Day 1: Thursday, 19 November 2026
08:00 - 09:00
Registration
09:00 - 10:00
Inauguration
10:00 – 10:30
Session I: Keynote Address
K Thangaraj, CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad, India
Recent advances in mitochondrial biology and medicine
Chair: Keshav K Singh, UAB, USA
Nalini A, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
11:00 – 12:40
Session II: Mitochondrial diseases: Clinical spectrum, diagnosis and management
Chair: Arun B Taly, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
Soumya Sundaram, SCTIMST, Trivandrum, India
11:00 – 11:25
Mitochondrial myopathies: A Clinician’s perspective
Madhu Nagappa
NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
11:25 – 11:50
Approach to diagnosis and management of Leigh syndrome and Leigh-like disorders
Vykunta Raju
IGICH, Bengaluru, India
11:50 – 12:15
Mitochondrial pathology in neuromuscular diseases
Nandeesh BN
NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India xx
12:15 – 12:40
Mitochondrial diseases: from prevention to treatment
Bert Smeets
Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
12:40 – 13:40
Lunch break/ Poster session
13:40 – 15:20
Session III: Mitochondrial dynamics & mitophagy
Chair: Patrick D’ Silva, IISc, Bengaluru, India
Srinivas Bharath MM, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
13:40 - 14:05
Inside the mitochondrion: Live super-resolution imaging of cristae membrane dynamics
Arun Kondadi
University Hospital Dusseldorf, Germany
14:05 – 14:30
Mechanisms of mitochondrial membrane remodeling during cellular morphogenesis
Manish Jaiswal
TIFR, Hyderabad, India
14:30 –14:55
Mitophagy in health and disease
Ravi Manjithaya
JNCASR, Bengaluru, India
14:55 – 15:20
Oxidative stress is involved in the execution of mitophagy and affects mitochondrial quality control in cultured cells from MERRF patients
Yau-Huei Wei
Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan
15:20 – 15:45
Tea/Coffee break
15:45 – 17:25
Session IV: SMRM- Young Scientist Award presentation
Chair: K. Thangaraj, President, SMRM, India
P. Govindaraj, Secretary, SMRM, India
15:45 - 16:05
PRMT5 in mitochondria regulates mtDNA stability through TFAM arginine methylation
Sayan Das
ICAS, Kolkata, India
16:05 – 16:25
Deciphering the mitochondrial interactome of flavivirus non-structural proteins in viral dissemination and pathogenesis
Samaresh Mondal
BRIC-ILS, Bhubaneswar, India
16:25 – 16:45
A skeletal muscle myosin maintains mitochondrial function and metabolic homeostasis through NRF2 pathway
Jayadeep Sharma
RCB, Faridabad, India
16:45 – 17:05
Understanding the role of pre-sequence translocase machinery in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) pathogenesis
Aakansha
IISc, Bengaluru, India
17:05 – 17:25
Regional heterogeneity in mitochondrial function underlies region-specific vulnerability in human brain ageing: Implications for neurodegeneration
Anusha Kiran Y
NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
17:25 – 18:40
Session V: Mitochondria in metabolism and cellular signaling
Chair: Gulam Hussain Syed, BRIC-ILS, Bhubaneshwar, India
Bhupesh Mehta, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
17:25 - 17:50
Targeting NAD+ metabolism in health and disease
Liliya Euro
University of Helsinki, Finland
17:50 – 18:15
Sleep fragmentation accelerates heart failure through mitochondrial related redox signaling
Dhandapany PS
inStem, Bengaluru, India
18:15 – 18:40
Organelle crosstalk in inherited metabolic disorders: Translating mitochondrial insights into disease management
Reena Kartha
University of Minnesota, USA
Day 2: Friday, 20 November 2026
09:00 – 11:00
Session VI: Neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders of mitochondrial origin
Chair: Gayathri N, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
Madhumita Roy Chowdhury, AIIMS, New Delhi, India
09:00 – 09:25
Why care about Rare?
Brian Tseng
The POLG Foundation, USA
09:25 – 09:50
Clinical features and molecular mechanisms of CHCHD10-associated Jokela spinal muscular atrophy
Emil Ylikallio
University of Helsinki, Finland
09:50 – 10:15
From fiber to niche: spatial iron-oxygen sensing in mitochondrial muscle disease
Nahid A Khan
University of Helsinki, Finland
10:15 – 10:40
Mitochondria: an organelle-mediated gene delivery approach for neurodegenerative disease therapy
Arunkumar Pitchaimani
VIT University, Vellore, India
10:40 – 11:00
Mitochondrial transplantation exhibits neuroprotective effects and ameliorates cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease models
Tulika Gupta
PGIMER, Chandigarh, India
11:00 - 11:30
Tea / Coffee break
11:30 – 13:10
Session VII: Mitochondria in aging and cancer
Chair: A. K. Munirajan, University of Madras, Chennai, India
Yathish J Achar, BRIC-CDFD, Hyderabad, India
11:30 – 11:55
Keeping power on for healthy aging and longevity
Keshav K Singh
UAB, Alabama, USA
11:55 – 12:20
Tuning mitochondrial structure-function to boost stem cells towards delaying aging and age-related disorders
Kasturi Mitra
Ashoka University, New Delhi, India
12:20 – 12:45
Role of mitochondrial exchange in therapeutic resistance in cancer
Rana P Singh
JNU, New Delhi, India
12:45 – 13:10
Muscle health in aging and cancer: Where do mitochondria fit?
Sucharita S
St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, India
13:10 – 13:20
Technical talk: Jeol Pvt. Ltd
13:20 - 14:15
Lunch break/ Poster session
14:15 – 16:05
Session VIII: Mitochondrial genomics and dysfunction
Chair: Venkat Subramaniam, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
Gyaneshwer Chaubey, BHU, Varanasi, India
14:15 – 14:40
Molecular basis of mitochondrial DNA maintenance disorders: clinical phenotypes and disease models
Sanjiban Chakrabarty
MAHE, Manipal, India
14:40 – 15:05
Minimally invasive methods for mitochondrial disease diagnosis
Rebecca Ganetzky
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA
15:05 – 15:30
ANOMALY: a Snakemake pipeline for identifying NuMTs from long-read sequencing data
Ishaan Gupta
IIT Delhi, India
15:30 – 15:55
Mitochondrial bioenergetics and sterol metabolism in antipsychotic-associated metabolic dysfunction: Mechanisms and therapeutic modulation
Mohanmmad Zia UI Haq Katshu
University of Nottingham, UK
15:55 – 16:05
MugasiQ: A novel, indigenously developed technology enabling Q30+ nanopore reads for mitochondrial genomics and beyond.
Raja Mugasimangalam
Genotypic Technologies, Bengaluru, India
16:05 - 16:30
Tea / Coffee break
16:30 – 17:30
Session IX: Dr. Lalji Singh Memorial Award Presentation
Ullas Kolthur Seetharam, BRIC-CDFD, Hyderabad
(M)-Powering physiological plasticity and memory
Chair: K. Thangaraj, President, SMRM, India
L. S. Shashidhara, Director, NCBS, India
17:30 - 18:30
General Body meeting
18:30 - 19:30
Cultural programme
19:30 onwards
Gala Dinner
Day 3: Saturday, 21 November 2026
09:00 – 11:05
Session X: Mitochondrial disease therapeutics
Chair: Raghunandan Nadig, St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, India
Raghavendra K, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
09:00 – 09:25
Mitochondria as therapeutic agents: Foundational concepts and emerging applications
Andres Caicedo
USFQ, Ecuador
09:25 – 09:50
Pharmaceuticals for mitochondrial regulation
Ravichandran V
DPSRU, New Delhi, India
09:50 – 10:15
Developing therapies for mitochondrial diseases: Failures, success, and lessons learned
Amel Karaa
Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA
10:15 – 10:40
Changing the energy equation: Clinical trials in mitochondrial disease
Fernando Scaglia
BCM, Texas, USA
10:40 – 11:05
Mitochondrial disease therapeutics: Advancing novel targets toward commercialization in an innovative ecosystem
Marni J Falk
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA
11:05 – 11:30
Tea / Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30
Session XI: Panel discussion
The future of mitochondrial medicine: Prospects and challenges
Moderator: Sandhya P. Koushika, TIFR, Mumbai, India
Panelists: Andres Caicedo, Marni J Falk, Nahid A Khan, Harsha Rajasimha, Keshav K Singh, Bert Smeets, Harish T
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch break / Poster session
13:30 – 15:00
Session XII: The mitochondrial puzzle: Clinical cases, clues and diagnosis
Chair: Brian Tseng, The POLG Foundation, USA
Gautham Arunachal Udupi, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
13:30 – 13:45
Fatty acid oxidation disorders: Bridging mitochondrial biology and clinical practice
Sangeetha Y
CMC, Vellore, India
13:45 – 14:00
A potentially treatable mitochondrial disorder: From clinical phenotype to genetic diagnosis
Hansashree P
NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
14:00 – 14:15
A fatal 13-year natural history of genetically confirmed mitochondrial disorder: From childhood stroke-like episodes to fatal cardiomyopathy
Sireesha Yareeda
NIMS, Hyderabad, India
14:15 – 14:30
Nuclear respiratory chain disorders: A case-based discussion
Arushi Saini
PGIMER, Chandigarh, India
14:30 – 14:45
Megaconial mitochondria: The diagnostic clue to a rare congenital muscular dystrophy
Rajeswarie RT
NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India
14:45 – 15:00
Patient’s perspectives
Aritra Bandyopadhyay
Bengaluru, India
15:00 – 15:30
Valedictory session
