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Cell Biologist Jodi Nunnari Elected to National Academy of Sciences

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Professor Jodi Nunnari at 嘿嘿视频 lectern in 2013
Professor Jodi Nunnari delivers the Faculty Research Lecture in 2013. Today she is newly elected to the National Academy of Sciences. (Karin Higgins/嘿嘿视频 photo)

Quick Summary

  • National Academy of Sciences is highest honor for U.S. scientists
  • Nunnari does basic research on mitochondria, which provide energy in living cells

Professor Jodi Nunnari, chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis, has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She studies mitochondria, tiny structures that provide energy to living cells and which are implicated in a wide range of diseases, including heart disease, stroke and inherited conditions.

鈥淏eginning as a postdoctoral researcher, Jodi has made discoveries that have transformed her field and helped demystify the genesis of a broad range of diseases,鈥 said Ralph J. Hexter, interim chancellor of 嘿嘿视频. 鈥淗er pioneering work is a prime example of our university鈥檚 commitment to fundamental research to improve the human condition. I could not be happier to see her receive this much-deserved recognition.鈥

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  • Professor Nunnari recently received the Feodor Lynen Medal from the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Read our coverage.

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Nunnari鈥檚 lab studies the behavior of mitochondria 鈥 which have their own DNA, separate from the cell nucleus 鈥 inside cells. Her work looks at the mechanisms through which mitochondria divide and fuse together, and at how mitochondrial DNA is organized and transmitted.

Nunnari is among 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected to the academy this year, as announced by the academy May 2. She is one of 27 current or retired 嘿嘿视频 faculty who are members or foreign associates of the academy.

鈥淓lection to the National Academies of Sciences is among the highest honors a scientist can receive in recognition of their distinguished scholarly contributions,鈥 said Mark Winey, dean of the College of Biological Sciences. 鈥淛odi鈥檚 election is very well deserved for her groundbreaking work on mitochondria. As powerhouses of the cell, mitochondrial failure is linked to a variety of inherited diseases, as well as neurological disorders and aging.鈥

Nunnari earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio and her doctorate, in pharmacology, from Vanderbilt University. She carried out her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Peter Walter at UCSF, where she discovered that mitochondria form a dynamic network with the cell. This concept has led her to fundamental insights into how mitochondria grow, divide and function.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Together with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, it provides advice on science, engineering, and health policy to the federal government and other organizations.

Media Resources

Andy Fell, 嘿嘿视频 News and Media Relations, 530-752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu

Jodi Nunnari, 嘿嘿视频 Molecular and Cellular Biology, 530-754-9774, jmnunnari@ucdavis.edu

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