Ajit Divakaruni

Ajit Divakaruni serves as Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, leading a research laboratory dedicated to mitochondrial metabolism and cellular bioenergetics. His work integrates metabolomics, 13C isotope tracing, and live-cell imaging to investigate how substrate preferences regulate cell function across physiological contexts.

His academic journey includes:

• B.S. (summa cum laude) in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Applied Mathematics from University of Arizona (2006)
• Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Cambridge under Dr. Martin Brand (2011), funded by British Marshall Scholarship
• Postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at UC San Diego (2011-2017) with industry fellowship from Seahorse Bioscience

Divakaruni's research centers on mitochondrial regulation of cellular fate, with emphasis on inflammatory cytokine reprogramming, brain aging interventions, and bioenergetic methodology development. His lab explores how metabolic shifts between sugar, amino acid, and fatty acid oxidation impact immunometabolism and neurodegeneration, employing advanced techniques to identify therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease and metabolic disorders.

Recent publications reveal dominant themes in macrophage metabolic reprogramming, mitochondrial enzymology, and neurodegenerative disease mechanisms, demonstrating that inflammatory activation occurs without oxidative phosphorylation inhibition and that Coenzyme A enhances alternative macrophage functions through MyD88 signaling.

Scientific recognition includes:

• British Marshall Scholarship
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Divakaruni mentors four graduate students and one postdoc in grant-funded projects spanning atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's models, and mitochondrial biosynthesis. His laboratory maintains industry partnerships with Agilent Technologies (formerly Seahorse Bioscience) for method development in bioenergetic analysis.

Housed in UCLA's Center for Health Sciences, the Divakaruni Lab operates as a multidisciplinary hub for metabolomics and live-cell imaging, collaborating with clinicians to translate mitochondrial discoveries into therapeutic strategies for aging-related diseases.