About
Jointly led by scientist Prof. Dr. Evandro Fei Fang (Fang-Stavem) and physician Associate Prof. Dr. Martin Vyhnalek, Mito-AD is a Phase II randomised controlled trial (RCT) testing the efficacy of a mitophagy inducer urolithin A in slowing down Alzheimer disease. This Mito-AD RCT is a mechanism-driven clinical study supported by the hypothesis and preclinical evidence that age-caused mitophagy compromission is a major risk of Alzheimer disease (Fang, Nature Neuroscience 2019; Nature Ageing 2026). Mito-AD is supported by the USA-based Alzheimer Association with molecule from Amazentis. Key team members are Associate Prof. Dr. Martin Vyhnalek and Dr. Katerina Veverova from Charles University and Motol University Hospital (Czech Republic) as well as Prof. Dr. Evandro Fei Fang (Fang-Stavem) and Dr. Queena Shu-qin Cao from Akershus University Hospital and the University of Oslo (Norway).
A full list of our Mito-AD team members (continually updated)
Oslo
Prof. Dr. Evandro Fei Fang (Fang-Stavem) (PI)
Postdoc Dr. Queena Shu-qin Cao: co-coordinator of the whole programme and especially at the Oslo side
Dawn Thale Patrick-Brown: administration
Senior researcher Dr. Sofie Lautrup: data collection and analysis
PhD student Johannes Frank: data collection and analysis
PhD student Beatriz Escobar Doncel: data collection and analysis
Prague
Associate Prof. Dr. Martin Vyhnalek: co-PI (over view of the whole clinical part)
Dr. Katerina Veverova: co-coordinator of the whole programme and head of Laboratory Analyses at Charles University
Prof. Jan Laczo: patient recruitment and data collection
Mito-AD starts in 2026 and is expected to last for 3-4 years. For prospective scientific collaborations and questions, please contact us at Martin.Vyhnalek@lfmotol.cuni.cz (M.V.) or e.f.fang@medisin.uio.no (E.F.F.).
Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
Members of Mito-AD´s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) include (continually updated):
1. Prof. Dr. Gregory J. Moore (Gates Ventures, Kirkland, Washington; Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, Kirkland, Washington; Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania).
Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Penn State University College of Medicine; Senior Advisor, Gates Ventures & Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative (ADDI); Former Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Health & Life Sciences. He is a physician–scientist, neuroradiologist, engineer, and neuroscientist whose research and leadership integrate artificial intelligence, data science, neuropharmacology and neuroimaging to advance understanding and treatment of neurdegenterative disease and mental illness. As Senior Advisor to Gates Ventures & the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Intiative (ADDI), he directs initiatives that apply AI to transform biomedical research, enable global data sharing, and accelerate translational progress in neurodegenerative disease. Prior to this role, he founded Google Cloud Healthcare & Life Sciences and later led Microsoft’s global Health & Life Sciences organization, guiding the development of AI-enabled research and clinical platforms worldwide. Prof. Moore holds several academic appointments including at Penn State University College of Medicine and remains active in collaborative research at the interface of neuroscience, AI, informatics, global health, and precision medicine; and is actively innovating novel clinical trial approaches to deliver transformative therapeutics to low and middle income countries. He also serves on multiple boards and advisory councils spanning AI, biotechnology, life sciences, healthcare and digital health innovation.
2. Prof. Coleen T. Murphy (Princeton University)
Coleen T. Murphy is a Professor of Genomics and Molecular Biology at Princeton University. She graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics, then earned her doctorate in Biochemistry at Stanford University, studying the structure-function determinants of the motor protein myosin. Dr. Murphy became interested in applying new quantitative technologies to approach the question of aging during her postdoctoral work in Dr. Cynthia Kenyon’s lab (UCSF), developing microarray approaches to identify the set of genes downstream of the insulin signaling/FOXO longevity pathway, revealing a vast array of downstream cellular processes, including stress response, proteostasis, metabolism, immunity, autophagy, and intercellular signaling, to extend cellular and organismal maintenance with age. In her own lab, Dr. Murphy’s team has developed C. elegans models of human “quality of life” aging phenotypes, such as cognitive aging and reproductive aging; these processes are remarkably well-conserved at the molecular level, and her group has identified genetic pathways that can extend these processes with age through the development of quantitative assays and genomic approaches to study these aging phenomena. Her recent study shows that promotion of mitophagy, including the use of urolithin A, may be an effective strategy to maintain oocyte health with age (paper here).
In the news
Most recent news in Linkedin
1. 20 millioner til viktig forskning på Alzheimers – Akershus universitetssykehus HF
2. Part the Cloud Grants $5 Million for Gene Targeting Treatments
Photos: Mito-AD
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