معرفی
Sally A. Kornbluth is the Jo Rae Wright University Distinguished Professor Emerita of Biology at Duke University's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. She previously served as Duke's Provost from 2014 to 2023, becoming the university's first female chief academic officer. Her research focuses on cellular processes such as cell cycle regulation and apoptosis, particularly their roles in cancer and degenerative diseases. Kornbluth earned her Ph.D. in Biology from Rockefeller University in 1989.
Key research areas include the molecular mechanisms of caspase activation, metabolic control of apoptosis, and chemoresistance in cancer. She has led groundbreaking studies on mitochondrial dynamics and the interplay between metabolism and cell death. Notable achievements include identifying TRAF proteins as caspase-2 activators and discovering metabolic pathways that regulate apoptosis in ovarian cancer.
Her academic career includes roles as James B. Duke Professor and Vice Dean for Basic Sciences at Duke's School of Medicine. Kornbluth has been honored with the Academic Council Award (2022) and her named professorship. She transitioned to MIT as President in 2023, maintaining her husband Danny Lew's joint appointment there.
Over 30 grants highlight her research impact, including studies on autophagy regulation in aged cells and the role of ubiquitin ligases in cancer resistance. Her lab closed in 2023 as she moved to MIT, but its legacy includes training numerous students and postdocs in cell biology and oncology.
