Rate My Professor Thomas McWilliams

Thomas McWilliams is Associate Professor of Mitochondrial Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki, where he also holds positions as Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Docent in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Biosciences. He leads a research group investigating the mechanistic and metabolic regulation of physiological autophagy pathways in mammalian tissues, with a primary focus on mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy) during tissue development, disease, and repair. His work particularly emphasizes the central and peripheral nervous systems, employing advanced techniques such as molecular cell biology, biochemistry, microscopy, mouse genetics, human iPS-derived neurons, and multi-OMICS approaches to explore processes like brain aging and neurodegeneration. McWilliams' laboratory has contributed key insights into autophagy's role in neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease, through studies on organelle signaling, lipid metabolism, and lysosomal recycling mechanisms.

McWilliams graduated top of his class with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, first-class honours, from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He earned his PhD in 2013 through the Wellcome Trust Four-Year PhD Programme in Integrative Neuroscience at Cardiff University, UK, under Professor Alun M. Davies (co-supervised by Professor Stephen B. Dunnett), focusing on developmental neurobiology. After a brief postdoctoral stint in the Davies Lab, he conducted postdoctoral research from 2014 to 2017 at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, University of Dundee, Scotland, on selective autophagy and mitochondrial signalling in vivo, with emphasis on Parkinson’s disease. In 2018, he established his independent laboratory at the University of Helsinki as Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Mitochondrial Medicine, funded by the Academy of Finland and other sources including the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Sigrid Jusélius Foundation. His impactful publications include 'Basal Mitophagy Occurs Independently of PINK1 in Mouse Tissues of High Metabolic Demand' (2018), 'Phosphorylation of Parkin at Serine 65 is Essential for its Activation' (2018), 'DGAT1 Activity Synchronises with Mitophagy to Protect Cells from Lipid-Induced Stress' (2022), 'Longitudinal Autophagy Profiling of the Mammalian Brain Reveals Sustained Mitophagy Throughout Healthy Aging' (2024), and 'Dynamic Mitophagy Trajectories Hallmark Brain Aging' (2024). McWilliams has been awarded the FENS-Kavli Scholarship in 2021 and the Anders Jahre Prize for Young Scientists in 2025 for innovative research on autophagy in neurodegenerative disorders. He supervises doctoral students in the Brain & Mind programme, serves on thesis committees, peer-reviews for journals such as Journal of Visualized Experiments, and delivers invited lectures and MSc courses in neuroscience.