Jianhong Ching, is an Assistant Professor at the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders (CVMD) Programmed of Duke-NUS Medical School. He is a specialist in metabolomics studies using mass spectrometers and applying his techniques in metabolism research.
Jianhong graduated with a PhD in Life Sciences at NUS and joined CVMD as a postdoctoral fellow in 2011. During his career at Duke-NUS, he helped to set up Singapore’s first fee-for-service Metabolomics Core, which eventually became one of Singapore’s most prominent metabolomics research and service lab which researchers engage with. Jianhong was eventually promoted to Assistant Professor and heads the Metabolomics Core.
Professional Societies and Memberships:
2021-present: Novel Food Expert Working Group, Singapore Food Agency
2021-present: Advisory Board Member, AMILI (Asian Microbiome Library)
2021-present: Joint Scientist, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital
2021- present: Vice President, Singapore Society of Mass Spectrometry
2022-present: Mentor, NUS Faculty of Science Alumni-Student Mentorship Programmed
2023- present: Public Sector Engagement Manager, Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) Southeast Asia Section
Jianhong has extensive experience in analytical chemistry and has applied metabolomics techniques to various metabolic disease related projects. His research interest is to develop new techniques to trace biochemical pathways for understanding of the kinetics of important disease biomarkers. This technique uses stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen or hydrogen, which can be incorporated into the endogenous analytes of biological systems. These labelled analytes will be metabolised by the biological system, forming various labelled downstream intermediates that are monitored by a mass spectrometer. This method, known as fluxomics, provides kinetic information and traces specific biochemical pathways, an advantage over metabolomics which shows only static observations.
Jianhong is also interested in applying metabolomics to other fields, such as the gut microbiome, and novel foods. He is advising the Asian Microbiome Library (AMILI) as well as the Singapore Food Agency on the use of metabolomics in areas of microbiome research and food safety respectively.
1. Lipidomics Workflow for Analyzing Lipid Profiles Using Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) in Liver Homogenate of Mice with Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).
Wee HN, Lee LS, Han SHY, Zhou J, Yen PM, Ching J. Bio Protoc. 2023 Jul 5;13(13):e4773.
2. The Utility of Amino Acid Metabolites in the Diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder and Correlations with Depression Severity.
Ho CSH, Tay GWN, Wee HN, Ching J. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 23;24(3):2231.
3. Gut-brain axis through the lens of gut microbiota and their relationships with Alzheimer's disease pathology: Review and recommendations.
L Krishaa, Ng TKS, Wee HN, Ching J. Mech Ageing Dev. 2023 Apr;211:111787.
4. Fasting increases susceptibility to acute myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury through a sirtuin-3 mediated increase in fatty acid oxidation.
Hall AR, Karwi QG, Kumar S, Dongworth R, Aksentijević D, Altamimi TR, Fridianto KT, Chinda K, Hernandez-Resendiz S, Mahmood MU, Michelakis E, Ramachandra CJ, Ching J, Vicencio JM, Shattock MJ, Kovalik JP, Yellon DM, Lopaschuk G, Hausenloy DJ. Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 29;12(1):20551.
5. Plasma acylcarnitines as metabolic signatures of declining health-related quality of life measure in community-dwelling older adults: a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal pilot study.
Ng TKS, Wee HN, Ching J, Kovalik JP, Chan AW, Matchar DB.J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2022 May 23:glac114.
6. Thyroid Hormone Decreases Hepatic Steatosis, Inflammation, and Fibrosis in a Dietary Mouse Model of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.
Zhou J, Tripathi M, Ho JP, Widjaja AA, Shekeran SG, Camat MD, James A, Wu Y, Ching J, Kovalik JP, Lim KH, Cook SA, Bay BH, Singh BK, Yen PM.Thyroid. 2022 Jun;32(6):725-738.
7. Amino acid profile of skeletal muscle loss in type 2 diabetes: Results from a 7-year longitudinal study in Asians.
Low S, Wang J, Moh A, Ang SF, Ang K, Shao YM, Ching J, Wee HN, Lee LS, Kovalik JP, Tang WE, Lim Z, Subramaniam T, Sum CF, Lim SC. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022 Apr;186:109803.
8. Exacerbation of cardiovascular ageing by diabetes mellitus and its associations with acyl-carnitines.
Gao F, Kovalik JP, Zhao X, Chow VJ, Chew H, Teo LL, Tan RS, Leng S, Ewe SH, Tan HC, Tan TY, Lee LS, Ching J, Keng BM, Zhong L, Koh WP, Koh AS. Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Jun 4;13(11):14785-14805.
9. Associations with metabolites in Chinese suggest new metabolic roles in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Chai JF, Raichur S, Khor IW, Torta F, Chew WS, Herr DR, Ching J, Kovalik JP, Khoo CM, Wenk MR, Tai ES, Sim X. Hum Mol Genet. 2020 Jan 15;29(2):189-201.
10. Metabolic stress is a primary pathogenic event in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans expressing pan-neuronal human amyloid beta. Teo E, Ravi S, Barardo D, Kim HS, Fong S, Cazenave-Gassiot A, Tan TY, Ching J, Kovalik JP, Wenk MR, Gunawan R, Moore PK, Halliwell B, Tolwinski N, Gruber J. Elife. 2019 Oct 15;8:e50069.