University at Albany PhD student Ryan Gainor was recognized for his poster presentation at the University at Albany Showcase 2026. Ryan is a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences within the Center for Integrated Health Sciences and conducts research in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the Wadsworth Center.
Working under the mentorship of Dr Kurunthachalam Kannan in the Laboratory of Organic Analytical Chemistry at the Wadsworth Center’s Biggs Laboratory, Ryan’s research focuses on biomarkers generated within the body as a result of environmental exposures and disease states. His work uses novel liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods to analyze biomarkers associated with oxidative stress, nitrative stress, metabolic stress, and inflammation, supporting advances toward precision medicine approaches for disease diagnosis and prognosis.
Ryan’s presentation, titled “A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the analysis of oxidative stress, nitrative stress, metabolic, and inflammatory biomarkers in serum: comparison to urinary levels,” demonstrated that paired urine and serum samples showed distinct biomarker profiles and limited correlation between the two matrices.
The findings suggest that urine may be the preferred matrix for certain biomarkers, such as those associated with oxidative stress, while serum may be more suitable for metabolic stress biomarkers. These results highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate biological matrix for evaluating health effects and disease diagnosis.