Event Date
The UC Davis Innovation and Economic Development Office, in partnership with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center's Center for Experimental Therapeutics in Cancer, invites you to attend the Improving Mitochondria Function Seminar, featuring Dr. Sundeep Dugar.
Seminar Topic
Mitochondrial dysfunction is now recognized as a common feature across a wide spectrum of diseases. It plays a key role in metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic infections, and many inflammatory conditions. Mitochondrial dysfunction drives cancer by shifting metabolism from efficient energy production to supporting rapid proliferation, metastasis, and therapy resistance.
Disruptions in mitochondrial function can amplify inflammation, impair tissue repair, and accelerate cellular aging.
For this reason, mitochondria are a unifying hub in disease biology. Addressing mitochondria dysfunction and/or depletion opens new opportunities for therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring mitochondrial health, improving cellular resilience and extending healthspan.
This seminar will cover:
- The central role of mitochondrial dysfunction across diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease and cancer
- How mitochondrial disruption drives inflammation, aging, and impaired tissue repair
- Emerging therapeutic strategies to restore mitochondrial health and enhance cellular resilience for better healthspan
Who should attend
- Clinicians
- Medical residents
- Researchers
- Startup founders
- Technology transfer professionals
About the speaker
Dr. Sundeep Dugar has over 35 years of experience in small-molecule drug discovery and development in oncology, inflammation, the central nervous system, cardiovascular, neuromuscular and metabolic disorders. He is a co-inventor of Zetia® (ezetimibe) and Vytorin® (ezetimibe/simvastatin).
Sundeep’s latest mission-based venture, BlueOakNx, brings to market a nutraceutical that leverages his seminal discovery of a natural flavonol that mimics the mechanism of action of a newly discovered endogenous steroid produced by mitochondria during exercise that he proposed, and subsequently led its discovery and detection in humans. This endogenous steroid induces mitochondrial biogenesis, is the result of more than 15 years of research and has led to a new approach to support mitochondria density and quality.
Sundeep leads a Top 40 Milestone 1 Award semifinalist team in the XPRIZE Healthspan competition - a $101 Million competition to revolutionize the way we approach human aging. Competing teams will develop and test therapeutics that restore muscle, cognition, and immune function by a minimum of 10 years.
Sundeep received the American Chemical Society’s 2004 Heroes of Chemistry Award and was 2005 National Inventor of the Year. He is co-author of 70+ publications and presentations, and co-inventor on 100+ issued and applied patents. Sundeep helps organize the R. Bryan Miller Symposium at UC Davis and has served as Trustee of the UC Davis Foundation.