Countdown Grant Explores How Cells Remove Damaged Mitochondria — Opening New Possibilities Across Parkinson’s, Chronic Disease, Rare Disease, and Aging

ATLANTA, May 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Countdown, a nonprofit accelerating mitochondrial science and medicine across the full spectrum of human health, announced a new research grant awarded to Dr. Elias Adriaenssens at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria. 

The funding will support a groundbreaking project titled From Hypoxia to Therapy: Unlocking Mitochondrial Clearance Pathways for Disease Treatment, focused on understanding how cells identify, clear, and renew damaged mitochondria, the tiny structures responsible for producing the energy every cell in the body needs to survive and function. 

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a foundational and shared driver across many of today’s most pressing health challenges, from rare and chronic disease to neurodegeneration, metabolic disease, and age-related decline. Yet despite mitochondria’s central role in human health, many of the underlying cellular quality-control mechanisms remain poorly understood. 

One of the most promising emerging areas in mitochondrial medicine is hypoxia therapy, the controlled reduction of oxygen exposure to activate protective cellular pathways. Hypoxia has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy across a broad range of conditions and diseases, including primary mitochondrial diseases, Parkinson’s, ischemic injury, and age-related decline. Yet despite its therapeutic promise, chronic systemic hypoxia is difficult to implement clinically, requiring prolonged exposure to tightly controlled low-oxygen environments that are not realistically compatible with everyday life. Moreover, systemic hypoxia can induce widespread stress responses and undesirable biological adaptations across multiple tissues.

Dr. Adriaenssens’ research seeks to solve one of the field’s most important challenges: how to isolate the beneficial mitochondrial effects of hypoxia without exposing patients to its dangerous systemic consequences. Every cell has a built-in system for removing damaged mitochondria and maintaining cellular health. When that process breaks down, damaged mitochondria can accumulate inside cells, triggering inflammation, dysfunction, and tissue damage throughout the body. 

The project focuses on a poorly understood mitochondrial quality-control pathway, which appears to act as a brake on the cell’s mitochondrial renewal system. The research aims to identify how to selectively activate protective mitochondrial clearance pathways associated with hypoxia, without triggering the dangerous systemic effects of whole-body hypoxia. 

The long-term goal is to help lay the foundation for therapies that could mimic the protective effects of hypoxia through patient-compatible treatments, eliminating  the impractical and potentially dangerous need for continuous low-oxygen exposure or hypoxic chambers. 

What makes this research especially significant is that cells contain multiple pathways for removing damaged mitochondria, yet science has only deeply understood one of them. By uncovering alternative mitochondrial clearance mechanisms, this research could open new therapeutic possibilities across a wide range of diseases and conditions where mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role.

The findings may also help advance one of medicine’s most promising emerging frontiers: mitochondrial transplantation. While early studies suggest transplanted mitochondria could help rescue damaged tissues, one of the biggest barriers remains that healthy mitochondria are often recognized and destroyed by the cell before they can successfully integrate and function. Understanding these newly identified quality-control pathways may help overcome that challenge and make mitochondrial transplantation more durable and effective. 

“Countdown funds research at a cellular level, the shared biology beneath conditions that most organizations address in isolation,” said Mitzi Solomon, Founder and President of Countdown. “This grant exemplifies the broad-reaching implications of mitochondrial research, as the molecular insight Dr. Adriaenssens is pursuing could ultimately benefit patients across rare disease, neurodegeneration, heart disease, transplantation, and aging — all at once.” 

“For patients with mitochondrial dysfunction, the options today are still largely supportive. This research moves us toward something genuinely different, a way to selectively activate the cell’s own renewal machinery without the side effects of systemic approaches,” said Dr. Elias Adriaenssens, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna. “Countdown’s investment gives us the runway to do the work that makes rational drug design possible.” 

The grant is made in honor of Countdown board member Gerry King, whose commitment to advancing mitochondrial research while living with Parkinson’s disease reflects the urgency and importance of this work. 

“We are all overwhelmed by the endless requests for support across countless causes and organizations,” said Gerry King, Countdown Board Member. “I made the decision to place my commitment behind Countdown because of its uncompromising passion to uncover the root causes beneath diseases affecting all walks of life. Mitochondrial dysfunction impacts all of us, and I believe mitochondrial research has the potential to change not only the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease, but the future of human health itself. My support of Countdown and this mission will continue until meaningful breakthroughs — and ultimately cures — are found.” 

 Founded on the belief that mitochondrial health is not a niche concern but a window into nearly every major disease challenge of our time, Countdown funds research across six interconnected pillars — Early Detection & Precision Diagnostics, Women’s Health & Hormonal Longevity, Primary Mitochondrial & Rare Genetic Disease, Chronic Disease & Aging, Brain Energy & Cognitive Resilience, and Advanced Therapeutics & Frontier Innovation. The organization unites scientists, clinicians, philanthropists, and industry partners to move the field forward faster, accelerating discoveries that shape a future where mitochondrial science is central to how we understand, treat, and prevent disease.

About Countdown

Countdown is a nonprofit focused on accelerating mitochondrial science and medicine across the full spectrum of human health to improve how people feel, function, and age. By focusing on mitochondria — the shared biological network underlying many of the most pressing diseases of our time — Countdown is driving a more integrated approach to accelerating scientific breakthroughs that transform how we understand, prevent, and treat disease at its source. We fund research, expand awareness, and unite scientists, clinicians, philanthropists, industry leaders, and visionary brands to drive real-world impact. Join the Countdown to change the future of health. 

For more information, visit www.joincountdown.org

About Elias Adriaenssens
Elias Adriaenssens is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Tim Clausen at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) at the Vienna BioCenter. He joined the Vienna BioCenter in 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher at the neighbouring Max Perutz Labs.

Adriaenssens completed his PhD in molecular biology at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He also holds a Master’s degree in pharmacology from the University of Oxford (2014), as well as undergraduate and Master’s degrees in biochemistry from the University of Antwerp.

He has received several awards and honours, including a Medical Research Council (MRC) Studentship Award (2013) / Wolfson College High Profile Achievement Award (2014); a Rotary Hope-in-Head Grant (2019); and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship.

About the IMP
The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna is a basic life science research institute largely sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. With over 220 scientists from 40 countries, the IMP is committed to scientific discovery of fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying complex biological phenomena. The IMP is part of the Vienna BioCenter, one of Europe’s most dynamic life science hubs with 2,800 staff members from over 80 countries in seven research institutions, two universities, and 42 biotech companies. www.imp.ac.at, www.viennabiocenter.org

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Contact:
Mitzi Solomon, Founder and President
Mitzi@JoinCountdown.org | +1 (917) 715-2381