Dr. Mary-Ellen Harper’s research focuses on mitochondrial energetics and metabolomics – and specifically the mechanisms that impact the efficiency of energy transduction pathways in mitochondria. The research has implications for the amounts of energy ‘captured’ as ATP, and stored in cells (e.g., as lipid or glycogen), as well as for the amounts of energy released as heat. These mechanisms dictating the efficiency of energy conversion also affect oxidative stress and cell signaling. Altogether these processes in mitochondria have repercussions for metabolic health and many diseases. Experimental approaches span from molecular in vitro studies, to mouse models, and to integrative translational studies in patient populations. She and her group have published over 200 peer-reviewed papers cited over 19,300 times.
Dr. Harper is the Director of the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology (https://med.uottawa.ca/oisb/), and is also the Director of the NSERC-funded Metabolomics Advanced Training and International Exchange (MATRIX) graduate training program, based at Universities of Ottawa, McGill and Montréal http://www.matrixmetabolomics.ca.
A strong proponent for the teaching and training of the next generations of scientists, she has supervised 30 HBSc, 23 MSc and 14 PhD students, as well as 12 Postdoctoral Fellows.
Research is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC); the National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, and Mitacs. Dr. Harper holds a University Research Chair in Mitochondrial Bioenergetics, and was recently awarded the Diabetes Canada Lifetime Achievement Award.
Website: https://med.uottawa.ca/bmi/en/people/harper-mary-ellen