Rate My Professor Michael Schrader

Professor Michael Schrader is Professor of Cell Biology and Cytopathology in the Department of Biosciences at the University of Exeter. He earned a Diploma in Biology in 1991 and a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1996. Prior to joining the University of Exeter in 2012, he held principal investigator positions in Germany and served as Vice-Director and Coordinator of the Centre for Cell Biology at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, from 2008 to 2011. His research centers on the biogenesis, dynamics, proliferation, and fission of peroxisomes in mammalian cells, exploring their molecular machinery, signalling pathways, and interactions with other organelles such as mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum. Schrader's work elucidates peroxisomal contributions to cellular physiology, lipid metabolism, reactive oxygen species management, and human diseases, including neurological disorders linked to proteins like ACBD4, ACBD5, DLP1/Drp1, and Pex11β.

Schrader has published extensively on peroxisome biology, with key papers including 'ROS transfer at peroxisome-mitochondria contact regulates mitochondrial redox' (Science, 2025), 'Seventy years of peroxisome research: current advances and future perspectives' (Histochemistry and Cell Biology, 2025), 'Integrated proteome and lipidome analyses place OCIAD1 at the mitochondria-peroxisome intersection balancing lipid metabolism' (Journal of Cell Science, 2025), 'The peroxisome: an update on mysteries 3.0' (Histochemistry and Cell Biology, 2024), and 'Differential roles for ACBD4 and ACBD5 in peroxisome–ER interactions and lipid metabolism' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2023). He edited books such as 'Peroxisomes - Methods and Protocols' (2nd edition, Methods in Molecular Biology, 2022), 'Proteomics of Peroxisomes' (Subcellular Biochemistry, 2018), and serves as Editor-in-Chief (Greater Europe) for Histochemistry and Cell Biology since 2016. Schrader has organized conferences including the 9th Open European Peroxisome Meeting (2024) and the 1st UK Peroxisome Meeting (2025), delivered over 50 invited lectures worldwide, and contributes to committees like the MRC/Wellcome Trust Funder Advisory Network (2020-2025) and UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Peer Review College. He engages in outreach with Zellweger UK charity for peroxisomal disorders.