Cell scientist to watch - Laura Greaves

Laura Greaves studied pharmacology at Newcastle University, UK, where she also obtained her PhD in the lab of Douglas Turnbull for her work on the role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in the ageing human colonic epithelium. During her postdoc with Douglas Turnbull and John Mathers, funded by the Food Standards Agency, UK, she showed that clonal expansion of mtDNA point mutations drives mitochondrial dysfunction during human ageing. With MRC funding for the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Centre for Ageing and Vitality programme as well as a Newcastle University Research Fellowship, she established her independent research group in 2016 at theWellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Newcastle. Her lab uses genetic mouse models and intestinal organoids to investigate the functional consequences of mtDNA mutations on cellular metabolism and colorectal cancer development. Laura is the winner of the 2022 Women in Cell Biology Early Career Medal awarded by the British Society for Cell Biology.