Michael earned his BSc in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of Washington in 2022. Michael relocated to the UK with the Johnson Laboratory in 2023. His primary areas of research expertise are primary cell culture, live cell assays, and biochemical analyses, with his work focused on probing the interactions between mitochondria and volatile anaesthetics.

Holly earned her BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science at Northumbria University in 2024. She joined the lab in June 2024 where her main research areas have been immunocytochemical characterisation, and performing qPCR for gene expression so far.

Liza earned an undergraduate degree in BSc (Hons) Pharmacology (2017) and Masters in Neuroscience (2018) at Newcastle University. She was awarded a Newcastle University Overseas Research Scholarship (NU-ORS) to pursue her PhD in Biosciences at the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research, which occurred between 2018 and 2022. In 2022, Liza started a post-doc under the supervision of Professor Grainne Gorman. Between January and April 2024, she completed a sabbatical placement at K. G. Jebsen Center for Parkinson's Disease, Neuro-Sys Med Center, at the University of Bergen under the supervision of Professor Charalampos Tzoulis. This international laboratory placement was funded by EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant scheme.

Liza joined our laboratory in May 2024. She was recently awarded a Mito Foundation Fellowship, which will commence in September 2024.

Liza’s main research interest is the interplay between inflammation and neurodegeneration in the context of mitochondrial dysfunction, especially genetically determined primary mitochondrial diseases, for which currently there is no disease-modifying therapy or cure. Unravelling specific immune pathways which are at play in this group of disorders could provide access to already-existing therapeutics that modify immune activation. Since mitochondrial dysfunction is observed in many other neurodegenerative disorders such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, findings from primary mitochondrial disease research could therefore provide clues to potentially overlapping mechanisms and potential therapeutic avenues in other neurological disorders.

Links to publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=OLKHOVA+EA

Brittany Johnson earned her BSc in Zoology from Oregon State University, followed by a DVM from Ross University and clinical training at Cornell University. In 2023, Dr Johnson was awarded an MRCVS. Dr Johnson practiced veterinary medicine in the US as a small animal veterinarian, ER vet, and, ultimately, as an independent business owner (Evergreen Veterinary Relief Services) providing contracted locum/relief veterinary care coverages at small animal, mixed, and ER practices, while contributing to biomedical research in an ad hoc/contracted manner. Outside of lab, Brittany continues to provide locum/relief clinical services for small animal veterinary hospitals around the UK and the US.

Her current research includes characterising cytokine/chemokine expression under various conditions in iPSC-derived mitochondrial disease neurones, elucidating the signalling pathways driving peripheral immune cell migration into mitochondrial disease brain lesions, and performing qPCR for gene expression in murine brain stems.

Anastasia earned her BSc in Biology, Neurobiology (2019) at Northumbria University. She was then awarded her MRes in Neuroscience degree (2020) and PhD (2024) at Newcastle University. Anastasia’s PhD work focused on the prefrontal cortex neuronal networks and neuroinflammation in a disease mouse model of Dementia with Lewy bodies. She also has a background in goal-directed cognitive behaviour.

Dr. Dimitriou joined our lab as a postdoctoral research fellow in January 2025. She has a longstanding interest in brain neurological disorders. Her current research involves assessing disease mechanisms in the Ndufs4(KO) mouse model of Leigh syndrome, focusing on neuroinflammation pathways and seizure susceptibility across different developmental stages. Her long-term research goals are to unravel the mechanisms linking mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and neuronal network instability across neurological disorders. By integrating her expertise in electrophysiology, imaging, and immunology, she aims to identify therapeutic targets for alleviating disease progression in mitochondrial diseases.

Originally from sunny Cyprus, but after so many years in the UK, she now considers grey skies and rain a personality trait. When not in the lab, Anastasia enjoys watching films, particularly loves David Lynch’s work, reading sci-fi and crime books and is a live music enthusiast.

Francesca holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology (2012) from Lusofona University in Portugal and a Master’s in Human and Environmental Biology (2014) from University of Lisbon, where she investigated therapeutic approaches to genetic diseases. She was awarded a PhD in Musculoskeletal Biology (2020) from the University of Liverpool, where her research focused on the role of Syndecan-3 in bone metabolism. In 2020 she started her first post-doc position under the supervision of Dr Pirog at Newcastle University, specialising in cartilage biology, ageing and disease to broaden her research scope to other musculoskeletal tissues.

She has collaborated with leading institutions including the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at the University of Oxford, where she trained in microsurgery and animal pain assessment.

Francesca joined our laboratory in January 2025. Her main research goals are to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying musculoskeletal ageing, with a particular focus on mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammatory processes, and their role in skeletal diseases.

Beyond her laboratory work, Francesca is an avid runner and rower. She enjoys raising awareness on rare diseases through public engagement. She also often participates in charity events such as the Great North Run, raising funds for causes such as Lupus UK and Endometriosis UK.  

Kerry is a Biomedical Science (BSc Hons) graduate (2025) with a Professional Placement Year. As a high-performing athlete, she developed a deep appreciation for energy metabolism and cellular function, which sparked her passion for mitochondrial genetics and their role in disease phenotypes. During her undergraduate studies, Kerry completed three separate research internships, demonstrating her initiative and commitment to independent research.

Kerry is using a novel Lpd-5 knockout C. elegans model for Leigh Syndrome, involving genes replaced by fluorescent tags to track disease phenotypes. Her project evaluates rapamycin and other LOPAC1280 drugs, as well as exploring RNA interference as a potential rescue strategy. She is especially interested in how mitochondria contribute to key cellular processes such as autophagy, mitophagy, oxidative stress responses and lifespan regulation. As a future research scientist, she aims to develop novel therapeutic strategies targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative and age-related diseases.

Saed earned his BSc in Biomedical Sciences from Northumbria University in 2024, completing a professional studentship in Synthetic Biology. With a strong interest in drug discovery, methodology optimisation, and energy metabolism. 

Saed joined our lab in February 2025. He is investigating mitochondrial diseases using a novel Lpd-5 knockout C. elegans model, particularly in the study of Leigh Syndrome. His projects involving screening the LOPAC 1280 compound library to identify drugs capable of preventing larval arrest in the Lpd-5-deficient nematode model. Additionally, he is utilising the Horizon RNAi library of genes and hypoxia to explore potential therapeutic interventions for mitochondrial dysfunction.

Driven by his passion for energy metabolism, Saed's interest in the field is further fuelled by his experience as a natural bodybuilder, where understanding energy pathways is essential for performance and recovery. He placed 6th in the UK for Juniors Natural Bodybuilding in 2023, showcasing his commitment to optimising metabolic processes both in the lab and in his athletic pursuits.

Known as "the worm guy" in the lab, Saed is responsible for C. elegans husbandry, maintenance, and data analysis. His broader research goal is to enhance the understanding of mitochondrial dysfunction and related disease mechanisms to uncover potential therapeutic strategies.

Allison is a molecular biologist with expertise and interest in gene therapy approaches to treating genetic disorders. She leads the Johnson Laboratory Seattle based team.

Allison has a longstanding interest in rare pediatric diseases. She earned her PhD in pathobiology from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where she did her dissertation research on developing novel models and testing new therapies in an aggressive subtype of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Following graduate school, Allison began postdoctoral work researching genetic mitochondrial disease. Prior to joining SCRI, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). At OHSU she worked on gene therapy strategies for treating Aifm1-associated mitochondrial disease. Since she joined SCRI in 2022, Allison’s projects are aimed at defining the precise immune cell populations involved in driving CNS lesion formation in Leigh syndrome and the role of key inflammatory factors in disease. Her longer-term scientific goals are to identify the immune pathways critical to disease onset and progression in Leigh syndrome. This work will also inform development of gene therapies in the setting of mitochondrial disease. When not in the lab, Allison enjoys, playing the oboe, fiber arts, reading fantasy and science fiction novels, and playing with her pet parrot, Alexander Birdilton.

Vivian is a UW graduate with a BSc in Chemistry and BA in Biochemistry. She relocated to Newcastle with the Johnson laboratory in 2023 as a Senior Technician. She has returned to Seattle to pursue a Masters in Applied Chemical Sciences and Technologies in Fall 2024 at UW and is currently contributing to the Seattle research group. Her future goals are to become a forensic scientist postgrad.

Ashley is a graduate from the University of Washington Foster School of Business with a BA in Business Administration. Her ultimate goal is to attend medical school with dreams of becoming a physician. When not in the lab, you can catch her working as a CNA at Seattle Children's Hospital or spending time fishing.

Kira is a molecular biologist with experience in developmental biology and anesthesia. One of Kira’s current projects is aimed at probing the impact of volatile anesthetics on mitochondrial function and calcium signaling in astrocytes, a key type of brain support cell. Prior work in the Morgan/Sedensky laboratory revealed that astrocyte mitochondrial function is important in arousal (‘waking up’) from anesthesia. In addition, Kira is working to define the impact of volatile anesthetic exposure on cognitive function in the setting of aging and determine the role of immune activation in mediating detrimental effects of anesthesia in old animals.

Bernhard is a biochemist and molecular biologist with a strong background in physiology, especially in energy metabolism. Bernhard has extensive experience, earning his PhD in Botany at the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1994. Bernhard’s primary research interest is how the function of mitochondria relates to disease progression in mitochondrial disease. In addition to extensive biochemistry experience, Bernhard is experienced with C. elegans, mouse, and cell culture models. Bernhard has recently implemented a panel of mitochondrial function assays which Seattle Children’s Hospital now offers as a diagnostic service.

Bernhard continues to work with the Johnson Laboratory through his role in the Clinical Diagnostics team at Seattle Children’s.

Rebecca was a graduate student in the M3D program, earning her PhD in 2022. Her primary research focused on defining the metabolic consequences of mitochondrial complex I dysfunction and mTOR inhibition in sex, genotype, and age specific manner. Her work has included ex vivo stable isotope metabolic flux to assess the metabolic fates of glucose and glutamine; physiologic assays to define insulin sensitivity, glucose clearance, and gluconeogenic capacity; and intervention studies assessing the impact of dietary methods for altering metabolism on disease and survival in the Ndufs4(KO) mouse model of Leigh syndrome. She has gone on to a post-doc at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Rina worked as the Johnson lab manager in the US and during the first year in the UK.

John is a biologist with experience in the basic biology of anesthesia and mouse models of genetic mitochondrial disease. John is currently applying for graduate programs, and is interested in studying disease pathogenesis in genetic diseases. John’s current project is aimed at understanding the metabolic changes and pathogenesis that result from exposure to volatile anesthetics in mitochondrial disease. He is also aiding in studying the effects of volatile anesthetics on mitochondrial function in astrocytes

Yihan was an undergraduate in Biochemistry at UW, graduating in 2022. Yihan is now in a masters program, with the longer-term goal of attending graduate school and pursuing a career in research.

Ria is a high school senior from Eastside Preparatory School. At school, she is the captain of the Speech and Debate team and partakes enthusiastically in all things biology, neuroscience, chemistry, history, ethics, politics, and literature. She is also an advocate for preventing sex trafficking and sexual assault through her work as an elected WA Youth Legislative representative in the state government and school system. Ria has completed a science internship at the UC Irvine Pathak Lab, where she researched brain organogenesis with iPSCs, learned the functions of Neural Stem Cells, and used neuroimaging to analyze elusive brain disorders. For her work on Patch Clamp Analysis and Leak Subtraction there, she wrote two lab protocols that are currently being used by lab members. Additionally, she has worked at the UW Center for Neurotechnology in the Restorative Technologies Lab to analyze laminin in rostral and caudal cross-sections of the spines of optogenetically-modified mice. Her work has been acknowledged in an upcoming CNT publication. Ria has also worked as a high school intern at a neurologist’s office to better understand the diagnostic and clinical treatment aspects of neurological disorders. If she isn’t busy enjoying her time at labs, advocating for women’s rights, or drowning in schoolwork, she loves to sing (Hindustani Classical), dance (Kathak), write free-verse poems, read philosophy, fantasy, or sci-fi, and watch Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Undergraduate researcher

Senior in Biochemistry with a double minor in global health and classical studies.goes here

Senior in Microbiology

UW Student in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology