Host Parag Mallick chats with Professor Afshin Beheshti who is a Professor of Surgery, Director of the Center for Space Biomedicine, and Associate Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition, Professor Beheshti has a visiting researcher appointment at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and is president of two non-profits – the COVID-19 International Research Team and Kwaai. The latter aims to democratize access to artificial intelligence through the design, construction, and maintenance of a free personal AI called Kwaai.

Professor Beheshti’s research covers a range of topics focused on how circulating mirco RNAs and mitochondria impact health, but this conversation focuses primarily on Professor Beheshti’s work advancing our understanding of how spaceflight impacts biology. We cover:

1. How research on spaceflight and biology is done
2. Gaps that remain in our understanding of spaceflight and biology
3. Omics studies of spaceflight and biology
4. How studying spaceflight and biology enhances our understanding of human health more broadly

Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine

1. New Institute at the University of Pittsburgh focused on “advancing human health through space-driven innovation”

NASA Open Science Data Repository

1. "Provides open access to biological and physical science datasets from spaceflight and ground studies, enabling data reuse for discovery and innovation."

Camera et al., 2024. Agining and putative frailty biomarkers are altered by spaceflight

1. Study on molecular biomarkers and frailty phenotypes in space

Overbey et al., 2024. The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) and international astronaut biobank

1. An “integrated data and sample repository for clinical, cellular, and multi-omic research profiles” from a variety of space missions
2. Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) website

Corti et al., 2024. To boldly go where no microRNAs have gone before: spaceflight impact on risk for small-for-gestational-age infants

1. Explores how miRNA signatures of “small-for-gestational-age” are impacted by the space environment

Beheshti et al., 2013. Age and space irradiation modulate tumor progression: implications for carcinogenesis risk

1. Some of Professor Beheshti’s early...

On this episode of Translating Proteomics, Parag and Andreas share their reflections on proteomics developments in 2025 largely inspired by their observations at the World HUPO 2025 conference in Toronto. Whether you agree, disagree, or simply want to share some of your own observations on proteomics, please post your thoughts in the comments.

We look forward to even more exciting developments in 2026!

00:00 - 00:35 – Intro

00:36 – 07:00 - Increased focus on applications of proteomics and less on method development

Learn more about One Health from our conversation with Professor Jennifer Geddes-McAlister

https://youtu.be/JFwvTdkb5bw

07:01 – 12:47 - Increase in people talking about the importance of proteoforms

Learn more about proteoforms in our episode featuring proteoform pioneer Professor Neil Kelleher

https://youtu.be/3pPuxVrMxpw

12:47 – 17:26 - An increase in multiomics studies

17:27 – 20:03 - A shift to larger scale proteomics studies

For a great example of a multi-platform comparison study, check out Kirsher et al., 2025

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-025-01665-1

20:03 – 25:07 - Increased integration of AI into proteomics workflows

For an example of how proteomics workflows can be modified with multiomic data, check out Suhre et al., 2025

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02413-w

25:08 – 30:05 – Recognition of the need to assess quality across proteomics workflows

30:06 – 32:19 – Less of a focus on spatial proteomics this year than in past years

32:20 – 35: 13 - Parag and Andreas share their predictions for 2026

35:14 – End – Outro

On this episode of Translating Proteomics, Parag speaks with Professor Jennifer Geddes-McAlister from the University of Guelph. Professor Geddes-McAlister is an expert at using proteomics to study host-microbe interactions from a systems biology perspective. Her exciting work spans studies of pathogenic fungi all the way to engineering plants to produce pharmaceutics (so-called “molecular pharming"). On top of all that, Professor Geddes-McAlister also founded “Moms in Proteomics” to support and encourage an intentional focus on the inherently unique physical, emotional, and biological commitments of Mothers, and the ensuing balance required to excel within the diverse STEM fields encompassing Mass-Spectrometry-based proteomics.

Dive into this episode to:

• Learn why it’s critical to study hosts, pathogens, and molecular pharming from a systems point of view
• Discover what Professor Geddes-McAlister is excited about for the upcoming Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) conference
• Find out what “Moms in Proteomics” has planned for HUPO

00:00 - Intro

01:39 - Professor Geddes-McAlister's initial interest in host-microbe interactions

06:13 - Why it's important to study host-microbe interactions

08:10 - Pathogens vs helpful microbes

10:06 - Thinking about microbes through the lens of "One Health"

14:34 - Why Professor Geddes-McAlister works primarily in proteomics as opposed to other omes

19:44 - Professor Geddes-McAlister's favorite thing that she's learned from the proteome and couldn't learn from the other omes

24:56 - Molecular pharming

29:35 - The need for accessibility in proteomics

34:09 - The need for all-in-one workflows in proteomics

36:08 - HUPO 2025

39:56 - Moms in Proteomics

42:36 - The future of proteomics

43:59 - Outro

Geddes et al., 2015. Secretome profiling of Cryptococcus neoformans reveals regulation of a subset of virulence-associated proteins and potential biomarkers by protein kinase A

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26453029/

Some of Professor Geddes-McAlister’s early work using proteomics to study pathogenic fungi

Prudhomme et al., 2024. Bacterial growth-mediated systems remodelling of Nicotiana benthamiana defines unique signatures of target protein production in molecular pharming

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.14342

Researchers from Professor Geddes-McAlister’s lab use multiomic techniques to discover factors impacting the production of a pharmaceutical in an engineered plant

Woods et al., 2023. A One Health approach to overcoming fungal disease and antifungal resistance

https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wsbm.1610

Review on the importance of incorporating “One Health” principals into efforts to fight pathogenic fungi

Moms in Proteomics website

https://momsinproteomics.ca

Learn all about the Moms in Proteomics initiative and its international community