Professor Carla Koehler was one of five researchers to speak at the prestigious “Mitochondria and Medicine: The 2017 Dr Paul Janssen Award Symposium” last year.
A video of Koehler’s seminar, “Mitochondrial Protein Transport and Disease: Another Block in the Wall”, can be viewed here. Her seminar was part of the second session titled “Understanding the Importance of Mitochondria from Cell Biology to Human Health.”
Much of our understanding of mitochondrial genetics and the importance of mitochondria in human health and disease is due to the groundbreaking work of Dr. Douglas C. Wallace. On September 13, 2017, researchers gathered at the New York Academy of Sciences to honor the work of Dr. Wallace, who founded the field of human mitochondrial genetics, making the landmark discovery that the human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is maternally inherited, and connecting mutations in mtDNA to disease. He received the 2017 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research in recognition of his extensive characterization of mitochondrial genetic inheritance and mitochondria’s importance in medicine. To learn more, visit the Ebriefing website for the event.
A professor of biochemistry at UCLA, Koehler’s research focuses on mitochondrial biogenesis, particularly the mechanism by which proteins are imported into the mitochondria and the process by which defects in mitochondrial protein translocation lead to disease. To learn more about Koehler’s research visit her group’s website.
