Faculty Spotlight Dr. Warren Lushia

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Warren Lushia

“Our lab focuses on the role of mitochondrial DNA mutations in major human diseases, particularly cancer. Mitochondria are organelles inside of cells that are mainly responsible for generating energy. Most of your genes are contained in DNA in the nucleus of the cell but mitochondria also have a small amount of DNA with a few genes that are involved in energy production. In many disease processes, the functions of mitochondria become compromised and often we can detect mutations in mitochondrial DNA. In many of those cases, it is not clear if the mitochondrial DNA mutations are the cause or a consequence of the disease process.

Summer Scholars Faculty Mentor: Dr. Warren Lushia, Vice Chair of Biochemistry and Genetics, Associate Professor of Biochemistry

Illustration: Amanda Dockery

The main focus of our lab is to develop a way for us to alter the DNA inside the mitochondria. This would allow us to examine if such alterations can cause human diseases, and potentially provide therapeutic options for treating such diseases. If successful, the technology we are developing would open doors for looking at the role of mitochondrial DNA mutations in many of the major diseases affecting people. There is also potential for developing the technology into “gene therapy” that could be used to treat people who have a disease caused by mitochondrial DNA mutations.” - Dr. Lushia on his current research project.