Research scientist, Dr. Fidèle Tugizimana, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the International Metabolomics Society (IMS). The appointment was done by leaders in the field, including top scientists working to boost metabolism-based research. Constituted in 2004, the IMS is the global leading organisation devoted to the development of metabolism-based research. Metabolomics is simply the scientific study of the set of metabolites (a substance formed in, or necessary for metabolism) present within an organism, cell or tissue. Metabolism means the chemical reactions in body cells that change food to energy. In an interview with The New Times, Dr. Tugizimana, explained that metabolomics has disruptively positioned itself as one of the key pillars in systems biology. He said that the development has commonly been used in various aspects that include exploring the chemical universe of living systems, and decoding metabolic circuits that govern biological processes in a specific environment. “Metabolomics applications span a wide spectrum of fundamental and translational research domains, including medical field, natural products, pharmaceutical field, plant sciences, human biological sciences and environmental sciences,” Tugizimana added. The metabolomics community, according to Dr. Tugizimana, has for the last 20- years grown exponentially with its members currently covering all the continents. Tugizimana holds different academic honours including a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) in Philosophy, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Biochemistry –Chemistry among others. He is currently a scientific consultant in the L.E.A.F. Pharmaceuticals LLC Company which operates in Rwanda. He is also the Chairperson of Metabolomics South Africa (MSA)—where he currently resides. Tugizimana told this publication that he applies metabolomics approaches in interrogating cellular biochemistry at global level.
