In my lab we are studying the role of mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouse, in development, stress, and aging. We aim to understand how energy production is regulated during the organism life cycle in normal and in extreme habitats such as environments of low oxygen or high salt. In addition, we are investigating how mitochondria activity controls the cholesterol synthesis pathway to bridge a conceptual gap between mitochondria function, signaling cascades, and core metabolic pathways. We wish to understand the molecular details of this regulation in order to develop therapeutic tools to target the cholesterol synthesis pathway whose ill-regulation leads to impaired cholesterol homeostasis— a major challenge of modern medicine.