Radical View | March 2018

Michael Murphy, Ph.D.
Medical Research Council-Mitochondrial Biology Unit
University of Cambridge

By Maria Fernanda Forni, Ph.D., University of São Paulo

DOT: Tell us about your background and current passion in your professional life.

I did an undergraduate degree in Chemistry in Dublin, but I was always focused on Biochemistry, so I moved to Cambridge, UK, where I did my PhD with Martin Brand. There I started working on mitochondrial bioenergetics and since then I have continued to work on mitochondria. I also spent time at the University of Otago in New Zealand which brought me in to contact with Rob Smith in the Chemistry department, with whom I developed mitochondria-targeted molecules such as MitoQ, and also with Christine Winterbourn and her group in Christchurch. I also spent valuable sabbaticals with Jeff Schatz in Switzerland and with Victor Darley-Usmar and Joe Beckman in Birmingham, Alabama. Then in 2001, I moved back to join the Medical Research Council in Cambridge at what is now the MRC-Mitochondrial Biology Unit. Over my time in Cambridge, I have also developed valuable collaborations with Richard Hartley in Glasgow on designing mitochondria-targeted molecules, with Christian Frezza on metabolomics and with clinical colleagues, Thomas Krieg and Kourosh Saeb-Parsy in Cambridge on addressing mitochondrial disorders in humans.

DOT: Briefly describe your research interests and what is the most notable research achievement from your lab.

Over the past 30 years, I have worked on many aspects of mitochondria, with a particular interest in developing therapies to address mitochondrial redox stress in disease.  At the moment, my lab and my collaborators are focused on the role of mitochondria in ischemia-reperfusion injury. In this we have been studying the metabolic changes that occur in mitochondria upon ischemia and how these lead to a burst of mitochondrial superoxide production upon reperfusion. Intriguingly, this work suggests some ways in which we may be able to intervene in the process with new drugs. I’d like to see a mitochondrial therapy in clinical use before I retire!

DOT: Who has been your greatest teacher/mentor? What are the most important factors that shaped your career?

I’m not sure how well my career was shaped, as most of it seemed to happen by chance. However, I was very lucky to have had many mentors who influenced me over the years. My PhD supervisor was inspiring in his approach to problems and when I went to New Zealand I was influenced a lot by Christine Winterbourn and her colleagues. My sabbatical visit to Jeff Schatz’s lab in Basel was a pivotal time in my career, as was my time with Victor and Joe in Birmingham. Since returning to Cambridge I have tried to use what I have learned from these mentors, but looking back a lot of it seems to have been luck and meeting the right collaborator at the right time and being willing to go for an opportunity when it arose.

DOT: Being a mentor yourself, you have shaped many students (graduate and postdoc) to enter academic and industry research, any tips on how to develop individuals for these scientific fields? 

Of course, the best way to look good as a mentor is to take on very talented PhD students and postdocs – then when they inevitably do well I can try and take some of the credit! All I try and do is to treat each colleague as an individual, then provide interesting problems appropriate for their talents and interests, and offer tips when I can.

DOT: What are the big questions that remain unanswered in the field of Redox Biology and where do you think we are heading? 

I am always intrigued by the problem of measuring redox changes in cells and cell compartments in living animals. I feel that if we could do that a lot of other problems would slip into place. In terms of other BIG questions, one that appeals to me at the moment is to see how we can link redox changes to epigenetic marks, and thus consider how exposure to certain metabolic challenges pass on their effects down the generations. 

DOT: How has science/research changed during your life as a scientist?

It’s hard to separate how my role has changed over the years from whether science itself has changed. Money and getting on the career ladder were generally difficult for most of my career, so I don't think those struggles are that different. Perhaps there is more pressure to produce paper? But on a daily basis what has changed now from when I was a student is that the amount of information is so great that we can’t expect to keep up with everything, especially if you work in a few areas. 

DOT: How do you balance your personal life and career? 

I’m not sure I do! I try and take some time off each week but generally work is enjoyable with enough variety to keep me occupied. I do some cooking for the family on the weekend and putter around the house. 

DOT: What are your hobbies outside the laboratory? What is something your peers would be surprised to learn about you?

I get away fishing as often as I can – which is not as frequently as I’d like. One of the many delights of living in New Zealand was the wonderful fishing in a beautiful wilderness. Tricky to think what would surprise my peers, as they know we pretty well after all the hours spent together in bars at conferences – maybe that I’m not a bad cook, or that I’m very interested in Irish literature?