Lessons from mitochondria on thriving under stress

Title: Lessons from mitochondria on thriving under stress

Speaker:  A/Prof Danielle Grotjahn, Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research

Abstract: Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of numerous diseases, yet there has been minimal success in targeting mitochondrial pathways for therapeutic intervention. While much attention has been focused on the transcriptional and translational regulation of mitochondria, my lab’s research highlights a largely overlooked dimension: the structural regulation of mitochondrial function. We use complementary high-resolution cellular imaging techniques, including cryo-electron tomography and super-resolution microscopy, to investigate how mitochondria dynamically remodel their architecture and molecular composition in response to cellular stress. By uncovering these mechanisms, we aim to identify new therapeutic targets for treating diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.

Bio: Danielle Grotjahn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research. She received her B.S. in biology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison while completing her honors thesis in the lab of Professor Francisco Pelegri. She joined Professor Gabe Lander’s lab at The Scripps Research Institute for her Ph.D. studies, where she used cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to solve the first three-dimensional structure of the microtubule-bound dynein motor complex. Danielle’s graduate research accomplishments were recognized internationally as one of thirteen recipients of the 2018 Harold M. Weintraub graduate student award from the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Danielle completed a short postdoctoral position in Dr. Grant Jensen’s lab at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) before starting her independent career as a Scripps Fellow in 2019. She joined Scripps Research as a tenure-track faculty member in 2021 and was recently promoted to Associate Professor. Her lab interfaces at the crossroads of cellular and structural biology, combining multiple high-resolution cellular imaging modalities to study mitochondria structure and function. She has been awarded consecutive Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation awards from the Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation in 2021 and 2023, the Baxter Young Investigator in 2022, and named a Pew Scholar in 2023. For more information, visit the Grotjahn lab website: https://grotjahnlab.org/.