Matthias Klein

“We are surrounded by a plethora of data that is constantly being collected, but only a fraction is being meaningfully used. We are employing state-of-the-art data analysis algorithms and metabolomics technology, with the goal of promoting animal and human health and well-being.”

Degrees

Dr. rer. nat (PhD), Diplom-Physiker Univ. (MSc) (Universität Regensburg, Germany)

Short Bio

Dr. Klein earned his Diplom in physics (equivalent to an MSc), at the Universität Regensburg, Germany, and pursued his doctorate in the field of biology at the same institution. During his studies, he discovered small molecule biomarkers indicating the risk of ketosis in dairy cows as well as markers of human liver and kidney diseases. Dr. Klein held postdoctoral positions at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and the University of Calgary, and a faculty position at the Ohio State University, before joining McGill’s Department of Animal Science in 2024.

Research Interests

Dr. Klein is employing machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches for the analysis of various big data sources, including “omics” data. The goal of these analyses is predicting disease development and other parameters in (production) animals, especially dairy cows, and humans. A special research interest lies in the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) and approaches to make these algorithms more interpretable. For these analyses, programming languages such as R, Python, and Matlab are used. A further research interest is the application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of biofluids for identifying disease biomarkers.

Research Opportunities

Research projects at both the graduate and undergraduate level are possible in Dr. Klein’s lab, please feel free to reach out to inquire about current opportunities.

Current Research

• Metabolomics analyses of cow’s milk to study quality and health parameters
• Studies of food microbial metabolism using metabolic profiles
• Metabolomics analyses on maternal health
• Metabolism studies of mosquito diapause

Publications

View a list of current publications