metabolome coverage for biomarker discovery studies. In this administrative
supplement application, we request support to mentor a highly inspired undergraduate student who would
like to pursue a career in biomedical research. The candidate will investigate methods to integrate GC-MS
and LC-MS data for application in biomarker discovery. The mentored research will involve: (1)
preprocessing of previously acquired GC-MS and LC-MS data to detect and align peaks; (2) integration of
the peaks detected by both platforms for feature selection based on the changes in the levels of the peak
intensities between two biologically distinct groups; (3) annotation of analytes detected by both platforms
using mass-based search and spectral matching; (4) pathway analysis of disease-associated metabolites
identified by combining GC-MS and LC-MS data. The proposed research relates to the main goal of the
parent grant, which aims to find and validate metabolite biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
by using systems metabolomics. Integration of data from GC-MS and LC-MS helps increase the
metabolome coverage, thereby enhancing our ability to find metabolite biomarker for HCC. The activities
proposed in this administrative supplement will give the candidate learning experience in quantitative
biomedical research. In addition to actively working on the proposed research, the candidate will attend
weekly lab meetings, journal clubs, as well as departmental seminars and workshops at Georgetown
University Medical Center. These activities will expand and foster the skills of the candidate in biomedical
research. Furthermore, the activities proposed in this mentored research will create opportunities for the
candidate to gain insight into various biomedical research areas by interacting with other lab members and
students in a highly collaborative research environment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10393981
- **Project number:** 3R01GM123766-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Habtom W Ressom
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $12,480
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10393981

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10393981, Integrative Analysis of GC-MS and LC-MS Data for Biomarker Discovery (3R01GM123766-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-02 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10393981. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*