Thomas M. O'Connell, PhD

Thomas O’Connell, MD, joined the Indiana University School of Medicine faculty as an associate professor of otolaryngology—head and neck surgery in July 2016. He is an associate member of IU Simon Cancer Center's Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Research Program and is a member of the Center for Cachexia Research Innovation and Therapy. His research program focuses on the application of advanced metabolic profiling technologies to understand the metabolic drivers of cancer associated cachexia and other wasting conditions.

Dr. O’Connell received his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and he conducted post-doctoral research in biophysics at Yale University and the National Institutes of Health. His expertise is in the area of metabolomics, where he uses nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry based methods to search for biomarkers that will lead to better mechanistic understanding of disease and potentially translate into tools for diagnosis and treatment.

Prior to joining IU School of Medicine, he was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Pharmacy where he directed the UNC Metabolomics Laboratory. His research there focused on liver injury caused by environmental and pharmaceutical exposures as well as cancer metabolism.