Beyond The Disease, April 2, 2025

In The Mighty UCLA Mitochondria Core, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about the unique Core research facility established at UCLA by Orian Shirihai, MD, PhD who runs a mitochondria and metabolism research lab that has opened up this unique three-labs-in-one Core facility to promote mitochondria research by UCLA researchers and doctors and outside faculty and companies.

In Mapping the Mitochondria in the Brain, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about an unprecedented effort to look at the distribution of mitochondria throughout the brain. Conducted by Columbia professor Martin Picard, PhD, leader of the Mitochondria PsychoBiological Lab, a human brain was carved into thousands of cubes to make measurements. Michel Thiebaut de Shotten, PhD, a neuroanatomist from the CNRS in Bordeaux conducted the computational work.

In Modeling Human Mitochondrial Diseases MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about a paper published in Cell where a research group led by Agnel Sfeir at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center showed that gene editing can be used to engineer specific mtDNA mutations.

In Thin Air, MitoWorld editor Gary Howard writes about the important work in published in Cell from the laboratory of Isha Jain, Gladstone Institutes and the University of California, about a small molecule inhibitor that can control excess oxygen levels resulting from dysfunctional mitochondria.

In Navdeep S. Chandel: Moving Well Beyond “The Powerhouse of the Cell,” MitoWorld founder and organizer, writes about the careful mitochondrial research led by Lurie Prize winner Navdeep Chandel, PhD, who heads the Chandel Lab at Northwestern. Chandel is not just a leader in front-line mitochondrial research; he practices deep stewardship for the field with colleagues around the world.