It’s time for a science of health, and a good look at the science behind the healing process. It looks likely that mitochondria play a central role in our ability to heal and be resilient. – Martin Picard, Columbia University
Martin Picard, PhD, runs the Mitochondrial Psychobiology Lab at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He and his students and colleagues, including Caroline Trumpff, a clinical psychologist and epidemiologist by training—now a mitochondrial psychobiologist—have deeply phenotyped healthy individuals and people with mitochondrial diseases. Picard, Trumpff, and the MiSBIE team devoted themselves to conducting psychological, stress and other biological investigations that are not strictly in the category of diseases, mutational consequences, or medical conditions. This has led to a rich body of investigations, studies and findings, including being part of a team that mapped mitochondrial distribution across all brain structures for the first time. Some of these investigations of energetics and stress do relate to underlying issues in medicine.
With NIH funding the Picard Lab assembled and led MiSBIE, a five year set of investigations and papers that will be reported out at the upcoming MiSBIE Symposium at Columbia University, and online, on December 12. The details are below, after MitoWorld’s interview with Dr. Picard.
MitoWorld: Martin, tell us about MiSBIE, how it came about, what it is.
Picard: MiSBIE is the Mitochondrial Stress, Brain Imaging, and Epigenetics Study. It was born in 2016, and it ran between 2018 to 2023. I put most of my startup funds into it—the most important study I thought my lab should focus on for the years to come. It was also the human translation of a 2015 preclinical study that showed that mitochondria regulate stress responses in mice. Now we’re 10 years later and we’ve learned a lot, which we’ll discuss at the Symposium on December 12th.
MitoWorld: Who should attend the 2025 MiSBIE Symposium?
Picard: Anyone interested in learning about mitochondria, stress, and health should find something of value at the symposium. Researchers in mitochondrial psychobiology and related fields may find details of the latest work in this area of interest. There will be relevant data and findings for clinicians who care for patients with primary mitochondrial diseases. And Mito patients may appreciate seeing the team unearthing new principles and findings that may eventually affect their care and empower them to achieve their full health potential. Entrepreneurs may also see opportunities in new mind-mitochondria connections discovered through MiSBIE. Finally, funders and philanthropists may find valuable lessons from the success of this deeply interdisciplinary study.
MitoWorld: Who is presenting and can you provide some URLs on what will be discussed, background papers?
Picard: Symposium presentations will be by scientists and students who have directly contributed parts of the MiSBIE study. You’ll hear directly from the team that conducted the study, and who are now performing analyses to understand the mind-mitochondria connection. The best background paper is the MiSBIE Mother Paper. Other MiSBIE data papers on the effects of mental stress on the metabokines FGF21 and GDF15, and on cell-free mtDNA, immune cell mitochondrial biology and symptoms, immune cell stimulation, and neuroimaging signatures have been published in final form or as preprints. All PDF are freely available on our website www.PicardLab.org/Publications
MitoWorld: What do you hope the outcome to be? What is the take away? And what do you hope to stimulate?
Picard: I hope people leave the MiSBIE Symposium inspired, with a new sense of the energetic processes underlying stress responses, brain processes, immune regulation, and the energetic cost of life. The key take away is that the energetic and molecular state of our mitochondria is linked to our experiences. More research is needed to bring energy into medicine, and to develop a more holistic model of what human health actually is. Most of biomedicine is about diseases—it’s time for a science of health, and a good look at the science behind the healing process. It looks likely that mitochondria play a central role in our ability to heal and to be resilient.
MitoWorld: Where can people register?
Picard: People can attend on Zoom or in person, and register at www.PicardLab.org/MiSBIE. We expect 400-500 people—there is room for everyone!
Details on the upcoming December 12 Symposium
The Mitochondrial Stress, Brain Imaging, and Epigenetics (MiSBIE) study was developed to understand the role of mitochondria and energy more generally in mind-body processes, as well as their potential relevance to people with mitochondrial diseases. At this Symposium, MiSBIE investigators and the international team of collaborators will share findings addressing some of the hypotheses we originally set out to test, plus some unexpected discoveries made along the way. The dataset and analyses conducted to date have linked mitochondria to immune, neuroimaging, endocrine, metabolic, psychosocial, and clinical outcomes relevant to the mind-mitochondria connection. We welcome you and your team to learn, discuss, question, and ideate to develop new collaborations.
The symposium will close with:
- Discussion around opportunities and future directions with the MiSBIE dataset.
- A poster sessionfor MiSBIE investigators and attendees wishing to present mitochondrial psychobiology-relevant research.
- A celebratory receptionwith mito-friendly food and drinks to commemorate MiSBIE’ success.