2023 Fall/Winter Highlights of Hope

RESEARCH
VAI scientist nets $2.4 million award
to study ‘cellular powerhouses’
Our cells are powered by tiny “powerplants” called mitochondria, which transform nutrients into fuel that
sustains life.
But there’s more to the story of mitochondria, says Van Andel Institute Assistant Professor Dr. Sara Nowinski.
Thanks to a new five-year, nearly $2.4 million Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, Nowinski will have additional resources
to explore the inner workings of these crucial cellular components and usher in a new understanding of how
mitochondria function and power the body.
“Mitochondria are hubs for metabolism. We know they’re great at breaking nutrients down to generate energy, but
what is less known is that they also build things, namely fats. The question is why?” Nowinski said. “This award will
allow us to seek answers by digging deep into the details of how mitochondria do their jobs and how they impact
health and disease.”
Each cell in the human body — all 37.2 trillion of them — contains between 1,000 and 2,500 mitochondria, which
convert oxygen, sugars and fatty acids into a cellular fuel called ATP. Breakdowns in this vital process have been
linked to a host of diseases, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and diabetes.
But mitochondria also inexplicably build chains of fatty acids, a process Nowinski believes acts as a connector
between nutrient sources and energy.
“Based on our research, we think this pathway links the nutritional environment of cells to their ability to generate
energy,” she said. “How this process happens and why it happens is not well understood. The Maximizing
Investigators’ Research Award will enable us to find answers and reshape what we know about mitochondria.”
Maximizing Investigators’ Research Awards are highly competitive and provide scientists “with greater stability and
flexibility, thereby enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs,” according to the
National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Nowinski is the sixth VAI scientist in the last six years to earn a MIRA.
She joined VAI’s Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming in 2021.
“This award will allow us to seek answers by digging deep
into the details of how mitochondria do their jobs and how
they impact health and disease.”
— Dr. Sara Nowinski
Funding Acknowledgement
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award no. R35GM151245 (Nowinski).
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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