Nathan Alder is a Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Connecticut (UConn), with a focus on Structural Biology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics. His research explores mitochondrial biology, membrane protein function, and lipid dynamics using advanced spectroscopic and imaging techniques. Education: PhD from University of California, Davis; postdoctoral training at Texas A&M University and Stanford University. His work integrates experimental and computational methods to study protein trafficking, cardiolipin-mediated processes, and mitochondrial dysfunction in disease. Research interests include mitochondrial protein import mechanisms, mitochondrial membrane biophysics, and the development of nanodisc technologies for membrane protein analysis. Key projects involve investigating the therapeutic potential of mitochondria-targeted peptides and understanding the role of lipid composition in mitochondrial function. Publications span over 20 years, with recent work focusing on SS-31 (Elamipretide) mechanism of action, mitochondrial energetics in aging, and cardiolipin's role in complex II assembly. His lab has pioneered techniques for reconstituting membrane proteins into nanodiscs and applying super-resolution microscopy to study mitochondrial ultrastructure. Labs/Teams: Alder Lab (alderlab.mcb.uconn.edu), collaborating with experts in biochemistry, biophysics, and computational biology. Active in training graduate students and postdocs in mitochondrial systems biology.









