Meet our new CSO: Siobhan Mitchell

2022 was a year full of changes for the MitoCrew. After being a key member of the MitoCrew family for two thousand, three hundred and twenty-one days (to be precise) our wonderful Chief Scientific Officer Will Stow decided it was time for his next scientific adventure. We were very sad to see him go, but are now really excited to introduce our new Chief Science and Technology Officer Siobhan Mitchell – who's already making a huge positive impact within the MitoCrew.

Keep reading to learn about Siobhan’s background and what her role as MitoQ’s Chief Science and Technology Officer involves!

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to MitoQ?

I have a PhD in neuroscience, and have spent the past 25 years researching how nutrition affects the brain, especially how it may delay brain aging. This passion widened towards understanding how every part of our body ages, and what we can do about it. I’ve worked on metabolic health, skin health, appetite, sports physiology and of course cellular health.

I’d planned to do pharmaceutical research but became passionate about nutrition, since what we eat has so much more power to change the trajectory of our health than taking a pill after all the damage is done. I’ve spent 15 years in functional food and medical nutrition companies and also led a group working on digital health interventions for mental wellbeing and weight loss.

What led me to MitoQ was the incredible science behind mitoquinol, and the exciting future for cellular health solutions. MitoQ truly cares about gold standard science and has already shown to be hugely innovative as a supplement company.

What does a Chief Science & Technology Officer do at MitoQ?

The CSO drives the science strategy for MitoQ, and makes sure all our evidence for our products is absolutely top-quality. The CSO helps oversee day-to-day operations along with the Head of Research, and keeps an eye on being at the forefront of cellular health by spearheading partnerships with like-minded companies and universities. To that end, there’s a lot of communication and spreading the word about MitoQ in the science world. This ensures we get the best partners, the best ingredients, and the most effective product lines (with some help from Marketing and Supply Chain, of course!)

What upcoming cell science projects are you excited about?

I’m particularly excited about an upcoming trial at University of Colorado assessing how MitoQ can improve vascular health in older women. Almost everyone knows exercise is supposed to help with heart health, but it’s been shown that exercise isn’t cardioprotective in post-menopausal women. So, if older women can’t get the benefits of exercise for their heart, we’re eager to find out if MitoQ can help keep their vasculature healthy via reducing oxidative stress.

This is a truly innovative study, since it addresses a major problem for maintaining health after a certain age, and MitoQ might be the unique solution.

What’s one thing you wish everyone knew about cell health?

I wish everyone knew that aging is all about how your cells use energy. If your cells use energy efficiently, then you’ll have more energy and less damage as you age.

But if your cells are not given the right nutrients then energy is used poorly: cells make too many molecules it doesn’t need. There’s more wear and tear. And then it must clean up and repair damage from all these extra molecules.

MitoQ is such a unique molecule in that it helps cells use energy better and prevents damage.

What’s one thing you wish everyone knew about MitoQ?

To have the best results in health, you need to take care of the 3 pillars: your physical health, cognitive health and mental health. What’s amazing about MitoQ is that it can potentially help with all these areas. We have a lot of clinical evidence it can help with physical health, especially exercise performance , recovery, and vascular health. We have preclinical evidence that MitoQ may support cognitive and mental health, and we are now (with our university partners) embarking on clinical studies to look further into these areas. Exciting days!

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