Charleen T. Chu, MD, PhD
Charleen T. Chu, MD, PhD
Dr. Charleen Chu is Professor in the Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where she holds the A. Julio Martinez Chair in Neuropathology. She is a Faculty Member of the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, and a member of the Mitochondria, Aging and Metabolism working group. In addition, Dr. Chu is the Director of Ophthalmic Pathology and serves on the Medical Staff of several UPMC hospitals. Dr. Chu is Co-Director of the Pathologist Investigator Residency-Research Training Program.
Dr. Chu graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with an AB degree in Biology in 1987. She went on to receive a PhD in Pathology-Biochemistry and an MD from Duke University in the years 1993 and 1994, respectively, in the Medical Scientist Training Program. Following graduation, Dr. Chu continued training in Anatomic Pathology, Neuropathology, and Ophthalmic Pathology fellowships at Duke University, receiving a Neuro-Oncology Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, before joining the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.
Among other honors, Dr. Chu was the recipient of the Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research (Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR, 2009-2013), the Emerging Female Scientist Award Winner of the 14th Annual Carnegie Science Awards (2010), the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) Honor Society (elected 2010), the ASIP Outstanding Investigator Award (2010), and the American Association of University Pathologists – The Pluto Society (elected 2014).
Dr. Chu is a member of the American Association of Neuropathologists, the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Investigative Pathology, the International Society for Neurochemistry, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Association of the Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists. In addition, she is currently an Associate Editor of Autophagy, an Academic Editor of PLoS ONE, and a member of the Senior Editorial Board of the American Journal of Neurodegenerative Disease.
The focus areas of Dr. Chu's research are as follows:
- Mechanisms regulating mitochondrial quality control in neurons – function, turnover (mitophagy), biogenesis, and transport
- The autophagy-lysosomal system and calcium dysregulation in dendrite injury and neurodegeneration
- Oxidative stress and mitochondrial versus nuclear kinase signaling in Parkinson's disease
- Familial parkinsonian gene products PINK1 and LRRK2
- Mitochondrial and phospho-proteomics, post-translational mechanisms