Luana Naia

Luana Naia

Biträdande Lektor
E-postadress: luana.naia@ki.se
Besöksadress: Blickagången 6, 14157 Huddinge
Postadress: H1 Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, H1 Neurogeriatrik Ankarcrona, 171 77 Stockholm

Om mig

  • My scientific career has been grounded on studying mitochondrial function, dynamics and mitotherapeutics with potential to reach clinical studies. I
    received my PhD in neuroscience and health sciences in 2017 from Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal. My post-doctoral work was focused on the study of mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum contact sites (MERCS) in neurodegeneration and drug discovery to modulate MERCS. This work was done in multidisciplinary team coordinated by Teva Pharma and Prilenia Therapeutics and later at Karolinska Institutet, under the research group of Prof Maria Ankarcrona. In 2023 I was appointed as Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institutet where I develop my research line which is focused on neuro-astrocyte mitochondrial communication with a focus on Alzheimer´s Disease.

Forskningsbeskrivning

  • ´ Mitochondria are the clandestine rulers of our world`
    My research is focus on mitochondrial function, dynamics and organelle interplay (mitochondria associated membranes) in neurodegeneration,
    particularly in Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, my current goals are to understand the molecular mechanisms leading to deficits in synaptic mitochondria and how neuron-glia crosstalk can influence/modulate those deficits in Alzheimer’s disease models. We are particularly interested in studying mitochondrial transfer between brain cells by tunneling nanotubes and extracellular vesicles (mitovesicles). We also have been developing a pipeline to study mitovesicles metabolic signatures in health and disease.

Undervisning

  • 2022-present: Coordinating and lecturing the PhD course Alzheimer’s disease: clinical features and pathogenic mechanisms (Karolinska Institutet)
    2019-present: Teaching Cell death mechanisms in the PhD course Protein Mechanisms in Health and Disease, from the Clinical Research School in Molecular Medicine (Karolinska Institutet)
    2018-present: Teaching Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration in the Master programme in Biomedicine (Karolinska Institutet)

Artiklar

Alla övriga publikationer

Forskningsbidrag

  • Mitovesiklar: en ny strategi för att förstå och lindra neurodegeneration av Alzheimers sjukdom
    Vetenskapsrådet
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2027
  • Nya innovativa vägar mot Alzheimers sjukdom: Vätskebiomarkörer och intracellulära behandlingar
    Private donation from Leif Lundblad Family and others
    1 October 2023 - 30 September 2026
  • Potential för extracellulära mitokondrier för terapi och diagnos vid Alzheimers
    Petrus och Augusta Hedlunds Stiftelse
    2 January 2022 - 31 January 2024
  • Mitochondria on the road: neuroglial crosstalk in Alzheimer’s disease
    StartNeuro – funding for postdoctoral researchers
    1 June 2020 - 31 December 2021
  • Exploring extracellular mitochondria in Alzheimer's disease: from organelle-based therapy to biomarkers
    Alzheimerfonden
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2023

Anställningar

  • Biträdande Lektor, Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-2028
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Mitochondria and neurodegeneration, Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), 2017-2018

Examina och utbildning

  • PhD in Neurosciences, Health Sciences – field Neuroscience, Role of lysine deacetylases on transcription regulation and mitochondrial function in Huntington's disease, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 2017
  • Master in Biotechnology, Biotechnology in Health Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 2011
  • Bachelor in Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 2008

Nyheter från KI

Kalenderhändelser från KI