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Wolfram Meier-Augenstein

Staff picture: Wolfram Meier-Augenstein
Environmental and Biochemical Sciences
Wolfram.Meier-Augenstein@hutton.ac.uk

The James Hutton Institute
Invergowrie
Dundee DD2 5DA
Scotland UK

Wolfram is the Principal Scientist in Stable Isotopes research area and the Head of Mylnefield Isotope Signatures, which is part of Mylnefield Research Services.

Wolfram is a Visiting Professor at the Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen) and he is also one of the three directors of FIRMS Ltd, the Forensic Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Network an organisation that seeks to develop the scope of stable isotope techniques in forensic applications and to ensure its best practice.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a council member of the British Association for Human Identification (BAHID).

He has over 18 years of experience in the field of stable isotope technology including its application as well as method and instrument development, has contributed to several textbooks on the subject of stable isotope analysis and has recently written a textbook dedicated to Stable Isotope Forensics.

He has assisted various national and international police forces in over 16 murder enquiries with provision of forensic intelligence based on Stable Isotope Profiles or ‘Signatures’ to aid victim identification. Owing to his involvement in forensic case work, Wolfram is a FIRMS approved Lead Practitioner and a registered expert advisor with the UK’s National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA).

Current research interests 

My research interests revolve around bio-organic chemistry and the application and development of stable isotope techniques. I am interested in the following, in particular.

  • Stable isotope profiling of (bio-)organic and (bio-)geochemical compounds and human tissues to trace and determine their provenance, that is origin and authenticity, and to understand, for example how stable isotope signatures are recorded and at what rates by different human tissue.
  • Studying the stable isotope chemistry of volatile organic compounds to determine their origin and relevance as indicators of disease or pathway specific proxies.
  • The design and development of pathway-specific stable isotope labelled probes for direct measurement of (patho-)physiological and metabolic processes to measure impact of environmental or nutritional factors on human health.
  • Developing hyphenated analytical techniques, both instrumental and methodological.

Current research grants

  • EPA (Ireland) research infrastructure grant (PI) together Dr Paula Reimer, Dr Chris Harrod and Dr Neil Ogle (Queen's University Belfast) for a “Continuous-Flow 34S IRMS”; £179,945.
  • EPSRC grant (PI) with Dr Niamh NicDaeid (CFS, University of Strathclyde): “Isotope Profiling of Drugs to Combat Serious and Organised Crime”; £107,023.
  • RSC/EPSRC PhD Studentship; “Multi-dimensional Profiling of Drugs and Fibres”; £63,315.
  • PhD Studentship award made by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl), Fort Halstead (UK); £29,393.

Past research 

Completed Grants/Research Contracts

  • Procter & Gamble (UK) sponsored research project: ““Isotope Fingerprinting” of Authentic Goods and Counterfeit Consumer Products for both Brand and Consumer Protection; March 2007 to February 2008; US$25,000.
  • Invest NI Proof of Concept grant (PI): “Non-invasive functional screening for reduced liver function and adverse drug effects”; February 2005 to January 2007; £108,010.
  • Research project (PI) for longitudinal variation and validation of my SAFEBT Gastric Emptying Breath Test (pat. pending) in adult patients; Johnson & Johnson PRD; April 2004 to October 2005; £62,000.
  • Research project (PI) for patient screening and randomisation using my SAFEBT Gastric Emptying Breath Test (pat. pending) in a multi-centre clinical trial setting; Johnson & Johnson PRD Inc; January 2003 to December 2003; £160,400.
  • World Anti-Doping Agency joint grant application with Professor M.J. Rennie (PI) (University of Nottingham): "A novel method to detect endogenous and pharmaceutical androgen administration based on two-dimensional isotopic fingerprinting against an endogenous internal standard"; £116,000 for 1.5 years.
  • Co-Investigator on Professor Michael Richards’ (then University of Bradford) NERC research project (EFCHED programme): “The evolution of hominid dietary adaptations linked with environmental changes: extending the record beyond 100,000 years”; £123,220 for three years.
  • Wellcome Trust Project Grant jointly with Professor Michael J Rennie (PI) (School of Life Sciences, Dundee) to investigate "New approaches to the study of human collagen metabolism in normal adults and after burn injury in children"; July 2000 to June 2002, £360,841.
  • Research grant (PI) in collaboration with Dr John F Dillon (Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee) and Dr Anne Rühl (Gastroenterology, University's Hospital Trust, Heidelberg, Germany) to develop "Stable Isotope Labelled Probes for Non-Invasive Assessment of Physiological Functions in the Human Body"; awarded by the Dietmar-Hopp-Stiftung für Medizinische Forschung und Studien (Germany), February 1999 to January 2002, £356,411.
  • Research contract (PI) awarded by Phenome Sciences Inc, MassTrace Group, Woburn, MA (USA), for work on new stable isotope labelled probes to assess gastric emptying by means of a 13CO2-breath test; January 2001, £10,240.
  • Industrial grant (PI) awarded by Europa Scientific Ltd., Crewe, for work on GC/C-IRMS application and instrument development; October 1997 to September 1998, £113,985.

Bibliography 

  • Meier-Augenstein, W. 2010. Stable Isotope Forensics: An Introduction to the Forensic Application of Stable Isotope Analysis, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester (UK), ISBN 978-0-470-51705-5.
  • Holobinko, A., Meier-Augenstein, W., Kemp, H.F., Prowse, T., and Ford, S.M. 2011. 2H Stable Isotope Analysis of Human Tooth Enamel: A New Tool for Forensic Human Provenancing? Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 25, 910-916. (doi:10.1002/rcm.4942)
  • Halas, S., Skrzypek, G., Meier-Augenstein, W.,  Pelc, A. and Kemp, H.F. 2011. Inter-laboratory calibration of new silver orthophosphate comparison materials for stable oxygen isotope analysis of phosphates. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 25, 579-584. (doi:10.1002/rcm.4892)
  • Landwehr, J.M., Meier-Augenstein, W. and Kemp, H.F. 2011. A Counter-intuitive Approach to Calculating Non-exchangeable 2H Isotopic Composition of Hair: Treating the Molar Exchange Fraction fE as a Process Related rather than Compound Specific Variable. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 25, 301-306. (doi:10.1002/rcm4854)
  • Mudge, S.M., Eadsforth, C., DeLeo, P. and Meier-Augenstein, W. 2010. What contribution do detergent fatty alcohols make to sewage discharges and the marine environment?. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 12, 1846-1856. (doi:10.1039/C0EM00079E)
  • Foereid, B., Bellarby, J., Meier-Augenstein, W. and Kemp, H. 2010. Light exposure makes plant litter more degradable. Plant and Soil 333, 275-285. (doi:10.1007/s11104-010-0342-1)
  • Granger, S., Bol, R., Meier-Augenstein, W., Leng, M., Kemp, H., White, S., Heaton, T.H.E. 2010. The hydrological response of heavy clay grassland soils to rainfall in South-West England using δ2H. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 24, 475-482. (doi:10.1002/rcm.4281)
  • Kemp,H.F. and Meier-Augenstein, W. 2009. Human Provenancing of Mutilated Murder Victims through Stable Isotope Signatures. Minerva Medicolegale 129, 219-231.
  • Meier-Augenstein, W., Kemp, H. F. and Lock, C.M. 2009. N2: A Potential Pitfall for Bulk 2H Isotope Analysis of Explosives and Other Nitrogen Rich Compounds. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 23, 2011-2016. (doi:10.1002/rcm.4112)
  • Farmer, N., Meier-Augenstein, W., and Lucy, D. 2009. Isotope Analysis of White Paints and Likelihood Ratios. Science and Justice 49, 114-119. (doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2009.02.003)
  • Hopkins, D.W., Sparrow, A.D., Gregorich, E.G., Elberling, B., Novis, P., Fraser, F., Scrimgeour, C., Dennis, P.G., Meier-Augenstein, W., Greenfield, L.G. 2009. Isotopic evidence for the provenance and turnover of organic carbon by soil microorganisms in the Antarctic dry valleys. Environmental Microbiology 11, 597-608. (doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01830.x)

PDF file: Wolfram Meier-Augenstein's full publications list (176 KB)

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