“Mitochondrial Predictive Models for Drug Repurposing in CNS Disorders”
Atena Zahedi, PhD
Assistant Professor
UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice
Bio:
Dr. Atena Zahedi is an assistant professor who joined the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in September 2024. Previously, she earned her MS and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California Riverside, where she developed innovative tools to study mitochondrial health. She holds several prestigious postdoctoral fellowships, including the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship and the KL-2 Faculty Mentored Fellowship awarded by UC Irvine’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. In her postdoctoral studies, she leveraged mitochondrial-targeted therapeutics to augment the efficacy of stem cell transplantation in models of spinal cord injury (SCI). Currently, Dr. Zahedi’s research centers on the role of mitochondria in cellular repair and disease, particularly in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using patient-derived iPSC stem cells and transgenic mice to model disease risk genes, she is developing personalized medicine for complex neurological diseases. Dr. Zahedi is an active speaker and organizer for international societies such as International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and Society of Neuroscience (SfN). She is also committed to teaching and mentoring, with a strong interest in guiding PharmD students and fostering future leaders in the field of regenerative medicine.
Abstract:
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases, driving neuronal death, inflammation, and impairing cellular repair. Dr. Zahedi has developed innovative tools to assess mitochondrial phenotypes and cellular functions, focusing on mitochondrial injury as an early marker of stress, and organelle dynamics, including mitochondria and autophagy, in disease contexts. Her talk highlights the development of a predictive model—mitochondrial fitness traits (MFTs)— to evaluate the efficacy of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) in spinal cord injury, uncovering both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that compromise cell survival. Additionally, studies on repurposed FDA-approved mitochondrial-targeting drugs and mitochondrial transfer (MT) from stem cells show promise for restoring cellular function and altering disease progression. Leveraging the MFT model in future investigations involving iPSC-derived hNSCs and microglia of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients with specific genetic risk factors will facilitate the exploration of personalized therapeutic strategies, opening novel avenues for treatment of neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders.
