Countdown Awards Research Grant to Advance Mitochondrial Transplantation in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Funding supports pioneering research to evaluate a novel approach designed to restore cellular energy and preserve muscle function, laying the foundation for a new generation of therapies across rare disease, chronic disease, and aging

ATLANTA, July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Countdown, the global nonprofit accelerating mitochondrial science and medicine to transform the future of human health, today announced new funding awarded to Dr. James McCully, Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital. The funding will advance his research in mitochondrial transplantation, an emerging therapeutic approach designed to restore cellular energy and function at its source.

Muscle degeneration is a defining feature of aging, chronic disease, and many genetic conditions, contributing to loss of strength, mobility, and overall resilience. But at its core, this decline is driven by something more fundamental: the breakdown of cellular energy. When mitochondria fail, muscle tissue weakens, regeneration slows, and functional capacity deteriorates, triggering a ripple effect across the body. Despite this, there are currently no approved therapies that directly restore cellular energy within damaged muscle tissue.

Dr. McCully's research applies a strategy already proven to work: mitochondrial transplantation. This therapeutic approach has been shown to restore energy production and improve function in damaged tissue, including in Dr. McCully’s prior clinical work with pediatric cardiac patients.

This next phase evaluates that same strategy in a genetic model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), one of the most severe and aggressive muscle diseases. In DMD, muscle breaks down faster than the body can repair it, a process marked by chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and underlying mitochondrial dysfunction. The research will determine whether transplantation can restore energy production and improve muscle function in one of the hardest test cases in the field. To do so, the study will assess both single and repeated delivery of healthy mitochondria alongside a novel hydrogel-based system designed to improve retention and therapeutic durability, with the goal of accelerating clinical translation.

Mitochondrial transplantation involves isolating functional mitochondria and delivering them directly into compromised tissue. Once inside the cell, healthy mitochondria integrate with the cell's existing mitochondrial network, restoring energy production and improving cellular signaling, function, and survival. As the field evolves, multiple approaches to mitochondrial delivery are being developed, reflecting growing momentum behind this therapeutic strategy.

Preclinical and early clinical studies have demonstrated promising improvements in tissue recovery and function across multiple disease models, reinforcing the potential of mitochondrial transplantation as a transformative therapeutic platform.

Dr. McCully’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital has been at the forefront of this field for over two decades, including early human applications in pediatric patients with severe cardiac dysfunction, where mitochondrial transplantation supported recovery of heart function. Building on this foundation, the newly funded research advances this work into chronic muscle disease — an area of significant unmet need — with the potential to establish mitochondrial transplantation as a broadly applicable therapeutic platform.

“This is exactly the kind of science we exist to accelerate, work that targets the root cause of disease at the cellular level,” said Mitzi Solomon, Founder and President of Countdown. “Muscle degeneration is one of the most visible expressions of a deeper issue: loss of cellular energy. Mitochondria are the shared engine beneath rare disease, chronic illness, and aging itself. By restoring energy at the source, we have the opportunity to fundamentally change how we treat disease and support human health.”

“PS Cares, the philanthropic arm of PS Reserve, a private membership community centered around connection, lifestyle, and meaningful experiences, is proud to support this work,” said Jennifer Dawood, Director of Member Engagement at PS Reserve. “We are drawn to innovations that help people maintain vitality and quality of life, and our support of Countdown reflects that by funding science focused on restoring energy, resilience, and function at the cellular level. This is where we believe the future of health is headed, and we're proud to be part of it."

Because mitochondrial dysfunction is a common biological thread across many conditions, the implications of this research extend far beyond Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Mitochondrial transplantation represents a mutation-independent approach. When successful, this work will establish mitochondrial transplantation as a therapeutic platform with applications across a wide range of diseases driven by impaired cellular energy, from rare genetic disorders to chronic disease and aging.

“Our mitochondrial transplantation research would not be possible without Countdown's support,” said Dr. James McCully. “Because of this support, we can now apply the success achieved in our pediatric cardiac clinical trial to advancing new therapies for patients who urgently need them most."

This investment reflects Countdown's broader strategy to accelerate mitochondrial science as the foundation of a new era of medicine. Rather than funding individual diseases, Countdown is building a connected research ecosystem designed to accelerate diagnostics, therapies, and prevention by addressing cellular energy at its source.

About Countdown

Countdown is a nonprofit building a movement around cellular energy — the science most overlooked and underfunded, and most fundamental to human health. By focusing on mitochondria, the shared biological engine underlying many of the most urgent diseases of our time, we're advancing a more integrated approach to understanding, preventing, and treating disease at its source.

Guided by the belief that Energy Is Everything, we fund bold, high-risk, high-reward research and bring together the scientists, clinicians, innovators, philanthropists, investors, and brands advancing the future of health.

OUR VISION

A world where cellular energy is recognized as a foundation of human health, transforming how we understand, prevent, and treat disease while improving resilience, performance, and health across the lifespan.

OUR MISSION

To acceleratemitochondrial scienceand medicine and bring cellular energy to the center of human health.

We believe the greatest breakthroughs in health will come not from any one discipline, industry, or organization, but through collaboration. By connecting people, ideas, and discovery across traditionally separate fields, we are helping accelerate scientific progress, improve health across the lifespan, and shape a new era of health rooted in the science of energy.

For more information, visit www.joincountdown.org

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Contact:
Mitzi Solomon, Founder and President
Mitzi@joincountdown.org

Stephanie Ballien, VP of Marketing
Stephanie@joincountdown.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f3b1eb9-f589-4059-991a-6ff47c84daa0