Save the Date for UMDF Mitochondrial Medicine 2026 - June 17-20 in Orlando, Florida.
Next Webcast will be March 9, 2026
Moderator: Amel Karaa, MD
Topic Title and Presenters:
March 9 - 12pm ET - Clinical Trial Readiness - Mito Med Conference Clinical Research Pavilion 2025 Learnings and Prepping for 2026
Speakers: Zarazuela Zolkipli Cunningham, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Carlo Tacconi, CEO, mHealth Technologies, Bolgna, Italy; Sabato Mellone, PhD, University of Bologna, Italy; Damiano Zanotto, PhD, Stevens Institute of Technology; Tony Adams, MD, Gentle Jogger; and Nicole Wilson, UMDF Program Manager.
Time: 12:00pm ET/11:00am CT/9:00a PT and 6:00pm CET
Did you miss the PPA2 Virtual Conference: Connecting Clinical Care and Scientific Discovery Webcast on
Friday, February 13th?
Click Here to Watch
Looking Ahead to future Bench-to-Bedside Webcasts...
April 13 - 12pm ET - Mitochondrial Diseases in Hong Kong: Challenge and Hope
Speakers: Dr. Josephine SC Chong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Dr. Cheuk-Wing Fung, Hong Kong Children's Hospital
May 11 - 12pm ET - EuroMit 2026 and UMDF Mitochondrial Medicine 2026 - Preview of What to Expect
Speakers: UMDF Mito Med 2026 Conference Chairs and EuroMit Chairs
September 14 - 12pm ET - Fueling the Mitochondria: Creatine and Hydrogen-Rich Water as Emerging Supportive Therapies (tentative title)
Speakers: Sergej M. Ostojic, MD, PhD, FACP, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX and Nikola Todorovic, PhD, University in Novi Sad, Serbia
October 12 - 12pm ET - Topic and Speakers TBD
November 9 - 12pm ET - Bench-to-Bedside in LHON: Gene Therapy, Visual Recovery, and Clinical Outcomes (tentative title)
Speakers: Patrick Yu-Wai-Man, BMedSci, MBBS, PhD, FRCPath, FRCOphth, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK and José-Alain Sahel, MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
December 14 - 12pm ET - Clinical Trial Updates
Watch Past UMDF Bench-to-Bedside Seminars
Monday, February 9, 2026
Moderators: Amel Karaa, MD and Philip Yeske, PhD
Watch MitoCon 2026 Debrief: Emerging Trends, AI Tools & Translational Progress
Michelangelo Mancuso, MD, PhD, Neurological Institute, University of Pisa & AOUP, Italy
Monday, January 5, 2026
Moderators: Amel Karaa, MD and Philip Yeske, PhD
Watch Mitochondrial Disease Clinical Trial Updates - Part 2 - Link Coming Soon
Sharon Hamm, PharmD, Senior Vice President, Saol Therapeutics
Giovanni Passiatore, Senior Director, Medical Affairs, Chiesi Global Rare Diseases
Robert Fischer, PhD, CEO/CSO, OMEICOS Therapeutics
Slava Akmaev, PhD, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer & Chief AI Officer, BPGBio
Patrice Rioux, PhD, Co-Founder, Director and CEO, Thiogenesis Therapeutics
Ashish Dugar, PhD, MBA, Chief Development Officer, Pretzel Therapeutics
Daniel DiPietro, Co-Founder, Pierrepont Therapeutics
Monday, December 8, 2025
Moderators: Amel Karaa, MD and Philip Yeske, PhD
Watch Mitochondrial Disease Clinical Trial Updates - Part 1
Katie Landes, Stealth BioTherapeutics
Susan Van Meter, PhD, UCB
Magnus Hansson, MD, PhD, Abliva – Member of Pharming Group
Chad Glasser, PharmD, MPH, Tisento Therapeutics
Jasper Levink, CEO, Khondrion
Monday, November 10, 2025
Moderator: Fernando Scaglia, MD
Watch Preclinical Rationale for Muscle Stem Cell Therapy for Myopathy and Fatigue Due to mtDNA Mutations - Bert Smeets, PhD, Maastricht University, Netherlands
Watch Clinical Development of a Muscle Stem Cell Therapy for Mitochondrial Muscle Disease - Florence Tienen, PhD, Maastricht University, Netherlands
Monday, October 13, 2025
Moderator: Fernando Scaglia, MD and Zuela Zolkipli-Cunningham, MD
Watch Diagnosing and Managing Mitochondrial Disease in Malaysia
Rifhan Azwani Binti Mazlan, Genetic Counsellor, University of Malaya Medical Centre
Sharifah Azween Binti Syed Omar, Genetic Counsellor, Hospital Pakar Kanak and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
Friday, September 5, 2025
Special MRT Bench-to-Bedside Webcast
Moderators: Philip E. Yeske, PhD and Michio Hirano, MD
Sean Murray, Mito Foundation CEO
Clare Stuart, Mito Foundation Policy and Advocacy Manager
Clair Wright, Lily Foundation
Michio Hirano, MD, Columbia University Medical Center
Dieter Egli, PhD, Columbia Stem Cell Initiative
Robert McFarland, MA MBBS PhD MRCP MRCPH, Director of the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders
Mary Herbert, PhD, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Louise Hyslop, NHS
Monday, September 8, 2025
Moderator: Eliza Gordon-Lipkin, MD, National Genome Research Institute
Watch The Role of Rehabilitation Medicine in the Care of Children with Mitochondrial Disease
Dr. Afua Asante-Otoo, MD, FAAPMR, National Institutes of Health, Staff Clinician / Pediatric Physiatrist, Rehabilitation Medicine Department
Hanna Hildenbrand, MS, OTR/L, National Institutes of Health, Occupational Therapist, Rehabilitation Medicine Department
Dr. Minal Jain, PT, DSc, FAPTA, National Institutes of Health, Acting Chief Physical Therapy Section, Rehabilitation Medicine Department
Beth Solomon, MS, CCC-SLP, National Institutes of Health, Senior Lead Speech-Language Pathologist, Rehabilitation Medicine Department
Monday, April 14, 2025
Moderator: Fernando Scaglia, MD
Watch Mitochondrial Genetics and Use of Biomarkers for Mitochondrial Disease
Clinical Diagnostic Testing of mtDNA genome for Primary Mitochondrial Disease - Jing Wang, MD, FACMG, ASCP (MB), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA
Use of Biomarkers for Mitochondrial Disease (GDF15, neurofilament light chain, and potentially FGF21 and gelsolin) - Devin Oglesbee, PhD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
We are excited to announce the launch of the MitoU Seminar Network. Beginning in January of 2023, the UMDF along with MitoTalks and the Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine will continue to share information about upcoming seminars right here - all in one location.
Visit umdf.org/seminars to view all meetings.