Mitochondrial Medicine - Therapeutic Development

We are delighted to announce the 9th meeting in our series on mitochondrial disease and the search for novel, effective therapies.

Mitochondrial disorders have emerged as a major cause of inherited human disease. There is a growing appreciation that new treatments will emerge through collaborations between clinicians, laboratory scientists and the life sciences industry based on a firm understanding of the disease mechanisms. This conference aims to bring these groups together.

The conference programme is designed to build new partnerships that harness our understanding of the disease mechanisms, accelerating the pace of effective treatments for mitochondrial diseases. A dedicated panel discussion will explore current opportunities, challenges, and key lessons from clinical trials.

The meeting attracts international participants interested in mitochondrial diseases, working in genomics, biochemistry, pathology and clinical medicine. It will bring together leaders in translational mitochondrial medicine and basic science with a programme designed to engage and inspire the next generation of researchers.

Alongside invited talks from global experts, the programme will feature oral presentations selected from abstracts, poster sessions, poster pitch talks, and networking opportunities, ensuring a highly interactive and collaborative meeting.

The conference will start at approximately 12.00 on Monday, 10 November and close at approximately 13.00 on Wednesday, 12 November 2025. All times are in GMT.

Discussions will focus on a variety of exciting topics, including:

• Mitochondria as signalling hubs
• Role of mitochondria in inflammation and immunity
• New mechanistic treatments
• New diagnostics technologies
• Clinical trials in mitochondrial diseases
• Late breaking news

A draft programme will be available soon.

Scientific programme committee

Amel Karaa
Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard University, USA

Nils-Göran Larsson
Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Michelangelo Mancuso
University of Pisa, Italy

Shamima Rahman
University College London, UK

Keynote speakers

Mike Murphy
University of Cambridge

Carolyn Sue
The University of New South Wales, Australia

Confirmed speakers

Dario Brunetti
University of Milan, Italy

Cristina Domínguez González
Hospital 12 de Octubre, Spain

Teresinha Evangelista
The Institute of Myology, France

Stefan Jakobs 
University of Göttingen, Germany

Martin Picard
Columbia University, USA

Shamima Rahman
University College London, UK

Florian Rosenberger
Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Jan Smeitink
Radboud University, the Netherlands

Violeta Stoyanova-Beninska
European Medicines Agency (EMA)

Aleksandra Trifunovic
University of Cologne, Germany

Phillip West
The Jackson Laboratory, USA

Haiyan Zhou
University College London, UK

Organisers – Wellcome Connecting Science

Lucy Criddle, Conference & events organiser
Nagehan Ramazanoglu Bahadir, Programme developer

Registration deadline: 14 October (in person) | 3 November 2025 (virtual)

The registration fees and details will be announced shortly.

Accommodation
Booked accommodation is for the nights of 10 and 11 November 2025.

Please note: there is limited onsite accommodation and this will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, early registration is recommended.

If you wish to book campus accommodation either side of the conference dates, please contact the Hinxton Hall Conference Centre directly.

Accommodation services phishing scam – please be vigilant. More information.

Travel visas

Please check the UK government website for advice on whether you will need a visa or an electronic travel authorisation and how to obtain one: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor. 

Confirmed attendees requiring a letter to support a visa application should contact our events team.

Bursaries

Bursary deadline: 12 August 2025

Wellcome Connecting Science offers registration bursaries (usually up to 50% of the registration fee) to those who would benefit from attending the conference but face financial barriers to attending events.

Priority will be given to PhD students/trainees,  applicants from lower and middle income countries, or those from underrepresented/minoritised groups. Other early career researchers will be considered if funds allow.

To apply for funding support, please register and then select that you want to apply for a bursary. This will direct you to the online application form. Please explain why you need support and how you will benefit from attending the conference. Once you have submitted the application form, you will be emailed an abstract portal link. Please use this to submit your abstract before bursary deadline.

Applications without abstracts will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Additional funding opportunities

Visit our support page for information on financial support, including carer grants to help delegates with the costs of caring for children or dependent family members while attending a course or a conference.

Abstract deadline: 9 September 2025

We welcome abstracts from all areas relevant to the main themes of the meeting, for both oral and poster presentations. Several oral presentations will be chosen from the abstracts submitted. Presenters of oral presentations are expected to be onsite for the duration of the conference, whereas those presenting posters can do so in person or virtually.

To submit an abstract, you must first register for the conference. Once your registration is completed, you will be emailed a link to submit to the abstract submission portal. If you wish to edit your abstract following submission, please use the link in the abstract acknowledgement email.

All abstracts must be submitted and, if desired, edited by the deadline. The scientific programme committee will then assess your abstract and you will be notified about 2 weeks after the deadline whether you have been selected to present an oral or poster presentation. If you require acknowledgment that your abstract has been accepted earlier than this, please contact the event organiser.

Poster boards onsite will accommodate 118 cm high by 84 cm wide (A0-portrait) of printed material. Accepted abstracts will appear in the conference programme book; poster board numbers will be allocated at the conference.

All those accepted for a poster presentation will also have the opportunity present a ~1 min ‘poster pitch’ summarising their work.

If you are interested in supporting this meeting, please contact us.

For more information about the benefits of having a presence at this meeting, see our sponsorship page.

Mitochondrial Medicine - lessons learned from population genomics

Keynote by Prof. Patrick Chinnery, University of Cambridge, UK

Feedback from previous meetings in this series

“One of the best things is that this conference, in contrast to other similar ones, had more free time for interaction and networking.”

“The size of the meeting and the focused content allowed for sufficient time to interface face-to-face and build relationships.”

“The size, venue, and program was perfect for interacting. I networked more at this conference than I have at any meeting I’ve been to.”