Brief Bio

Wolfram Weckwerth integrates system-theoretical ideas with genome-scale molecular analysis using genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics to understand and predict the genotype- environment-phenotype-relationship (GxExP). He investigates plant, microbial, animal and human systems. Working in the field of metabolomics since 2000, Wolfram Weckwerth has established metabolomics, proteomics and phosphoproteomics platforms at the Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam, Germany, for the GOFORSYS program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany, and recently at the University of Vienna, Austria.In 2008 Wolfram Weckwerth moved as a full professor to the University of Vienna and founded the Department of Molecular Systems Biology (MOSYS). Since 2013 he is the head of the newly founded Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology combining ecosystemic approaches with high throughput technologies such as genomics, proteomics and metabolomics.Since 2015 Wolfram Weckwerth is founding chair of the Vienna Metabolomics Center (VIME). VIME integrates applied topics from environmental, biotechnological and biomedical research questions (for further information see http://metabolomics.univie.ac.at/). Another focus is on applied biomedical approaches like Alzheimer, GDM, autoimmune diseases, aging and the human microbiome (see http://metabolomics.univie.ac.at/vime-research-projects/). In the framework of VIME a focus is on algorithms for data processing and integration, biochemical interpretation, structural elucidation of unknown metabolites as well as metabolomics/life sciences databases. The Weckwerth lab develops genome-wide metabolomics and proteomics/phosphoproteomics technologies as elementary systems biology techniques. Further research comprises data integration strategies by combining experimental approaches with multivariate statistics, pattern recognition and modeling of metabolism. The Weckwerth lab has solved the biochemical Jacobian from metabolomics data using an inverse modeling approach. This approach combines statistical features of metabolomics data with metabolic reconstruction and prediction from genome sequences and variable genotypes and therefore establishes the systematic analysis of the genotype-environment-phenotype-relationship. The Weckwerth lab applies these concepts in ecology, evolution and development as well as biotechnology within the framework of “Green Systems Biology”.

Curriculum Vitae

1994 Diploma in Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Technical University Berlin, Germany.
1998 PhD in Biochemistry, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Technical University Berlin, Germany.
2000 Postdoc at the Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Department Lothar Willmitzer, Potsdam, Germany.
2002 Research Group Leader at the Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Department Mark Stitt, Potsdam, Germany.
2007 Habilitation in Molecular Plant Physiology and Systems biology, Lecturer Systems Biology, University of Potsdam, Germany.
2007 Head of Central Infrastructure Systems Biology Lab, GOFORSYS, University Potsdam, Germany.
2006 – 2007 Offerships for Professorship at the Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, USA and Professorship at the University of Vienna, Austria.
since 2008 Since 2008 – Full professor and founding chair of the Department of Molecular Systems Biology (MOSYS) at the University of Vienna, Austria.
since 2013 Since 2013 – Head of the newly established Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology (ECOSYS) which includes a complete PANOMICS platform from next generation sequencing, proteomics, metabolomics to genome-scale metabolic modelling.
since 2015 Since 2015 – Founding chair of the Vienna Metabolomics Center (VIME) at the University of Vienna, Austria
2016 Offership for a Chair of Metabolomics and Synthetic Biology at the University of Liverpool, UK

Research Interest

  • Application of system-theoretical concepts in genome-scale molecular analysis, data integration and functional interpretation
  • Development of genome-wide metabolomics and proteomics/phosphoproteomics technologies as elementary systems biology techniques, high throughput profiling (HTP) in systems biology, data integration; combining experimental approaches with multivariate statistics, pattern recognition and modeling of metabolism: “emergence” in plants, animals and microbes.
  • Development of theoretical models based on multivariate statistics for the biological interpretation of HTP data, calculation of biochemical regulation – the “differential Jacobian” – from HTP data.
  • Plant genotype-phenotype interaction; plant phenotypic plasticity including stress, growth, developmental and nutritional physiology.
  • Personalzed medicine: metabolomic and proteomic analysis of biofluids, data integration and human physiology.
  • Metabolomics and proteomics – assisted genome annotation and reconstruction of genome-wide metabolic and regulatory networks in plant, microbial and other model systems like Arabidopsis thaliana (dicot), Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (green alga), Medicago truncatula (legume) and others, applications of metabolomics and proteomics to non-sequenced species like tomato, potato, plant communities, microbiomes etc.
  • Databases, data management and data mining.

Awards, grants, professional duties and functions

  • Chair of the Vienna Metabolomics Center (VIME) Vienna Metabolomics Center (VIME).
  • Founding Special Chief Editor of Frontiers Metabolomics Frontiers Metabolomics.
  • Chair of MASC Multi-National Arabidopsis Steering Committee, Fouding Chair and Co-Chair of the Proteomics and Metabolomics Subcommittees (MASCP; MASCPM).
  • Scientific Advisory Board Austrian Society of Analytical Chemistry (ASAC).
  • Scientific Advisory Board Austrian Proteomics Association AUPA.
  • Founding member and European Coordinator of INPPO (International Plant Proteomics Organization) INPPO.
  • Scientific Advisory Board Czech Globe.
  • Scientific Advisory Board “Open Science”, Vienna, Austria.
  • Scientific Advisory Board Gregor-Mendel-Society.
  • Member of the International Pearl Millet Genome Sequencing Consortium (IPMGSC), ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India IPMGSC.
  • Editorial Board of Journal of Personalized Medicine, Current Metabolomics, Plant and Cell Physiology, Frontiers in Plant Sciences
  • Austrian representative of the European Plant Proteomics COST action 2008
  • AIST-Fellow (Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan)
  • Further Advisory boards: NATO Science Series I: Life and Behavioural Sciences 2004 Genomics for Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology, Sofia 2004; European Systems Biology (EUSYSBIO) Foresight Workshop, Heidelberg, 2005; Dynamics of Aquatic Chemical Ecology, Wilhelmshaven, 2006; Experimentelle und theoretische Metabolomforschung - metabolische Netze, Köln, 2006; Steering Committee of the systems biology programme GoFORSYS; BMBF call Systems Biology, Berlin 2008, 2011, 2013, Advisory Board for the BIOECONOMY POF program of the Helmholtz Society, Germany in 2014.Scientific Advisory board Malaysian Oil Palm Board; Kuala Lumpur 2015
  • Editor of the first edition “Metabolomics: Methods and Protocols”, in the series “Methods in Molcular Biology”, Humana Press 2007
  • Editor of The Handbook of Plant Metabolomics, Wiley 2013
  • Editor of Metabolomics in Practice: Successful Strategies to Generate and Analyze Metabolic Data, Wiley 2013
  • Third-party-funding in total (and Weckwerth lab) since 2002: 26 Million EURO (Weckwerth lab: 7.77 Million EURO)
  • invited lectures (selection of more than 100 invited lectures since 2002): Plenary Lecture at the International Metabolomics Conference 2013, Glasgow, Scotland; Keynote Lecture at the Conference of the Phytochemical Society of North America 2013, Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Keynote Lecture at the HUPO 2014 Madrid, Spain; Keynote Lecture at the EUROANALYSIS 2015, Bordeaux, France; Keynote Lecture at the Gordon Research Conference Signalling 2015, Hongkong; Plenary Lecture at the Conference of the Austrian Society of Molecular Biotechnology 2015, Salzburg, Austria, and many more
  • Regular invited reviewing activities for the following journals: Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry, Amino Acids, Analytical Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie, Bioessays, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology Progress, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Plant Biology, BMC Systems Biology, Drug Discovery, Electrophoresis, Febs Letters, Frontiers, Journal of Chemometrics, Journal of Mass Spectrometry, Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, Journal of Proteome Research, Journal of Proteomics, Journal of Experimental Botany, Molecular Biosystems, Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, Metabolomics, Molecular Systems Biology, Nucleic Acids Research, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Methods, Nature Protocols, Nature Reviews, Nature Communications, Plant & Cell and Environment, Phytochemistry, Plant Cell, Plant Ecology and Diversity, Plant Journal, Plant Methods, Plant Physiology, Planta, PLOS, Proteomics, Rapid Communications of Mass Spectrometry, Science and others.

Conference Organization

  • Organization of the Austrian Proteomics and Metabolomics Research Symposium 2018
  • Organization of the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research, ICAR 2012, Vienna, Austria
  • Initiation and Organization of the first International Metabolomics Conference Austria, InMetA held 2010 and 2014 in Vienna, Austria
  • Organization of the MASC-Proteomics Workshop in Beijing, China, International Arabidopsis Conference 2007, 2009