The Chiaramello Laboratory

The Chiaramello laboratory is housed within the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.

Our team is dedicated to mitochondrial research through the four following main axes:

1. Mitochondrial homeostasis in differentiating neurons
2. Translational research on rare and inherited mitochondrial diseases, such as MELAS and LHON-Plus
3. Small molecule and epigenetic-based therapeutic approaches
4. Basket Clinical Trial on MELAS and LHON-Plus

We founded the Mito-EpiGen Program, which is housed at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Its mission is to advance our understanding of these rare inherited mitochondrial diseases and our quest for novel therapeutic interventions.

In collaboration with Children’s National Medical Center, we have built a biobank of fibroblasts derived from skin biopsies performed on patients genetically diagnosed with a mitochondrial disease to serve as ex vivo cellular systems for designing therapeutic approaches to mitigate the energy deficit in these patients. Under the auspices of Children's National Hospital, Dr. Chiaramello, Dr. Debra Regier, and Dr. Wei-Liang Chen are conducting the first basket clinical trial on MELAS and LHON-Plus authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to test the safety and efficacy of the small molecule investigational drug discovered in the Chiaramello Lab. Additional information on these clinical studies can be found in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06792500).

These incurable childhood-onset progressive neurodegenerative diseases result in heterogeneous clinical symptoms and devastating multi-organ failure. Current palliative therapies cannot prevent the progression of these mitochondrial diseases.