Dr. Philip Britz-McKibbin is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Dr. Britz-McKibbin obtained his BSc in Chemistry (U. Toronto, 1994), and PhD in Analytical Chemistry (UBC, 2000) and a Japan Society for Promotion of Science PDF position in Japan (Hyogo University, 2001-2003) prior to starting his academic position at McMaster. His research group is an affiliate member of The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC) – Canada’s national metabolomics laboratory. His research interests in bio-analytical chemistry, separation science, mass spectrometry and metabolomics include the design of novel analytical strategies to quantify and identify metabolites of clinical significance in biological samples. Philip’s laboratory aims to discover new biomarkers that support early detection and improved therapeutic interventions with emphasis on inherited metabolic disorders and chronic human diseases ranging from cystic fibrosis to inflammatory bowel disease.  His research interests also include the development of high throughput screening methods for large-scale epidemiological studies with recent focus on comprehensive drug surveillance and assessment of dietary and tobacco smoke exposures in support of global health.

Title of Talk: High-throughput Urine Exposomic Studies for Global Health: Assessing Regional and Sex-Dependent Differences in Cigarette Smoke and Coffee Co-exposures

Tobacco smoking and coffee consumption are two modifiable lifestyle factors relevant to global health that are also strongly associated with each other. Although moderate coffee consumption alone may confer some health benefits, its combination with tobacco may paradoxically exacerbate tobacco-related harms. To date, observational studies have reported contradictory findings on the causal link between tobacco smoking and coffee intake when relying on self-reports that are prone to bias since sociocultural practices and products consumed vary widely between countries.

Herein, we investigate tobacco smoke and coffee co-exposures in a sub-cohort of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study (n=5,000; 14 countries) using high-throughput multisegment capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry in positive and negative ion modes. A targeted analysis of the seven urinary nicotine metabolites (i.e., total nicotine equivalent) was used to verify tobacco smoke exposures, whereas nicotine metabolizers were classified based on the nicotine metabolic ratio as an indicator of their nicotine dependence. Untargeted metabolite analyses was also performed to identify specific urinary biomarkers associated with coffee consumption distinct from other caffeinated beverages, including tea and soda. Untargeted profiling identified population-generalizable coffee biomarkers, validated for selectivity, dose-response, association strength, and precision. A panel of urinary biomarkers of coffee intake generalizable to diverse populations in PURE were then validated based on several criteria, including selectivity, association strength, dose-response, and precision.

For the first time, we report striking sex- and regional variations in active/secondhand smoke exposures across country income groups, not reliably captured by self-reports in PURE. Further, fast nicotine-metabolizing female smokers had the highest coffee intake, exceeding age/BMI-matched males and non-smoking females, as confirmed by robust urinary biomarkers of coffee intake. This work may help guide more effective smoking cessation strategies for chronic disease prevention in high-risk female smokers by concomitantly reducing coffee exposures.

Time: May 08, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time

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https://mountsinai.zoom.us/j/96290264615