Michael Kipp, PhD
Assistant Professor in the Division of Earth and Climate Science
Duke University
He/Him/His
Description: Geoscientists have long used variations in the ratios of stable isotopes to track elemental cycling in the environment. Similar investigations in the human body are comparatively lacking, largely because isotope ratio mass spectrometry has not permeated far beyond the walls of geoscience departments. Here I will provide an overview of how methods from the field of Isotope Geochemistry might hold promise in medical research and/or diagnostics, creating the nascent field of Isotope Metallomics. I will focus on preliminary empirical and modeling work that shows how the isotopic composition of some major ions in urine (calcium, magnesium, potassium) may be sensitive to kidney function. To realize the full potential of these techniques, collaborative bridges must be built between isotopic analysts and biomedical researchers.
About the speaker: Mike obtained a B.S. in Biological Sciences and B.A. in Classics from University of Notre Dame in 2014. He then moved to University of Washington to pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of Earth & Space Sciences, with a focus in isotope biogeochemistry. In 2019 he accepted an Agouron Institute postdoctoral fellowship and moved to Caltech, where he spent 4 years conducting research in both chemical paleoceanography and isotope metallomics. He started as Assistant Professor of Geochemistry at Duke in January 2024 and is launching an isotope biogeochemistry laboratory, which will study the response of ocean chemistry to past climate changes, as well as the isotopic variability of metals in the human body.
The Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 4, 2024, from 11:30am – 5:45pm Eastern.
Location: Field Auditorium Room 1112, Grainger Hall, (9 Circuit Drive, Durham, NC)