Ana Andreazza

Dr. Andreazza is a Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Psychiatry and holds a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Molecular Pharmacology of Mood Disorders and the Thomas C. Zachos Chair in Mitochondrial Research. Dr. Andreazza received PhD in Biochemistry from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, RS, Brazil. She has published over 150 research articles with an h-index factor of 45. She is the recipient of several prestigious research awards, including the 2018 Canada Top 40 Under 40 and has received funding from the Brain and Behavior Foundation (NARSAD), the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. Her research focuses on the understanding of the role of redox modulations and mitochondrial dysfunction in mental illness, especially in mood disorders.
 
Dr. Andreazza's research focuses on the understanding of the role of mitochondrial function in mental illness, especially in mood disorders. As neurons depend on mitochondrial function, dysfunctional mitochondrial during neurodevelopment is expected to impact neurotransmission with potentially crucial implications for mood disorders. Currently, Dr. Andreazza is evaluating the impact of mitochondrial dysfunction on neurotransmission using 3D brain organoids generated from induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with bipolar disorder and/or mitochondrial disease. 
 
To accelerate the discovery of effective therapeutic approaches to treat mitochondrial dysfunction/disease, Dr. Andreazza founded the mitoNET.ca, which after successful fundraising and support from the University of Toronto became MITO2i.  The objective is to unite researchers from different medical fields with a common interest in unveiling the role of mitochondrial function and genetics in human diseases and transform mitochondrial health.

Select Publications:

1. de Souza DV, Pappis L, Bandeira TT, Sangoi GG, Fontana T, Rissi VB, Sagrillo MR, Duarte MM, Duarte T, Bodenstein DF, Andreazza AC, Cruz IBMD, Ribeiro EE, Antoniazzi A, Ourique AF, Machado AK. Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) presents anti-neuroinflammatory capacity in LPS-activated microglia cells. Nutr Neurosci. 2022 Jun;25(6):1188-1199. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2020.1842044. Epub 2020 Nov 10. PubMed PMID: 33170113.
2. Frye MA, Ryu E, Nassan M, Jenkins GD, Andreazza AC, Evans JM, McElroy SL, Oglesbee D Jr, Highsmith WE, Biernacka JM. Mitochondrial DNA sequence data reveals association of haplogroup U with psychosis in bipolar disorder. J Psychiatr Res. 2017; 84:221-226.
3. Elvsåshagen T, Zuzarte P, Westlye LT, Bøen E, Josefsen D, Boye B, Hol PK, Malt UF, Young LT, Andreazza AC. Dentate gyrus-cornu ammonis (CA) 4 volume is decreased and associated with depressive episodes and lipid peroxidation in bipolar II disorder: Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. Bipolar Disord. 2016;18(8):657-668.
4. Machado AK, Pan AY, da Silva TM, Duong A, Andreazza AC. Upstream Pathways Controlling Mitochondrial Function in Major Psychosis: A Focus on Bipolar Disorder. Can J Psychiatry. 2016;61(8):446-56.
5. Kim HK, Isaacs-Trepanier C, Elmi N, Rapoport SI, Andreazza AC. Mitochondrial dysfunction and lipid peroxidation in rat frontal cortex by chronic NMDA administration can be partially prevented by lithium treatment. J Psychiatr Res. 2016;76:59-65.
6. Kim HK, Andreazza AC, Elmi N, Chen W, Young LT. Nod-like receptor pyrin containing 3 (NLRP3) in the post-mortem frontal cortex from patients with bipolar disorder: A potential mediator between mitochondria and immune-activation. J Psychiatr Res. 2016; 72:43-50
7. Versace A*, Andreazza AC*, Young LT; Fournier JC, Almeida JRC, Stiffler RS, Lockovich J; Aslam HA, Pollock MH, Park H; Nimgaonkar VL, Kupfer DJ, Phillips ML. Elevated serum measures of lipid oxidation and abnormal prefrontal white matter in euthymic bipolar adults: toward peripheral biomarkers of bipolar disorder. Molecular Psychiatry. 2014 Feb;19(2):200-8.  Contributed equally for the first authorship position of this manuscript
8. Scola G, Kim HK, Young LT, Salvador M, Andreazza AC. Lithium reduces the effects of rotenone-induced complex I dysfunction on DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation in rat cortical primary neurons. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2014;231(21):4189
9. Scola G, Kim HK, Young LT, Andreazza AC. A Fresh Look at Complex I in Microarray Data: Clues to Understanding Disease-Specific Mitochondrial Alterations in Bipolar Disorder. Biological Psychiatry. 2013, 73(2) e4To-e5.