Oleh Khalimonchuk, the Willa Cather Professor of Biochemistry and director of the Nebraska Redox Biology Center, has successfully renewed a prestigious Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
The five-year, $2 million award will support his research focused on ensuring mitochondria (cells’ powerhouses) function properly and adapt to normal physiological conditions and cellular stress. This work will deepen the understanding of how mitochondria maintain their integrity and respond to damage, opening the door to new therapeutic strategies for cancer, age-related conditions and other human diseases.
“Mitochondrial malfunctions have been linked to more than 150 human disorders, yet we still know very little about the molecular bases and consequences of these defects,” Khalimonchuk said. “Our group seeks to answer these fundamental questions and establish how the molecular pathways in question contribute to mitochondrial activities and dysfunctions in health and disease.”
The renewed MIRA underscores UNL’s strength in fundamental life sciences research and highlights the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ role in advancing discoveries with broad implications for human health.
