A.M. (Amalia M.) Dolga, Prof

Progressive neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease afflict millions of people worldwide. The therapeutic possibilities for many patients, however, are limited and there is no causal therapy yet available. To address this unmet clinical need, it is important to gain more insight in molecular mechanisms that drive neurodegenerative disease pathology. Aging and -associated neurodegenerative diseases display a severe mismatch between cell sensing and cell signaling. As a result to this, cells undergo drastic dynamic changes in their structure, motility and metabolism that ultimately lead to cell death. The signaling pathways of programmed cell death funnel into mitochondria, the key organelles of cell metabolism. The distribution and shape of mitochondria also change with functional demand, in response to environmental stimuli and energetic requirements. Metabolic cell flexibility is an essential characteristic of the cell, enabling it to adapt to nutrient availability, thus preserving mitochondrial function, promoting cell survival and increasing longevity.

 Our research program is focused on the following themes:

• Understanding the molecular mechanisms that link mitochondrial dysfunction with aging and neurodegeneration.
• Understanding how mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with neuroinflammation.
• Applying this knowledge in the development of new therapies to treat diseases linked to mitochondrial dysfunction.

Current PhD projects under my supervision:

• Teresa Mitchell Garcia: The role of LRRK2 in Parkinson's disease pathology
• Carolina Sagarminaga: Mitochondrial transfer by EVs in Parkinson's disease
• Leshan Zhang (Co-supervision with Prof. M. Schmidt): The role of air pollution in neurodegeneration
• Qiwen Tang: How pesticide-related metabolites affect immune cells
• Yashvi Bhat: Lipid peroxidation in glaucoma: a focus on the immune cells (part of EGRET-AAA doctoral network)
• Polina Malahov: Neuro-immune interaction in glaucoma (part of EGRET-AAA doctoral network)
• Luis Gonzales Molina (Co-supervision with Prof. M. Rots): Mitochondrial DNA in neurodegeneration
• Maria Costa Caiado (Co-supervision with Prof. den Dunnen): Molecular pathways of neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease
• Joao de Sousa Peres: The influence of chronic stress on Alzheimer's disease pathology

Postdoctoral fellows

• Dr. Tingting Chen: Targeting immunometabolism in Alzheimer's disease
• Dr. Panagiotis Athanasopoulos: Identifying biomarkers for Parkinson's disease

Alumni:

Dr. Hong Yan: Air pollutants as drivers of cellular stress in neurons and microglia in the brain (Co-supervision with Prof. M. Schmidt) (March 2025)

Dr. Yang Luo: Thiosulfate sulfurtransferase and its impact on mitochondrial health (Co-supervision with Prof. Harry van Goor) (May 2025)

Dr. Tingting Chen: The secret life of mitochondria: intercellular transfers in neuroprotection, biomarker discovery, and oncogenesis (March 2025)

Dr. Nad'a Majernikova: The irony of aging: Ferroptosis in Neurodegenerative Disease (January 2025)

Dr. Yuequ Zhang: The role of SK channels in neurodegeneration (January 2025)

Dr. Alejandro Marmolejo-Garza: Interrogating mitochondrial and metabolic involvement in Alzheimer’s disease (December 2024)

Dr. Asmaa Oun: Immune function of LRRK2 - Focus on mitochondrial metabolism (November 2022)

Dr. Pien Goldsteen: Neuro-Chip: Neuronal control of human internal organ pathophysiology. (October 2022, Co-supervision with Reinoud Gosens)

Dr. Tatiana Moro: Extraction, characterization and biological effects of Polysaccharides from marine (micro)algae. (January 2022)

Dr. Inge Krabbendam: Impact of SK channel modulation on mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation. (November 2020)

Dr. Angelica Sabogal: The cross-talk between mitochondrial metabolism and inflammation in neurodegeneration. (January 2020)

Dr. Birgit Honrath: Impact of alterations in mitochondrial calcium homeostasis on mitochondrial metabolism (December 2017).