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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » People » John Newman

John William Newman

Research Chemist

RESEARCH SCIENTIST

430 West Health Sciences Drive

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA 95616

             
Phone: (530) 752-1009
 
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    • Dr. John Newman is an avid collaborator with researchers in the WHNRC, the U.S., and abroad who brings expertise in analytical biochemistry, state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation and the use of metabolomics to the WHNRC. Dr. Newman is applying these tools to determine the impact of diet and dietary components on human health, with a special emphasis given to the obesity problem, its complications associated with the high fat "Western" diet and the variability in individual responses to dietary factors. Dr. Newman is a California native who has received higher education in Colorado and California. He obtained a baccalaureate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1991, worked extensively in the field of environmental analytical chemistry until 1996, obtained a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of California, Davis in 2002, and worked as a Research Associate at UC Davis until 2005 exploring the biomedical applications of eicosanoid metabolic profiling. He has extensive experience in trace organic quantitative chemistry, data quality assessment and quality control, analytical method development, as well as modest skills in chemical synthesis and technical experience with a range of state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation: NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 15N, 19F); gas and liquid chromatographic systems (GC, GPC/SEC, FPLC, GPLC, UPLC); gel electrophoresis; mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF-MS, API-TOF-MS, API-MS, API/MS/MS). He has applied spectroscopic analysis to support structural confirmation of synthetic products, structural elucidation of unknown products, identification of protein modification, and quantitation of both exogenous and endogenous molecules isolated from an array of biological matrices. Dr. Newman has focused these efforts on the development and application of analytical tools to profile a broad range of lipids with important roles in the regulation of inflammation, vascular and renal function, and cellular growth. Investigations surrounding the endogenous role of the soluble epoxide hydrolase were at the root of these investigations. They have since expanded to encompass products of the major lipid oxygenases including prostanoids and various eicosanoids as well as analogous materials generated for eighteen and twenty-two carbon lipids. These analytical profiling efforts have more recently broadened to investigate other bioactive lipid mediators involved in the regulation of energy balance and body mass, including a suite of endocannabinoids. The role of these regulatory pathways have been explored in inflammation, renal function, vascular regulation and disease, blood pressure regulation and both male and female reproductive physiology. More recently, these tools have been turned on the lipoprotein particle, and subtle structural changes in these particles are beginning to be observed. During his research career, Dr. Newman has written or supported more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has served as a peer reviewer for an array of journals including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the British Journal of Nutrition, the Journal of Chromatography, Archives in Biochemistry and Biophysics, Chemosphere, Proteomics, and Metabolomics. In addition, Dr. Newman is a member in good standing in the Metabolomics Society and the American Chemical Society.