Waters has now collaborated with the consortium of leading research centres from six countries to launch the International Phenome Centre Network (IPCN) at the 2016 World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) in Doha, Qatar.

Through its commitment to harmonized metabolic phenotyping methods, the IPCN will tackle some of the most pressing global health challenges, such as autism, cancer, diabetes, dementia and obesity. Supporting the network with its chromatography and mass spectrometry technologies and expertise, Waters is a founding corporate partner of the IPCN.

An advance in precision medicine research, metabolic phenotyping examines the dynamic interactions between our genes, environments, microbiomes, diets and lifestyles and their impact on disease. The research is made possible through advanced analytical science, including mass spectrometry.

Initiated by the MRC-NIHR National Phenome Centre (NPC) at Imperial College London, the IPCN includes more than a dozen international partners with regional, multi-institutional hubs in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

As a world leader in mass spectrometry technologies and methods, Waters collaborates with IPCN institutions around the world to apply analytical and mathematical approaches to study robust and harmonized data representing the world’s diverse populations. The results could unravel the molecular underpinnings of disease and inform the development of new therapies and global public health policies.

“We are excited by the revolutionary potential of the International Phenome Centre Network to harmonize the way researchers around the world collect and assess data through metabolic phenotyping,” said Rohit Khanna, senior vice president, Applied Technology, at Waters Corporation.

The company has long supported collaboration and the harmonization of research techniques and standards across geographies and through partnerships with industry, governments, academic centers and health systems. It has provided funding support for metabolic profiling training centers, including the Imperial International Phenome Training Centre.

“We are grateful for Waters’ collaboration in the creation of internationally harmonized centers of analytical science, focused on understanding gene-environment interactions that underpin disease risk, the comparative biology of major diseases and addressing unmet healthcare and medical needs,” said Jeremy Nicholson, director of the NPC and head of Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.