NIH funds MCCB student’s research on a cellular quality control mechanism

Lucas Restrepo, a PhD student in the Baehrecke lab, has received an NIH National Research Service Award predoctoral training fellowship from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to investigate a putative mitochondrial solute carrier that regulates mitophagy. His studies aim to better our understanding of mitophagy—a process that removes and recycles damaged mitochondria—with the goal of providing new insights into potential therapeutic strategies to combat defective mitophagy diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease.