Thomas Sanderson, PhD
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Associate Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Thomas Sanderson, PhD
Associate Professor
  • About
  • Links
  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Recent Publications
  • About

    Thomas Hudson Sanderson, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Sanderson serves as a reviewer for multiple granting agencies, including the American Heart Association as Chair of the Collaborative Science Award Committee, the Department of Defense, and recently completed a 6-year term as standing member of the Neural Oxidative Metabolism, Mitochondria and Cell Death Study Section for the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Sanderson currently serves as an associate editor for the FASEB Journal. Research in the Sanderson lab is focused on understanding brain damage caused by acute ischemic or traumatic insults to the brain suffered during cardiac arrest, ischemic stroke, neonatal hypoxia/ischemia, and trauma. Ongoing mechanistic studies are focused on uncovering novel pathologic mechanisms of inner mitochondrial membrane proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics, quality control, cristae maintenance, and cell death execution. A second area of focus is the development and clinical translation of neuroprotective therapies that modulate the activity of mitochondria to reduce brain injury. Pre-clinical large animal studies are ongoing to evaluate a novel therapeutic strategy that limits mitochondrial hyperactivity and reduces brain injury following ischemia or trauma. This research has resulted in multiple awarded US patents, which formed the foundation of a startup company focused on bringing novel therapies to clinical implementation for ischemic brain injury. Ongoing studies supported by the NIH and DoD are focused on investigating the mechanisms of this therapy through continued testing in translational models of disease, along with regulatory testing of human therapy devices that can bring this treatment to the clinic.

    Links
    • Sanderson Lab
    • Mitovation, Inc.
    Qualifications
    • Postdoctoral Fellowship
      Wayne State University, Detroit, 2008
    • PhD
      Wayne State University School of Medicine, Physiology, 2006
    • BS
      Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, 2001
    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care
    • Center Member
      Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center
    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      ER-associated degradation adapter Sel1L is required for CD8+ T cell function and memory formation following acute viral infection.
      Correa-Medero LO, Jankowski SE, Hong HS, Armas ND, Vijendra AI, Reynolds MB, Fogo GM, Awad D, Dils AT, Inoki KA, Williams RG, Ye AM, Svezhova N, Gomez-Rivera F, Collins KL, O'Riordan MX, Sanderson TH, Lyssiotis CA, Carty SA. Cell Rep, 2024 May 28; 43 (5): 114156 DOI:10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114156
      PMID: 38687642
    • Journal Article
      Iron regulates the quiescence of naive CD4 T cells by controlling mitochondria and cellular metabolism.
      Kumar A, Ye C, Nkansah A, Decoville T, Fogo GM, Sajjakulnukit P, Reynolds MB, Zhang L, Quaye O, Seo Y-A, Sanderson TH, Lyssiotis CA, Chang C-H. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2024 Apr 23; 121 (17): e2318420121 DOI:10.1073/pnas.2318420121
      PMID: 38621136
    • Journal Article
      Cytochrome c lysine acetylation regulates cellular respiration and cell death in ischemic skeletal muscle.
      Morse PT, Pérez-Mejías G, Wan J, Turner AA, Márquez I, Kalpage HA, Vaishnav A, Zurek MP, Huettemann PP, Kim K, Arroum T, De la Rosa MA, Chowdhury DD, Lee I, Brunzelle JS, Sanderson TH, Malek MH, Meierhofer D, Edwards BFP, Díaz-Moreno I, Hüttemann M. Nat Commun, 2023 Jul 13; 14 (1): 4166 DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-39820-8
      PMID: 37443314
    • Journal Article
      Modulation of mitochondrial function with near-infrared light reduces brain injury in a translational model of cardiac arrest.
      Wider JM, Gruley E, Morse PT, Wan J, Lee I, Anzell AR, Fogo GM, Mathieu J, Hish G, O'Neil B, Neumar RW, Przyklenk K, Hüttemann M, Sanderson TH. Crit Care, 2023 Dec 14; 27 (1): 491 DOI:10.1186/s13054-023-04745-7
      PMID: 38098060
    • Journal Article
      Non-invasive treatment of ischemia/reperfusion injury: Effective transmission of therapeutic near-infrared light into the human brain through soft skin-conforming silicone waveguides.
      Morse PT, Tuck S, Kerns M, Goebel DJ, Wan J, Waddell T, Wider JM, Hüttemann CL, Malek MH, Lee I, Sanderson TH, Hüttemann M. Bioeng Transl Med, 2023 May; 8 (3): e10496 DOI:10.1002/btm2.10496
      PMID: 37206207
    • Journal Article
      Machine learning-based classification of mitochondrial morphology in primary neurons and brain.
      Fogo GM, Anzell AR, Maheras KJ, Raghunayakula S, Wider JM, Emaus KJ, Bryson TD, Bukowski MJ, Neumar RW, Przyklenk K, Sanderson TH. Sci Rep, 2021 Mar 4; 11 (1): 5133 DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-84528-8
      PMID: 33664336
    • Journal Article
      Mitochondrial fission and mitophagy are independent mechanisms regulating ischemia/reperfusion injury in primary neurons.
      Anzell AR, Fogo GM, Gurm Z, Raghunayakula S, Wider JM, Maheras KJ, Emaus KJ, Bryson TD, Wang M, Neumar RW, Przyklenk K, Sanderson TH. Cell Death Dis, 2021 May 12; 12 (5): 475 DOI:10.1038/s41419-021-03752-2
      PMID: 33980811
    • Journal Article
      Endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation regulates mitochondrial dynamics in brown adipocytes.
      Zhou Z, Torres M, Sha H, Halbrook CJ, Van den Bergh F, Reinert RB, Yamada T, Wang S, Luo Y, Hunter AH, Wang C, Sanderson TH, Liu M, Taylor A, Sesaki H, Lyssiotis CA, Wu J, Kersten S, Beard DA, Qi L. Science, 2020 Apr 3; 368 (6486): 54 - 60. DOI:10.1126/science.aay2494
      PMID: 32193362