Thomas K. Hunt Memorial Fellowship Awarded to Medical Student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel

The UCSF Department of Surgery is pleased to announce that third year UCSF medical student Mary Kathryn (Katy) Abel, A.B. was awarded the inaugural Thomas K. Hunt Memorial fellowship from the Division of General Surgery for her research project: “Optimizing outcomes in invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: addressing barriers to clinical trial enrollment and personalizing therapy,” with mentor Rita Mukhtar, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of General Surgery.

Under the leadership of Hobart Harris, M.D., MPH and supported by the Division of General Surgery and the Department of Surgery, the Thomas K. Hunt Medical Student Research Fellowship in General Surgery award was created to provide opportunities for medical students to pursue research in surgical science.

With Dr. Mukhtar as her mentor, Ms. Abel was awarded funding through the year-long Inquiry Program’s CTSI TL1 grant in 2019, with which she collaborated on several projects related to invasive lobular carcinoma. During this research year, Ms. Abel became enamored with research, and plans to focus on a career as a physician-scientist. Ms. Abel will continue her research for a second year and will concurrently obtain a Master’s Degree in Clinical and Epidemiological Research at UCSF. 

Thomas K. Hunt, M.D. was an internationally renowned and highly respected surgeon, professor and researcher at UCSF. Dr. Hunt, often known as “TK” by colleagues and family, was on faculty from 1964 until 2001. He was best known for helping to develop the trauma program at San Francisco General Hospital (now ZSFG) and for his research on the cellular biology of wound healing.