This month's Research Grand Rounds features Hazel H. Szeto, MD, PhD, who will discuss "An alternative to target-based drug discovery – Optimizing mitochondrial bioenergetics to combat noncommunicable diseases".

Dr. Szeto is director of research at the Social Profit Network Research Laboratory, professor emerita of Pharmacology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and scientific founder of Stealth Biotherapeutics. Her serendipitous discovery of a novel class of orally-active, widely-distributed mitochondrial-targeted peptide analogs with profound effects on mitochondrial structure and function has revealed bioenergetic mechanisms as key treatment targets in an almost-dizzying variety of disease models. Preclinical models suggest potential benefits in most all clinical domains, from ischemia-reperfusion injury to neurodegeneration, and including heart failure, muscle weakness and disuse atrophy, chemotherapy toxicities, diabetes, vision loss, orthopedic injury, acute kidney injury and progressive chronic kidney disease and a wide range of age-associated chronic diseases. Her research exemplifies widelycollaborative and discipline-spanning team science focused on translating basic discoveries to therapeutic impact while revealing new pathophysiological mechanisms and basic biology.

Research Grand Rounds are sponsored by the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) and MedStar Health Research Institute to bring together our diverse clinical and research communities to share research that spans disciplines and stages of translation to improve individual and community health.