Zhixiao Wu has a long standing interest in mitochondrial biology. Trained as a cell biologist during her PhD, she focused on delineating the molecular mechanisms governing mitochondrial quality control. She recently joined Professor Lan Wang's laboratory at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to continue her research. A primary project involves deciphering the function of a mitochondrial AAA+ ATPase protein by integrating structural and cell biology techniques to uncover how essential mitochondrial proteins participate in cellular quality control pathways.