Timothy J Griffin

Timothy J Griffin is a Professor in the Department of Metabolic and Systems Biology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he also serves as Faculty Director of the Center for Metabolomics and Proteomics. His research program integrates advanced proteomic, metabolomic, and bioinformatic approaches to address complex biological questions in cancer and disease mechanisms. Griffin maintains a highly active research program with extensive NIH funding and numerous collaborative projects.

Dr. Griffin's research interests focus on developing and applying cutting-edge technologies in proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics to understand disease mechanisms. His work emphasizes mass spectrometry, systems biology approaches, and computational methods for analyzing complex biological systems. His fingerprint analysis reveals strong expertise in proteomics (100%), mass spectrometry (75%), and microbiome research (21%), with applications spanning cancer biology, pulmonary diseases, and host-microbe interactions.

Analysis of Dr. Griffin's recent publications (2024-2025) reveals a strong trend toward metaproteomics and host-microbiome interactions in disease contexts, particularly cancer. His work increasingly integrates Galaxy bioinformatics platform for creating reproducible computational workflows. There's a clear emphasis on translational applications, with multiple projects focused on biomarker discovery for early cancer detection and molecular characterization of diseases like sarcoidosis and beryllium-related lung conditions.

Dr. Griffin has secured substantial research funding, with 51 total projects and grants (9 currently active). Notable current projects include:

• An enabling approach for deep metaproteomic characterization of microbial contributors to tumorigenesis in clinical samples (NIH, 2025-2028)
• Molecular Characterization of Progressive Pulmonary Sarcoidosis (NIH, 2024-2025)
• Predictive Models of Beryllium Sensitization and Chronic Beryllium Disease (NIH, 2024-2025)
• A rigorous validation of a novel host-microbe peptide panel for ovarian cancer early detection (Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, 2024-2026)
• The immunoPeptidoGenomic (iPepGen) informatics resource for immuno-oncology research (NIH, 2024-2027)

His research program demonstrates strong collaborative networks, particularly with Dr. P.D. Jagtap and researchers at National Jewish Health. Dr. Griffin's laboratory leverages the Galaxy bioinformatics platform for developing reproducible computational workflows in proteomics and metabolomics. His team specializes in data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry, metaproteomics, and proteogenomic analysis, with applications spanning cancer research, pulmonary diseases, and microbiome studies. The Center for Metabolomics and Proteomics under his direction provides critical infrastructure and expertise for multi-omics research across the University of Minnesota.