André Hoelz
André Hoelz is a German-American structural cell biologist. Currently, he is the Mary and Charles Ferkel Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is best known for his research on the structure and function of the nuclear pore complex and its role in nucleocytoplasmic transport. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Advanced Photon Source of the Argonne National Laboratory.
Early life and education
André Hoelz completed his undergraduate education at Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany, receiving his Vordiplom in Chemistry in 1993 and his Diplom in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1997. He then pursued graduate studies at The Rockefeller University, working with John Kuriyan on the regulation of protein kinases, and earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Structural Biology in 2004. He remained at Rockefeller to establish a structural biology group in laboratory, where he initiated the comprehensive structural and functional characterization of the nuclear pore complex. In 2010, he moved to the California Institute of Technology, where he has been since.
Research
Hoelz’s research focuses on the structural cell biology of nucleocytoplasmic transport, with a particular emphasis on the structural characterization of the nuclear pore complex, a large channel embedded in the nuclear envelope that mediates the regulated bi-directional exchange of macromolecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm. His laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding the nuclear pore complex's structural architecture and its role in regulating molecular transport. Over the course of two decades, Hoelz has used techniques such as in elaborate biochemical reconstitution, X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy to uncover the molecular details of the nuclear pore complex, with implications for diseases linked to defects in nuclear transport, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. In 2016, Hoelz published the near-atomic composite structure of the human NPC's symmetric core. In total, the Hoelz laboratory contributed ~100 different atomic structure of nucleoporins and nucleoporin complexes. Hoelz contributed two highly cited review articles on the structure of the nuclear pore complex, published in 2011 and 2019, which have been collectively cited ~1,000 times.
Grants and funding
Hoelz’s research has been supported by several major grants, including funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
Selected publications
Hoelz has authored numerous high-impact research papers in leading scientific journals, covering topics related to structural cell biology of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Additionally, he has contributed to our mechanistic understanding of various important enzymes, including protein kinases, acetyl transferases, deacetylases, demethylases, and oxidases.
Awards
Hoelz was a Faculty Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2016 to 2021, an Investigator at the Heritage Medical Research Institute at Caltech from 2015 to 2021, and has received numerous scientific awards, including the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award of the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation in 2015, the Kimmel Scholar Award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research in 2012, the 54th Mallinckrodt Scholar Award of the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation in 2011, the Albert Wyrick V Scholar Award from The V Foundation for Cancer Research in 2010, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in the Interfaces of Science Program in 1999, and the Prize of the “Fonds der Chemischen Industrie” for academic excellence in 1991. The structural work on the nuclear pore complex has been awarded "Biological Structure of the Year" in 2016 by Chemical & Engineering News, and research highlights by the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory in 2016 and 2022, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in 2016 and 2022, and National Synchrotron Light Source II at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2018.
Early life and education
André Hoelz completed his undergraduate education at Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany, receiving his Vordiplom in Chemistry in 1993 and his Diplom in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1997. He then pursued graduate studies at The Rockefeller University, working with John Kuriyan on the regulation of protein kinases, and earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Structural Biology in 2004. He remained at Rockefeller to establish a structural biology group in laboratory, where he initiated the comprehensive structural and functional characterization of the nuclear pore complex. In 2010, he moved to the California Institute of Technology, where he has been since.
Research
Hoelz’s research focuses on the structural cell biology of nucleocytoplasmic transport, with a particular emphasis on the structural characterization of the nuclear pore complex, a large channel embedded in the nuclear envelope that mediates the regulated bi-directional exchange of macromolecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm. His laboratory has made significant contributions to understanding the nuclear pore complex's structural architecture and its role in regulating molecular transport. Over the course of two decades, Hoelz has used techniques such as in elaborate biochemical reconstitution, X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy to uncover the molecular details of the nuclear pore complex, with implications for diseases linked to defects in nuclear transport, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. In 2016, Hoelz published the near-atomic composite structure of the human NPC's symmetric core. In total, the Hoelz laboratory contributed ~100 different atomic structure of nucleoporins and nucleoporin complexes. Hoelz contributed two highly cited review articles on the structure of the nuclear pore complex, published in 2011 and 2019, which have been collectively cited ~1,000 times.
Grants and funding
Hoelz’s research has been supported by several major grants, including funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
Selected publications
Hoelz has authored numerous high-impact research papers in leading scientific journals, covering topics related to structural cell biology of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Additionally, he has contributed to our mechanistic understanding of various important enzymes, including protein kinases, acetyl transferases, deacetylases, demethylases, and oxidases.
Awards
Hoelz was a Faculty Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2016 to 2021, an Investigator at the Heritage Medical Research Institute at Caltech from 2015 to 2021, and has received numerous scientific awards, including the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award of the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation in 2015, the Kimmel Scholar Award from the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research in 2012, the 54th Mallinckrodt Scholar Award of the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation in 2011, the Albert Wyrick V Scholar Award from The V Foundation for Cancer Research in 2010, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in the Interfaces of Science Program in 1999, and the Prize of the “Fonds der Chemischen Industrie” for academic excellence in 1991. The structural work on the nuclear pore complex has been awarded "Biological Structure of the Year" in 2016 by Chemical & Engineering News, and research highlights by the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory in 2016 and 2022, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in 2016 and 2022, and National Synchrotron Light Source II at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2018.