Rate My Professor Kate Schroder

The Schroder laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms governing inflammasome activity, caspase activation, and cellular mediators of inflammasome-dependent inflammation, including cytokine maturation, pyroptosis, apoptosis, and unconventional protein secretion. Research encompasses inflammasome function during microbial infection, host-pathogen interactions, neutrophil roles in antimicrobial defense, and dysfunction in human inflammatory diseases such as gout, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and autoinflammatory conditions. The group develops strategies for inflammasome inhibition using cellular pathways and small molecule inhibitors. Schroder has co-authored over 140 publications cited more than 35,000 times, including landmark works such as 'The inflammasomes' (Cell, 2010, with Jürg Tschopp), 'A small-molecule inhibitor of the NLRP3 inflammasome for the treatment of inflammatory diseases' (Nature Medicine, 2015, with Rebecca C. Coll et al.), and 'MCC950 directly targets the NLRP3 ATP-hydrolysis motif for inflammasome inhibition' (Nature Chemical Biology, 2019, with Rebecca C. Coll et al.). A Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, her accolades include the 2022 Women in Technology Excellence in Science Award, 2020 Nancy Millis Award for Women in Science, 2019 ANZSCDB Emerging Leader Award, 2019 Merck Research Medal, 2014 Milstein Young Investigator Award, 2013 Tall Poppy Award, 2012 Gordon Ada Career Award, and 2008 Society for Leukocyte Biology Dolph Adams Award. As co-inventor on patents for NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors, her discoveries underpin Inflazome Ltd's portfolio, acquired by Roche, with drug candidates advancing in clinical trials for cardiovascular disease, arthritis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and motor neuron disease.