Pitt signs deal with biotech firm to study mitochondria in space and long Covid

PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh announced an agreement with biotech company MitoSense Inc. to research opportunities in space biomedicine.

In 2024, Pitt announced the Center for Space Biomedicine, which focuses on transforming biomedical research conducted in orbit into terrestrial outcomes. That center is also associated with a number of other efforts at Pitt, including the recently unveiled Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine. Now, Pitt announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding between itself and Massachusetts-based MitoSense to explore how research into mitochondrial biology can be used in both aerospace efforts and to better understand long Covid.

“Mitochondria may be one of the most important biological frontiers of the 21st century,” MitoSense Chairman Van Hipp said in a prepared statement. “If humanity is serious about long-duration spaceflight, lunar operations and future Mars missions, we have to understand how human cells generate energy, respond to stress and recover from injury. That same science may also help explain why millions of people affected by long Covid and other post-viral conditions struggle with fatigue, brain fog and impaired recovery.”