Hanna earned a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. After undergrad, she attended the University of Washington to earn a MS in Laboratory Medicine studying in Dr. Susan Fink's Lab. Her thesis focused on the relationship between neurosteroid structures and inhibition inflammatory cell death.  Now in her second year in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology here at the University of Iowa, she aims to continue focusing on inflammation and its impact on the immune system. Her thesis project is focused on iron uptake and metabolism in tumor-associated macrophages creates a pro-tumor environment through alterations in iron metabolism and aberrant immune signaling.

Publications:

NEW James KN, Miller JA, Huston HC, Oda JM, Fink SL. IRE1α Is Associated with Host Lipid Biosynthesis During Human Coronavirus OC43 Infection. Viruses 2026 18, 996. https://doi.org/10.3390/v18090996

Cyndari KI, Elkins JM, Coleman MC, Mulford KE, Johnson RM, Butler KL, Parlet CP, Huston HC, Draayer T, Naveen P, Petersen CA. A Pre-Clinical Model of Synovitis Using Ex vivo Human Synovial Tissue with Preserved Function and Architecture. J Vis Exp. 2026 Mar 20;(229):10.3791/69734. doi: 10.3791/69734. PMID: 41941390; PMCID: PMC13085773.

Huston HC, Anderson MJ, Fink SL. Pyroptosis and the cellular consequences of gasdermin pores. Semin Immunol. 2023 Sep;69:101803. doi: 10.1016/j.smim.2023.101803. Epub 2023 Jul 10. PMID: 37437353; PMCID: PMC10530493.