Olink Proteomics World 2025

Proteomics at scale: Advances in high-throughput proteomics now allow thousands of proteins to be measured across large cohorts. This has enabled the discovery of protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs) — genetic variants that regulate protein abundance and link genetics to biology.

SCALLOP’s role in target discovery: The SCALLOP consortium brought together data from tens of thousands of people, creating one of the first large-scale maps of how genes influence circulating proteins (pQTL map), enabling the identification of proteins with a likely causal role in disease.

What’s next: The field is now moving toward tissue-specific pQTL mapping, longitudinal proteomics, and deeper characterization of proteoforms and post-translational modifications—creating opportunities for richer biological insight and more precise therapeutic targeting.

Integrating Genomics and Proteomics: Learn how large-scale collaborations like the UK Biobank PPP combine genomic and proteomic data to uncover disease causality and drive precision drug discovery.

Enhancing Genetic Insights: Gain understanding of how proteomic data refines genetic associations, validates therapeutic targets, and improves the efficiency and success of drug development.

Advancing Clinical Translation: Discover how Olink’s scalable, high-specificity proteomic platforms enable longitudinal population studies that accelerate biomarker discovery and clinical research breakthroughs.

Leveraging the world’s largest human proteomics dataset: The UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project measured over 50 million protein data points using Olink® Explore 3072 — now accessible through Olink Insight for hypothesis generation, validation, and study design.

From exploration to deep analysis: Researchers can start by exploring protein–disease associations and normal ranges in Olink Insight, dive into curated “data stories” (pre-analyzed case studies), or perform full-scale analysis in the UKB Research Analysis Platform (RAP) powered by DNAnexus.

Accelerate research and funding: Use UK Biobank proteomics to validate biomarkers, discover new disease-linked proteins, and strengthen grant proposals with robust population-level evidence.

Flexible for all expertise levels: Whether you’re new to bioinformatics or managing large analytical pipelines, Olink and UK Biobank together provide a scalable, secure framework for data-driven discovery.

End-to-End Workflow Design: Learn to plan protein studies from discovery to verification, selecting the appropriate platform — Olink Explore, Luminex ProcartaPlex, ProQuantum, or ELISA — for each stage.

Cross-Platform Consistency: Understand how to benchmark and validate biomarkers across platforms using shared antibodies, orthogonal assays, and correlation analyses to generate reviewer-ready evidence.

Translational Study Strategy: Explore how temporal biomarker behavior and well-characterized cohorts inform panel selection, custom assay development, and clinical research readiness in neurology.

CROs are innovation engines, not just executors: Certified service providers (CSPs) are co-developing methods, benchmarking platforms, and integrating Olink with MS/NGS to push precision health forward.

Multi-omics under one roof speeds decisions: Centralizing proteomics, genomics, pathology, flow, and bioinformatics reduces handoffs, harmonizes QC, and shortens cycle times from discovery to translation.

Quality is the currency: Regulatory-grade QMS (e.g., CLIA/CAP, validated pipelines), proficiency testing, and platform certifications (e.g., Olink CSP) underpin reproducibility and data trust.

From exploratory to regulated: Biomarkers discovered with high-plex proteomics are increasingly being monitored in Ph1/2; success hinges on early validation plans and assay transfer strategies.

Comprehensive profiling at scale: Olink Explore HT enables detailed blood protein profiling and is expanding to 10,000 patients in the Human Disease Blood Atlas, strengthening disease coverage and dataset robustness.

Clinical breadth and utility: The Olink Explore HT assay captures a wide range of diseases, demonstrating its value across diverse biological and medical contexts.

Empowering large-scale initiatives: Technological advances such as Olink PEA have been instrumental in projects like the Human Protein Atlas, enabling systematic mapping of the proteome.

Global Disease Insight: Learn how high-throughput plasma proteomics across global populations uncovers shared and population-specific disease biology for equitable research.

Expanding Biomarker Discovery: Understand how integrating genomic, proteomic, and phenotypic data accelerates identification of causal proteins and informs precision medicine strategies.

Translational Impact: See how large-scale, multi-ancestry proteomic datasets strengthen drug target validation and improve the global reach of biomedical innovation.

Large-scale profiling of plasma and tissues in aging: Using Olink Explore HT (>5,400 proteins), the team profiled plasma, muscle, and ovary samples from a healthy-aging cohort to discover tissue-derived aging markers detectable in circulation.

Tissue signals are mirrored in plasma: By analyzing matched muscle–plasma and ovary–plasma samples, the team identified proteins whose levels change in parallel across compartments, showing that plasma can capture tissue-derived aging signals.

Samples cluster by tissue type: Distinct age- and sex-specific protein markers emerged, providing insights into how different organs contribute to systemic aging profiles.

From discovery to translational impact: The Olink platform uniquely spans from broad discovery (Explore HT, >5,400 proteins) to focused, validated panels (Target, Flex, Focus), enabling translation from biomarker discovery to lab-developed tests.

Discovery with scalability delivers impact: Olink Explore 384 revealed a 12-protein signature of progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease that could streamline clinical trials, while Target 96 panels uncovered a 36-protein signature predicting lung cancer up to 3 years before diagnosis.

Olink Focus for protein signature verification: Olink Focus allows researchers to build fully customized panels (up to 21 proteins) with absolute or relative quantification and tailored validation — providing a flexible path to confirm candidate biomarkers.

Complementarity of technologies: PEA and mass spectrometry are synergistic tools, each with distinct strengths in proteomic depth, throughput, and analytical capabilities.

Data overlap and discrepancies: Viewing both technologies from complementary perspectives provides deeper biological insights and cross-validation opportunities.

Data integration challenges: Combining datasets from MS and PEA remains technically demanding and highlights the need for improved computational tools and standards.

Application-driven choice: The technology selection depends on research goals — broad discovery, targeted validation, or clinical translation. PEA is well suited for large-scale cohort studies, while MS provides higher molecular detail, making them complementary across research stages.

Future outlook: The panel emphasized the potential for hybrid workflows where PEA and MS work together in biomarker discovery, verification, and translational research pipelines.

Plasma proteomics for diagnosis: Learn how circulating-protein outliers, measured with the Olink Explore platform, complement genomics to interpret uncertain variants and prioritize diagnoses across rare diseases.

Convergent prioritization framework: Understand how integrating Olink proximity-extension data with phenotype-informed variant ranking can surface candidate genes and boost diagnostic yield.

Practical study insights: Discover when proteomics excels — guiding reanalysis for missed variants, revealing novel genes, and identifying differences and limitations in diagnostic yield.

Multimodal approach to Alzheimer’s heterogeneity: Learn how biofluid assays, alongside PET and MRI, provide a multidimensional approach for disentangling Alzheimer’s disease heterogeneity — from onset and symptoms to progression — and how co-pathologies shape this complexity.

Accelerating biomarker implementation: Explore how using both established tests (such as tau and amyloid PET) and emerging tools can speed up the transition from biomarker discovery to clinical application.

Promise of plasma-based biomarkers: Understand how combining plasma biomarkers with imaging modalities can transform patient care — enabling early detection, precise molecular diagnosis, and improved patient stratification for targeted therapies.

Beyond antibodies: Neutralizing antibodies block infection, but cellular immunity (CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells) plays a central role in controlling viral replication.

A unique study design: By comparing two related vaccines that trigger the same T cell responses but different antibody responses, the team could tease apart the role of T cells in protecting against viral infection.

T cell responses matter: Higher capsid-specific T cell responses correlated with protection (aviremia) after challenge, even without cross-neutralizing antibodies.

Cytokine signatures predict outcomes: Early cytokine profiles, identified using Olink® Target 48 cytokine and immune surveillance panels, were associated with the quality of T cell responses and viral control — suggesting that cytokine and T cell readouts could complement neutralizing antibody titers as correlates of protection.

Timing matters in IFN signaling: Interferon signaling is essential to kick-start immunity, but persistent exposure pushes CD8⁺ T cells toward terminal or exhausted states and undermines responses to checkpoint blockade.

Delay the brake, boost the response: In preclinical models and a small NSCLC study, delayed JAK1 inhibition layered onto anti-PD-1 improved tumor control compared to anti-PD-1 alone — supporting a “stimulate first, then modulate inflammation” strategy.

Progenitor CD8⁺ T cells are the engine: Clinical responses during the JAKi window were associated with expansion of progenitor-like CD8⁺ subsets (and reduced terminal cells), with TCR tracking showing shared clonotypes across downstream fates.

Baseline inflammation profiling to identify non-responders: Longitudinal plasma proteomics (Olink® Target 96 Inflammation) revealed a chronic inflammation signature at baseline in patients who failed to respond — pointing to a triage biomarker for combination therapy.

Choose the right platform: Prioritize sensitivity (low-abundance proteins, µL input), specificity (dual binding + DNA barcoding), scalability (pilot → cohort), and sample requirements (matrix/volume).

Design your study for reliable results: Match plex to sample size for statistical power, randomize across plates and runs, standardize pre-analytics (matrix, tube, storage, freeze–thaw), and plan bridge samples for multi-run or multi-year datasets.

Use available data analysis resources: Leverage Olink® Insight (design tools), Olink® Analyze (R package with QC, statistics, enrichment, and visualization tutorials), and access expert help via Olink’s support and data science teams.