Gaudenz Danuser, Ph.D.

Since July 2015, Gaudenz Danuser has been appointed as the inaugural chair of the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics. He holds the Patrick E. Haggerty Distinguished Chair in Basic Biomedical Science and is a Scholar of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Since March 2021, he is also a member of the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Systems Biology. Before moving to UTSW, Danuser directed research laboratories at ETH Zurich (2002 – 2003), at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (2003 – 2009), and at Harvard Medical School (2009 – 2014).

• Causal inference in molecular pathways
• Cell morphological control of signaling and metabolism
• Computer vision and machine learning of cell dynamics
• Roles and regulation of cell morphogenesis in metastasis, especially in pediatric sarcomas

Featured Publications

Interpretable deep learning uncovers cellular properties in label-free live cell images that are predictive of highly metastatic melanoma.

Zaritsky A, Jamieson AR, Welf ES, Nevarez A, Cillay J, Eskiocak U, Cantarel BL, Danuser G, Cell Syst 2021 May

Mechanical regulation of glycolysis via cytoskeleton architecture.

Park JS, Burckhardt CJ, Lazcano R, Solis LM, Isogai T, Li L, Chen CS, Gao B, Minna JD, Bachoo R, DeBerardinis RJ, Danuser G, Nature 2020 Feb 578 7796 621-626

SH3BP4 promotes neuropilin-1 and a5-integrin endocytosis and is inhibited by Akt.

Burckhardt CJ, Minna JD, Danuser G, Dev Cell 2021 Apr 56 8 1164-1181.e12

Pre-complexation of talin and vinculin without tension is required for efficient nascent adhesion maturation.

Han SJ, Azarova EV, Whitewood AJ, Bachir A, Guttierrez E, Groisman A, Horwitz AR, Goult BT, Dean KM, Danuser G, Elife 2021 03 10

Actin-Membrane Release Initiates Cell Protrusions.

Welf ES, Miles CE, Huh J, Sapoznik E, Chi J, Driscoll MK, Isogai T, Noh J, Weems AD, Pohlkamp T, Dean K, Fiolka R, Mogilner A, Danuser G, Dev Cell 2020 Dec 55 6 723-736.e8

DASC, a sensitive classifier for measuring discrete early stages in clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Wang X, Chen Z, Mettlen M, Noh J, Schmid SL, Danuser G, Elife 2020 Apr 9

Robust and automated detection of subcellular morphological motifs in 3D microscopy images.

Driscoll MK, Welf ES, Jamieson AR, Dean KM, Isogai T, Fiolka R, Danuser G, Nat. Methods 2019 Oct 16 10 1037-1044

Spatiotemporal dynamics of GEF-H1 activation controlled by microtubule- and Src-mediated pathways.

Azoitei ML, Noh J, Marston DJ, Roudot P, Marshall CB, Daugird TA, Lisanza SL, Sandí MJ, Ikura M, Sondek J, Rottapel R, Hahn KM, Danuser G, J Cell Biol 2019 09 218 9 3077-3097

Enhanced Dendritic Actin Network Formation in Extended Lamellipodia Drives Proliferation in Growth-Challenged Rac1^P29S Melanoma Cells.

Mohan AS, Dean KM, Isogai T, Kasitinon SY, Murali VS, Roudot P, Groisman A, Reed DK, Welf ES, Han SJ, Noh J, Danuser G, Dev. Cell 2019 May 49 3 444-460.e9

• Fellow, American Society of Cell Biology
  (2020)
• Fellow. American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
  (2018)