Jodi Nunnari
Jodi Nunnari, Ph.D is an American cell biologist and pioneer in the field of mitochondrial biology. She is currently a professor and the Chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Davis, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Cell Biology and president-elect of The American Society for Cell Biology. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Nunnari was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and studied chemistry at the College of Wooster before obtaining a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University, working with Lee Limbird. As a postdoctoral fellow with Peter Walter at the University of California, San Francisco, Nunnari pioneered the use of green fluorescent protein to visualize mitochondria in budding yeast, helping to establish the field of mitochondrial dynamics. Since obtaining an independent position at the University of California, Davis, Nunnari and colleagues have investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying mitochondrial fission and fusion and explored the structure and function of membrane contact sites that link mitochondria with other organelles.
Nunnari was named editor-in-chief of The Journal of Cell Biology in August, 2015, becoming the first woman to serve in this position. She is a member of the American Society for Cell Biology, and has been elected to serve as the society's president in 2018. She is also a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In May 2017, Nunnari was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
