Cell scientist to watch – Keren Hilgendorf

ABSTRACT Keren Hilgendorf is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, USA. Keren earned her undergraduate degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Texas at Austin and then joined Jackie Lees's lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for her doctoral studies, where she uncovered novel cytoplasmic functions of the tumour suppressor retinoblastoma protein in programmed cell death. This work sparked an interest in compartmentalised cell signalling that drew Keren to Peter Jackson's lab at Stanford University to work on deciphering how the specialised signalling mechanisms of the primary cilium regulate cell fate as a postdoc. In 2020, Keren started her own lab at the University of Utah. Her group focuses on the roles of primary cilia in cell differentiation and communication in adipose tissue, in which ciliation defects have been associated with obesity and metabolic disorders, as well as the role of reciprocal signalling between adipocytes and breast cancer cells in breast cancer progression. For our Special Issue ‘Cilia and Flagella: from Basic Biology to Disease’, we spoke with Keren about her career path, advice for trainees and new PIs, and how she tackles big scientific questions step-by-step.