Nan Hultgren

About

Nan studies how intracellular organelle dynamics and metabolic organization enable the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to support photoreceptor function and maintain retinal homeostasis. Her current work focuses on how mitochondrial positioning and inter-organelle interactions coordinate lipid processing during the daily phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments. Using advanced live-cell imaging, metabolic profiling, and disease-relevant RPE models, she studies how mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum, and lipid droplets dynamically interact to manage the substantial lipid load associated with photoreceptor renewal. Her work further examines how disruption of these processes contributes to lipid dysregulation and retinal degeneration.