biophysics, biochemistry, protein chemistry, protein engineering, antibiotic resistance, structural enzymology, atomic determinants of protein-protein and protein-drug binding affinity and specificity, neurodegenerative diseases, polyglutamine diseases, regional vulnerability in neurodegeneration and neurobiology of aging
Dr. Carolyn Bondar is a Health Program Specialist with the HEAL Pain Therapeutics Development Program (PTDP) and the Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network (BPN). Prior to joining PTDP and BPN, she was a postdoctoral associate with Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Huda Zoghbi at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Baylor College of Medicine. Carolyn earned her BS in biochemistry from The College of Saint Scholastica and PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Palzkill at Baylor College of Medicine. Her scientific foundation was built using structural enzymology and protein engineering to understand the principles governing protein-drug and protein-protein interactions in the context of antibiotic resistance. She then moved to the field of neurobiology where she explored regional vulnerability in neurodegeneration and investigated the benefit of small molecule therapies for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. She is passionate about inclusive team science and scientific outreach and advocacy.