Mitochondrial Diversity and Plasticity Across Cells and Tissues: From Functional Specialization to Disease Vulnerability
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Anna Monzel (Columbia University Irving Medical Center) will join Targeting Mitochondria 2026 as a speaker.
Summary:
Mitochondria are multifunctional organelles that support a wide range of cellular processes, but the relative importance of their functions varies across biological contexts. As a result, different cells and tissues adopt distinct mitochondrial configurations that reflect functional specialization rather than simple differences in abundance or energy production. These configurations are shaped by physiological demands, but can also be recalibrated in response to perturbation, with shifts that support adaptation or, when constrained, contribute to vulnerability. In this talk, Dr. Monzel will discuss how mitochondrial states vary across cells and tissues, why mitochondrial diversity and plasticity matter for cellular function and adaptation, and why moving beyond binary notions of mitochondrial function and dysfunction is important for understanding disease vulnerability. She will introduce mitotyping as a systems-level framework to quantify mitochondrial specialization and plasticity across biological scales.
