Andres Goldman
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Native from Montevideo Uruguay, I completed my PhD studies in the lab of Prof. Atan Gross, where I studied the role of the mitochondrial protein MTCH2 in regulating the morphology and dynamic behavior of this organelle. During my period in the Weizmann Institute, I specialized in microscopy, image analysis and biochemistry, navigating through the fields of mitochondrial dynamics, but also areas such as apoptosis, mitochondrial DNA homeostasis, inter-organelle contact sites, mitochondrial function as well as metabolism and lipids homeostasis. Now in Heidi’s lab my focus will be to study one of the most, if not the most important biological function for which mitochondria are critical and essential for. This important task that only mitochondria can mediate is the forging of iron into bioactive molecules. Although the biochemical steps and enzymes necessary for iron-sulfur clusters and heme biosynthesis are well characterized, how iron gets to the mitochondria and how this delivery is modulated remains a big gap in the knowledge of mitochondrial iron metabolism. Integrating screening data and monitoring the iron status of the mitochondria and the cell I plan to shed new light on the ancient and essential mechanism of iron delivery into the mitochondria.
Expertise:
mitochondrial dynamics, iron transport, contact sites