19 December 2023 – Anna Barron wanted to study the brain because it felt like one of the last unconquered frontiers of science. “The brain is what makes people who they are,” says Barron, whose group studies the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. “Everything we see, touch, hear, think, feel and remember is generated by this amazing organ. Yet there is still so much to learn, especially when it comes to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which can rob people of their personality, functions and lives.”
One area Barron is particularly interested in is the role of mitochondria in the context of brain development, health, ageing, and disease. “Mitochondria are not only responding to the energy needs of the cell, but also play important roles in communication within the cell such as its function and fate, and essentially we want to put mitochondria on the map,” she says. “The brain is one of the most energetically demanding organs in our body, even when it’s at rest. We study the role of mitochondria in the function of very different brain cell types, such as neurons – which are rather inflexible in the way they use energy – and innate immune cells called microglia – which can adapt how they produce energy very rapidly in response to changes in the environment.”
Barron’s group integrates in vivo imaging with cellular, molecular, biochemical and behavioural approaches to explore these fundamental mechanisms. “When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, my world suddenly became very small personally and scientifically,” says Barron, “Therefore, one of the things that I am most excited about becoming an EMBO Global Investigator is the network’s focus on travel and connection that will open up opportunities to further our work. It provides the kind of international, interdisciplinary networking and training opportunities that scientists need to thrive. I hope that our work can ultimately contribute to learning how diseases such as Alzheimer’s progress and to identify potential therapeutic targets.”
