Hannah Kondolf, a student in the MD/PhD program, was named a Journal of Biological Chemistry Herbert Tabor Early Career Award winner. Kondolf conducted the PhD portion of her program in the lab of Derek Abbott, professor of medicine.
Kondolf worked on pore-forming proteins important in autoinflammatory disorders. While in the Abbott lab, she co-authored manuscripts in Cell and Science Immunology. Her major manuscript made use of a novel protein engineering system to show that the pore-forming protein, Gasdermin A, preferentially inserts into the mitochondrial membranes when activated. The result is the release of mitochondrial DNA, a potent inflammatory stimulation agent.
The American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology—a major scientific society with over 11,000 members—granted Kondolf this award.