Metabolomics is the analysis of metabolites (the products of a metabolic reaction) in biological samples and this type of analysis is provided for researchers by the UWA Centre for Metabolomics. The centre supports biological research from many disciplines including plant, animal and medical sciences.

Winthrop Professor Steven Smith, Director of the Centre for Metabolomics, welcomed the arrival of the critical new infrastructure to UWA. "It will provide cutting-edge metabolomics technology for use by many researchers in diverse areas throughout UWA and the State," he said.

Leading liver cancer researcher Professor George Yeoh, explained the new LC-QTOF mass spectrometer will help to identify pathway targets that can be used against cancer cells, as well as for monitoring outcomes of strategies to control cancer cells.

"We expect that many pathways that have been implicated in tumour development will be more accurately and comprehensively assessed for the first time," he said.

Rod Minett, general manager, Life Sciences, South Asia Pacific and Korea, at Agilent, said the company had formed a strong partnership with the national Metabolomics Australia network and with researchers at UWA.

"We see real benefit in supporting the UWA Centre for Metabolomics to provide the best quality metabolomics analysis to assist researchers," he said. "The LC-QTOF will give this centre advanced capability and allow the development of new applications to measure small molecules in many areas including biomedical science, environmental science, plant and oceans research."

Agilent will provide additional assistance to the centre to support researchers through its experienced applications specialists located in Australia and overseas.