NewsMedical speaks with Julian Wiest about how NMR-based metabolomics can enhance infectious disease surveillance, detection of zoonotic threats, and pandemic preparedness. Drawing on his research in molecular phenotyping and collaborations across the International Phenome Center Network, Mr. Wist will discuss the clinical potential of rapid metabolic screening, lessons from COVID-19, and how Bruker Biospin’s platform can help bring robust and scalable phenotyping closer to the front lines of medicine.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your current job?
I’m Julian Wist. He is Professor of Computational Spectroscopy at Del Valle University in Colombia and Adjunct Professor at the Australian Center for Computational Systems Medicine.
For the past five years, I have focused on developing new techniques to measure molecular phenomena with the aim of deepening our understanding of human biology and supporting preventive medicine through more effective health monitoring.
In the case of zoonotic diseases, what early systemic changes do metabolomic profiling reveal that are typically missed by virology, genomics, or standard clinical chemistry?
I don’t think other technologies are “missing” the target. In biological discovery, all available data has value, even if integrating it remains a challenge. The real test will come when translating these markers into clinical use. To be truly effective, biomarkers need to be robust, but just as important, they need to be able to be measured rapidly so that they can provide meaningful information for treatment decisions.
Looking back at the recent pandemic and the realities of lockdown and isolation (I myself spent a total of four weeks in isolation in 2020), it is clear that we need tools that can detect active viral infections within minutes. This kind of speed is important, for example, when determining whether a passenger can board a plane safely. These tools also need to be cost-effective and capable of frequent monitoring, sometimes every few hours, to quickly identify and isolate new cases.
Metabolic phenotype conveys such types of information in the form of antiviral compounds that are produced in the body during the very early stages of infection and are easily excreted in the urine. Such technology could be a game-changer in the event of a new pandemic.
Image credit: Sithumina Photography/Shutterstock.com
Using COVID-19 as a model, what is the strongest example in your work where NMR-based metabolomic signatures have directly changed the way clinicians think about “respiratory” zoonoses?
NMR-based molecular phenotyping has quickly revealed the systemic nature of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), allowing the risk of long-term sequelae to be predicted before they are widely recognized. And as it turns out, those concerns were well-founded. NMR-based phenotyping can be applied to large, clinically diverse cohorts, allowing comparisons between different disease states and helping to identify common disease signatures and inform treatment decisions even before the underlying mechanisms are fully understood.
At the same time, the signs of inflammation and markers of viral infection that we identified while studying SARS-CoV-2 have implications that extend far beyond COVID-19. And it is no exaggeration to say that the medical emergency has accelerated efforts to move toward NMR benchtop systems, resulting in the ability to measure many important biomarkers at a fraction of the cost.
How realistic is it to use metabolic phenotyping as a front-line triage or surveillance tool in this situation, and which panels do you think would be most beneficial?
It is realistic, and in fact, we have already installed an NMR tabletop system in our hospital wards for testing. Addressing remaining technical challenges, particularly regarding sample collection, may be easier than promoting a change in mindset within the clinical community.
We should aim to use all available data rather than limiting ourselves to a predefined panel, especially when the technology allows us to obtain comprehensive molecular information in a single experiment. An even bigger challenge is ensuring data quality. Our model is only as powerful as the medical records that clinicians can share. To build robust and reliable models, molecular data must be systematically compared with well-annotated clinical information.
After the arrival of SARS-CoV-2, what aspects of the International Phenomenon Center Network (IPCN)’s existing infrastructure or culture best enabled rapid, high-quality metabolic profiling efforts?
Scientific networks are extremely valuable because collaboration is built on trust, and networks help establish and strengthen trust among members. This allows researchers to share raw data, parameter sets, and protocols in real time, enabling rapid progress without the delays typically associated with the publication process.
For IPCN, this exchange is even more seamless as all members are using the same technology. What works in one lab can be readily applied to another, and the datasets are inherently interchangeable. That is, the dataset can directly extend my data. This creates a powerful network of collaborators as well as those distributed around the world. This allows biospecimens to be analyzed locally while contributing to a broader, globally integrated understanding of the disease.
Returning to technology, what do you see as the core advantages of NMR-based metabolomics, especially on the Bruker Avance IVDr platform, compared to pure MS-based approaches, for large-scale, standardized phenotyping of emerging zoonotic diseases?
NMR-based phenotyping is now more robust and can be deployed across multiple facilities generating comparable data. The same can be said for only a handful of MS-targeted assays.
NMR is often ignored due to its low sensitivity, which is more of a limitation for biological exploration than for clinical translation. Illnesses tend to have a strong impact on the body, making them relatively easy to detect, although difficult to fully understand.
As a result, biomarkers, especially those measured in body fluids such as blood and urine, often have poor disease specificity. In this context, a robust NMR-based panel is sufficient to screen patients in a triage setting. This does not preclude the subsequent use of more complex and time-consuming MS experiments to obtain complementary diagnostic information.
Because NMR is nondestructive, these follow-up experiments can be performed on the same sample.
From your practical experience, which features of the Bruker Avance IVDr platform were most important for achieving reproducible results during the COVID-19 emergency?
It is an external calibration procedure using electronic spikes that allows absolute quantification.
where do you think it is Using the Avance IVDr NMR platform How can it be most strategically deployed to maximize impact on surveillance and early characterization of new zoonotic pathogens?
This depends on which system you have in place.
of Bruker Fourier 80 Benchtop Platform There are significant benefits in terms of cost, operation, and maintenance. If the application is for airport quarantine, there is nothing you can do about it. If NMR becomes mainstream in hospital triage, Uses Avance IVDr (600 MHz) platform It may be economically viable.
What evidence and validation studies will you prioritize now to convince health systems and funders that investment in NMR metabolomics should be a core part of future infectious disease surveillance, zoonotic threat detection, and broader health emergency preparedness strategies?
Again, this depends on your application.
There is no doubt that acceptance will increase if it can be used to detect active viral infections. However, a little more biological understanding is required.
We have recently made some progress showing that these markers are excreted from the body very quickly. This means that individuals will test negative quickly once their viral load is under control. This is an important point in the exam. However, it needs to be established which viruses cause these markers and that this test will not be confused with other medical conditions such as bacterial infections.
How do you envision the role of metabolic phenotyping evolving as a key element in global infectious disease surveillance over the next decade?
If you had asked me five years ago to use NMR to look for markers of active viral infection in urine, I would have politely declined. However, NMR-based phenotyping is cost-effective and it makes sense to perform phenotyping of all available biobanks and deploy equipment directly to clinical wards.
At the last IPCN meeting in September 2025, we set a goal of acquiring 1 million phenoms. It will be interesting to see what data of this scale reveals.
About the speaker
Julien Wist is Professor of Computational Spectroscopy at Del Valle University in Colombia and Adjunct Professor at the Australian Center for Computational Systems Medicine. His research focuses on developing techniques to measure molecular phenomena with the aim of advancing our understanding of human biology and enabling more effective health monitoring. Through my work, I seek to support the development of preventive medicine and personalized medicine approaches.
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