Jerry Edward Chipuk
Although our awardee, Jerry Edward Chipuk, described his approach, in a wonderful interview in the Journal of Cell Biology[1], as “My approach is to complete goals one at a time, and not distract myself by worrying about the lists of items to complete,” many of his friends and colleagues would venture that “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once,” might be a better description. Jerry represents the new generation of scientists, strongly focused on a central point of cell biology—the mitochondrion—and asking the extent of mitochondrial involvement in everything. Thus, while he is Associate Director of Shared Resources at the Tisch Cancer Institute of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, he is also associated with the Department of Oncological Sciences, the Department of Dermatology, the Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism Institute, and the Mitochondrial Analysis Facility. As a new-generation scientist, he reaches into several highly technical worlds beyond basic biochemistry, cell biology, or biophysics, such as high- and ultra-resolution microscopy, using fluors and other traceable molecules along with the most modern means of data mining and structural analysis to follow the number, shape, polarization, fusion and fission, and life and death of mitochondria in many types of cancer and other diseases. A quick perusal of the titles of the over 80 papers he has authored or co-authored reveals the diversity of his interests and gives a glimpse into the new vision of how mitochondria react to and control key moments in the lives of cells, as expressed by his professed interests in mitochondrial dynamics, cancer mechanisms, and melanocyte biology. Based on his work, this generation of scholars sees mitochondria not as neatly arrayed collection of membranes that the early electron microscopists saw, but as living creatures, transporting and binding materials, actively moving, and in many senses determining how a cell lives or dies[2],[3]. His ability to maintain a sense of the importance of an astonishing array of techniques and devices is an inspiration.
Gerry’s catholic interests and love of travel have led him also to build a highly original and fascinating collection of artworks and artifacts from around the world. That collection bespeaks his approach to research, and why we honor him today: Ask everything, never be afraid to explore further, well into territories you do not yet know, examine it carefully and critically, but with empathy and love. It is a lifestyle that all of us can admire.
[1] O’Donnell MA and Infarinato N, Jerry Chipuk: A powerhouse for mitochondrial biology. J. Cell Biol. 2018 Vol. 217 No. 8 2599–2600, https://doi.org/ 10.1083/ jcb.201807034
[2] Chipuk JE, Mohammed J N, Gelles J D, Chen Y 2021, Mechanistic connections between mitochondrial biology and regulated cell death. Dev Cell. 2021:1221–1233. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.03.033
[3] Pucadyil T J, Chipuk J E, Liu Y, O’Neill L, Chen Q, 2023. The multifaceted roles of mitochondria Mol Cell. 2023 Mar 16;83(6):819–823. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.02.030
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