Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCLA

Tamir Gonen is a membrane biophysicist and an expert in crystallography and cryo-EM. Gonen is a professor of Biological Chemistry and Physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine of the University of California, Los Angeles, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a Member of the Royal Society of New Zealand. He received a Career Development Award from the American Diabetes Association and was an Early Career Scientist of HHMI. Gonen served on several study sections of the National Institutes of Health and acted as ad hoc reviewer for several international funding agencies. In 2011 while leading a lab at the HHMI Janelia Research Campus he began developing microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) as a new method for structural biology. In 2017 Dr Gonen moved his laboratory to the David Geffen School of Medicine of the University of California, Los Angeles as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Professor of Biological Chemistry and Physiology, where he continues studying membrane protein structure and function using cryo-EM and MicroED. With this method Dr Gonen has pushed the boundaries of cryo-EM and determined several previously unknown structures at resolutions better than 1 Å. Gonen authored more than 120 publications and several of his past trainees are now faculty around the world at top universities.

Honors

1996Dean’s list—Organic Chemistry, University of Auckland, New Zealand
1996Dean’s list—Inorganic Chemistry, University of Auckland, New Zealand
1997Center for Gene Technology Research Scholarship, University of Auckland, New Zealand
1997Dean’s List—Inorganic Chemistry, University of Auckland, New Zealand
1998Senior prize in Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand
1998First class honors in Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand
1999University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2000Contestable Travel Fund Award, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2001Contestable Travel Fund Award, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2009American Diabetes Association Career Development Award
2009Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist
2010New investigator, Science in Medicine Lecture
2012Member, The Royal Society of New Zealand
2017Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
2018Chair elect, Biophysical Society cryo-EM subgroup
2023A. L. Patterson award, ACA: The Structural Science Society

Publications in PubMed

Publications

164 entries « 4 of 4 »

2008

Engel, Andreas; Fujiyoshi, Yoshinori; Gonen, Tamir; Walz, Thomas

Junction-forming aquaporins Journal Article

In: Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol., vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 229–235, 2008.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

Zheng, Hongjin; Olia, Adam S; Gonen, Melissa; Andrews, Simeon; Cingolani, Gino; Gonen, Tamir

A Conformational Switch in Bacteriophage P22 Portal Protein Primes Genome Injection Journal Article

In: Mol. Cell, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 376–383, 2008.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

Gonen, Tamir; Hite, Richard K; Cheng, Yifan; Petre, Benjamin M; Kistler, Joerg; Walz, Thomas

Polymorphic Assemblies and Crystalline Arrays of Lens Tetraspanin MP20 Journal Article

In: J. Mol. Biol., vol. 376, no. 2, pp. 380–392, 2008.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2007

Franck, Andrew D; Powers, Andrew F; Gestaut, Daniel R; Gonen, Tamir; Davis, Trisha N; Asbury, Charles L

Tension applied through the Dam1 complex promotes microtubule elongation providing a direct mechanism for length control in mitosis Journal Article

In: Nat. Cell Biol., vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 832–837, 2007.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

Viadiu, Hector; Gonen, Tamir; Walz, Thomas

Projection Map of Aquaporin-9 at 7 Å Resolution Journal Article

In: J. Mol. Biol., vol. 367, no. 1, pp. 80–88, 2007.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2006

Gonen, Tamir; Walz, Thomas

The structure of aquaporins Journal Article

In: Q. Rev. Biophys., vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 361–396, 2006.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2005

Gonen, Tamir; Cheng, Yifan; Sliz, Piotr; Hiroaki, Yoko; Fujiyoshi, Yoshinori; Harrison, Stephen C; Walz, Thomas

Lipid-protein interactions in double-layered two-dimensional AQP0 crystals Journal Article

In: Nature, vol. 438, no. 7068, pp. 633–638, 2005.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2004

Gonen, Tamir; Cheng, Yifan; Kistler, Joerg; Walz, Thomas

Aquaporin-0 Membrane Junctions Form Upon Proteolytic Cleavage Journal Article

In: J. Mol. Biol., vol. 342, no. 4, pp. 1337–1345, 2004.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

Gonen, Tamir; Sliz, Piotr; Kistler, Joerg; Cheng, Yifan; Walz, Thomas

Aquaporin-0 membrane junctions reveal the structure of a closed water pore Journal Article

In: Nature, vol. 429, no. 6988, pp. 193–197, 2004.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2003

Grey, Angus C; Jacobs, Marc D; Gonen, Tamir; Kistler, Joerg; Donaldson, Paul J

Insertion of MP20 into lens fibre cell plasma membranes correlates with the formation of an extracellular diffusion barrier Journal Article

In: Exp. Eye Res., vol. 77, no. 5, pp. 567–574, 2003.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2001

Gonen, Tamir; Grey, Angus C; Jacobs, Marc D; Donaldson, Paul J; Kistler, Joerg

MP20, the second most abundant lens membrane protein and member of the tetraspanin superfamily, joins the list of ligands of galectin-3 Journal Article

In: BMC Cell Biol., vol. 2, no. 17, 2001.

Abstract | Links | Altmetric

2000

Gonen, Tamir; Donaldson, Paul; Kistler, Joerg

Galectin-3 Is Associated with the Plasma Membrane of Lens Fiber Cells Journal Article

In: Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 199–203, 2000.

Abstract | Links

1999

Kistler, Joerg; Merriman-Smith, Rachelle; Young, Miriam; Gonen, Tamir; Cowan, Dougal; Chee, Kaa-Sandra; Lin, Jun Sheng; Green, Colin; Hasler, Lorenz; Engel, Andreas; Donaldson, Paul

Molecular Solutions To Tissue Transparency Journal Article

In: N.Z. Biosciences, pp. 35–37, 1999.

Links

Baker, Ted; Metcalf, Peter; Smith, Clyde; Arcus, Vic; Ashton, Rachael; Baker, Heather; Banfield, Mark; Cross, Jenny; Drew, David; Goldstone, David; Gonen, Tamir; Haebel, Peter; Holliss, Caroline; Ivanovich, Ivan; Kagawa, Todd; Kidd, Richard; Koon, Nayden; Leydier, Sabine; Lott, Shaun; McCarthy, Andrew; Nurizzo, Didier; Shewry, Steve; Sigrell, Jill; Sun, Xiaolin

More Than Just A Pretty Picture Journal Article

In: N.Z. Biosciences, pp. 32–35, 1999.

Links

164 entries « 4 of 4 »