Benjamin Tu, PhD

Assistant Professor
Endowed Title: W.W. Caruth Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research 2007-2011
Biochemistry
Graduate Program: Biological Chemistry
Integrative Biology

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

Office Phone: 214-648-3338
Office Fax: 214-648-8856

benjamin.tu@utsouthwestern.edu

Biography

EDUCATION

2003 University of California-San Francisco. PhD, biochemistry and biophysics. Advisor: Jonathan S. Weissman

1998 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. AB and AM, chemistry. Advisor: James C. Wang

1994 State College Area High School, State College, PA

 

POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING

2004-2006 UT Southwestern, Postdoctoral Fellow. Advisor: Steven L. McKnight

 

CURRENT POSITION

2007-present Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern

 

Education

Graduate SchoolUniversity of California-San Francisco (2003)

Research Interests

Bioinformatic analysis of temporal gene expression and metabolite profiling data
Cell growth control
Mechanisms by which cellular processes are coupled to metabolic state
Metabolic cycles
Oxidative stress, nutritional stress

Publications

Featured
The FAD- and O(2)-dependent reaction cycle of Ero1-mediated oxidative protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum

Tu, B.P., Weissman, J.S. , Molecular Cell , November 2002; (10):983-994

Featured
Biochemical basis of oxidative protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum

Tu, B.P., Ho-Schleyer, S.C., Travers, K.J., Weissman, J.S. , Science , November 2000; (290):1571-1574

Featured
Oxidative protein folding in eukaryotes: mechanisms and consequences

Tu, B.P., Weissman, J.S. , J Cell Biol. , February 2004; (164):341-346

Featured
Protein footprinting at cysteines: probing ATP-modulated contacts in cysteine-substitution mutants of yeast DNA topoisomerase II

Tu, B.P., Wang, J.C. , Proc Natl Acad Sci USA , April 1999; (96):4862-4867

Metabolic cycles as an underlying basis of biological oscillations

Tu, B.P., McKnight, S.L. , Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. , September 2006; (7):696-701

Logic of the yeast metabolic cycle: temporal compartmentalization of cellular processes

Tu, B.P., Kudlicki, A., Rowicka, M., McKnight, S.L. , Science , November 2005; (310):1152-1158

Restriction of DNA replication to the reductive phase of the metabolic cycle protects genome integrity

Chen, Z., Odstrcil, E.A., Tu, B.P., McKnight, S.L. , Science , June 2007; (316):1916-1919

High-resolution timing of cell cycle-regulated gene expression

Rowicka, M., Kudlicki, A., Tu, B.P., Otwinowski, Z. , Proc Natl Acad Sci USA , 2007;

Cyclic changes in metabolic state during the life of a yeast cell

Tu, B.P., Mohler, R.E., Liu, J.C., Dombek, K.M., Young, E.T., Synovec, R.E., McKnight, S.L. , Proc Natl Acad Sci USA , 2007;

Honors/Awards

W. W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research

(2007)

Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Career Award in Biomedical Sciences (2006)

AAAS & GE Healthcare

Young Scientist Award Regional Winner - North America (2004)

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation

Postdoctoral Fellowship (2004)