Luca Scorrano - Biography#

Luca Scorrano (M.D., Ph.D., University of Padua, Italy) is currently Director of the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry, Dept. of Biology, University of Padua (Italy). Luca became interested in mitochondrial shape during his postdoc with Stan Korsmeyer (Harvard Medical School) when they discovered a process of mitochondrial ultrastructural change called cristae remodelling involved in complete cytochrome c release and apoptosis progression. Since then his lab, first in Italy, then in Geneva (Switzerland) where he was Professor at the Dept. of Cell Physiology and Metabolism for 7 years and from 2013 in Italy again, contributed to the molecular mechanisms and pathophysiological consequences of mitochondrial dynamics and tethering to the endoplasmic reticulum. His lab discovered the Opa1-dependent “molecular staple” holding cristae junctions tight and exploited it in vivo to correct mitochondrial diseases and blunt tissue damage; the first molecular bridge between endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria; how mitochondrial shape controls the outcome of autophagy; the link between cristae shape and mitochondrial respiration; the essential role of mitochondrial fusion in heart development; the role of mitochondrial fusion as a metabolic barrier against intracellular parasite proliferation.

He received several Prizes and Awards. He was elected EMBO Young Investigator in 2006 and EMBO Member in 2011. He sits on several Scientific Advisory Boards and reviewing panels, and he chairs the EMBO Fellowship Committee. He is an Editorial Board member of several Journals including EMBO Journal, Cell Death and Differentiation and Cardiovascular Research.