Seminar by Pr. Carmen Sandi

Friday 16 October 2026 at 11:00 AM, at Gastaut meeting room, INT

Pr. Carmen Sandi (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)
invited by Thamyris Santos Silva and Christelle Baunez

Mitochondria in brain and behavior: From cellular function to body–brain communication

Abstract: Mitochondria are increasingly recognized as dynamic regulators of cellular function, plasticity and adaptation, with consequences that extend from individual cells to whole-organism physiology and behavior. In this talk, I will discuss work showing how mitochondrial organization and function in specific brain circuits contribute to individual differences in anxiety, motivation and responses to stress. I will then expand this framework to body–brain communication, highlighting how endocrine and metabolic states interact with mitochondrial mechanisms in neural and neurovascular cells. This body of work supports a view in which mitochondria participate in the coupling of systemic physiology with brain function, helping shape vulnerability and resilience to stress. I will also discuss the emerging possibility that targeting mitochondrial quality control may provide new ways to modify maladaptive behavioral and physiological states.

Carmen Sandi is a Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), where she leads the Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics. She has made seminal contributions to understanding how stress affects brain function and behavior, identifying key modulators of stress-induced neural and behavioral adaptations. Her current research focuses on how metabolism shapes the structure and function of neural circuits involved in emotion regulation, motivation, and decision-making. Using integrative approaches in rodents and humans, her work has revealed how mitochondrial processes contribute to individual differences in behavior and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression.
Carmen carried out her PhD at the Cajal Institute in Madrid, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Bordeaux and the UK Open University, and held an Associate Professor position at UNED University in Madrid before joining EPFL. Carmen has published over 280 research articles and contributed to several books. She has received major international distinctions, including the Ron de Kloet Prize for Stress Research, the John Paul Scott Award for Research on Aggression, the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Award, the Society for Neuroscience Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Chica and Heinz Schaller Award on Translational Neuroscience. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University College Cork, Ireland. She held a sabbatical appointment at the University of Bern and has been a visiting professor at Rockefeller University, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Radboud University in the Netherlands. She is an honorary member of the International Regulatory Peptides Society and the European Brain and Behaviour Society (EBBS), and an inaugural Fellow of the Society for Social Neuroscience. She has held major leadership roles in the neuroscience community, including serving as Director of the EPFL Brain Mind Institute, and as President of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), the European Brain and Behaviour Society (EBBS), and the Cajal Advanced Neuroscience Training Programme. She is the founder and co-President of the Swiss Stress Network and the Global Stress and Resilience Network, and also founded the ALBA Network for Diversity and Inclusion in Brain Sciences.