Strategic Alliance between Murdoch University and Bruker Supports International Centre of Excellence in Metabolic Phenotyping

PERTH, Western Australia and BILLERICA, Massachusetts  – September 20, 2019 – Murdoch University and Bruker (Nasdaq: BRKR) today announced a strategic collaboration that will help transform the prevention and diagnosis of disease and personalised health around the world. The Murdoch-Bruker collaboration will play a key role within the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC), the international centre of expertise for metabolic phenotyping. The ANPC has recently been established under the leadership of Murdoch University Pro Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and international pioneer in phenomics Professor Jeremy Nicholson, and distinguished 2018 Western Australia Premier’s Fellow in Phenomics, Professor Elaine Holmes. 

Equipped with various Bruker nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and various mass spectrometry (MS) phenomics solutions, the ANPC will enable researchers to examine the complex interactions of genes, the environment and lifestyle on human metabolic health. The ANPC will be a critical platform for the Western Australian Health Translational Network (WAHTN) and will work closely with major hospitals, universities and medical research institutes. It is an affiliate of the International Phenome Center Network (IPCN), founded under the leadership of Professor Nicholson. 

Murdoch University Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor David Morrison, said the University welcomed its alliance with Bruker, and stated: “The launch of the ANPC is the culmination of many years of hard work and the strategic vision of leaders across Murdoch University who recognised the significance of phenomics research, and supported the establishment of an international centre of expertise in this area.” 

“We’re thrilled that Bruker, a world leading manufacturer of research equipment, will contribute its technological and research expertise to help us improve health outcomes around the world,” added Professor Nicholson. He continued: “Phenomics is a key next step in expanding the boundaries of our knowledge of human health and the causes and prevention of disease. The strategic alliance between Murdoch University and Bruker enhances the valuable work of the ANPC by bringing state-of-the-art instruments and experienced researchers in this space to Western Australia. It reflects the growing focus and investment in precision medicine in the Asia Pacific region and will help us to transform how long and how well people live, not just in Australia, but around the world.” 

Murdoch University now has multiple state-of-the-art Bruker phenomics solutions, including seven AVANCE^® IVDr 600 MHz NMRs, one NMR FoodScreener™, an ESI & MALDI MRMS (Magnetic Resonance Mass Spectrometry) system for high-throughput flow-injection analysis (FIA) MRMS workflows, twelve impact-II QTOF and two timsTOF™ systems. Bruker provides extensive applications, service and R&D support to the ANPC for support, training, beta-testing and the validation of assays and tools developed. 

The AVANCE IVDr systems include clinical research software for the quantification of plasma and urine. This IVDr software suite enables Murdoch to leverage Bruker’s standardized automated workflow for bodyfluid QC, quantification and analysis, which is essential for large-scale epidemiological studies. Moreover, Bruker’s IVDr Lipoprotein Subclass Analysis (B.I.LISA) and B.I. Quant-PS 2.0 will play an instrumental role in differentiating health and disease state, and in monitoring the impact of various treatments or dietary interventions. Bruker’s NMR FoodScreener can determine food quality, authenticity and nutrient stability. It features extensive reference databases and covers targeted and non-targeted tests for various food matrices, which will be extended as part of the collaboration with the ANPC. 

MS data will be analyzed using MetaboScape™ client-server software, which seamlessly integrates flow-injection analysis (FIA) extreme resolution MRMS workflows, quantitative analysis from the ‘phenomics workhorse’ impact-II QTOF mass spectrometers. MetaboScape also integrates universal, molecule-specific collision cross section prediction using machine learning (CCSPredict™) on the timsTOF for 4D lipidomics. 

Dr. Manfred Spraul, CTO of Bruker’s Applied, Industrial & Clinical magnetic resonance division, commented: “Phenomics research continues to evolve and offers fascinating insights into disease processes. With our expertise in both mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance, we are able to harness the unique and differentiated potential of each technique and partner with researchers to combine the best tools required for their metabolomics research.” 

Bruker Executive Vice President for Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry, Rohan Thakur, PhD, added: “This collaboration has the potential to deliver a step-change in phenomics as it couples high-throughput MS/MS data with novel collision cross section (CCS) aware 4D lipidomics and 4D metabolomics on our timsTOF Pro platform. We are pleased that ANPC has evaluated our ‘phenomics workhorse’ impact II QTOF, and found it to be ultra-sensitive and stable for quantitation in large-cohort studies. Finally, we are excited that Murdoch University will adopt and further develop high-throughput FIA-MRMS for identifying over one thousand metabolites in just a few minutes, without the need for chromatography.” 

About Bruker Corporation

Bruker is enabling scientists to make breakthrough discoveries and develop new applications that improve the quality of human life. Bruker’s high-performance scientific instruments and high-value analytical and diagnostic solutions enable scientists to explore life and materials at molecular, cellular and microscopic levels. In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling innovation, improved productivity and customer success in life science molecular research, in applied and pharma applications, in microscopy and nanoanalysis, and in industrial applications, as well as in cell biology, preclinical imaging, clinical phenomics and proteomics research and clinical microbiology.