Michael L Skowyra, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Assistant Professor Endowed Title Endowed Scholar in Medical Science; Southwestern Medical Foundation Scholar in Biomedical Research School Medical School Department Biochemistry | Cell Biology Biography Download Curriculum Vitae Michael joined the faculty in the Department of Biochemistry at UTSW in the spring of 2025 as an Endowed Scholar. His lab will explore how cellular organelles such as peroxisomes are formed, how they acquire their unique identities and functions, and how defects in these processes cause human disease. Michael's lab will tackle these fundamental questions using a combination of biochemistry and cell biology, leveraging powerful new cell-based and cell-free systems, high-speed fluorescence imaging, and in vitro reconstitution using purified components. Michael obtained his doctoral degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where he trained with Phyllis I. Hanson and discovered a membrane-repair pathway on lysosomes. He then joined the group of Tom A. Rapoport at Harvard Medical School as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, where he helped solve the longstanding mystery of how proteins are imported into peroxisomes. Michael has received numerous awards for his research, most notably the 2023 Porter Prize for Research Excellence from the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) for his postdoctoral work on peroxisomal protein import. Michael was also recognized for his doctoral work on membrane repair by being named a Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Medical Science Fellow in 2019 by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Michael has also been active in community outreach, having most recently served as Chair of the Harvard Medical Postdoc Association (HMPA) from 2023 to 2025, where he helped spearhead efforts for more equitable postdoc compensation and improved career-development support. Research Interest Mechanisms of Protein Translocation and Trafficking Peroxisome Biogenesis and Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorders Peroxisome Membrane Repair Publications Featured Publications Import mechanism of peroxisomal proteins with an N-terminal signal sequence Skowyra ML, Rapoport TA, Nat Cell Biol 2025 (in press) Protein import into peroxisomes occurs through a nuclear pore-like phase. Gao Y, Skowyra ML, Feng P, Rapoport TA, Science 2022 Dec 378 6625 eadf3971 PEX5 translocation into and out of peroxisomes drives matrix protein import. Skowyra ML, Rapoport TA, Mol Cell 2022 Sep 82 17 3209-3225.e7 Triggered recruitment of ESCRT machinery promotes endolysosomal repair. Skowyra ML, Schlesinger PH, Naismith TV, Hanson PI, Science 2018 Apr 360 6384 Structure and membrane remodeling activity of ESCRT-III helical polymers. McCullough J, Clippinger AK, Talledge N, Skowyra ML, Saunders MG, Naismith TV, Colf LA, Afonine P, Arthur C, Sundquist WI, Hanson PI, Frost A, Science 2015 Dec 350 6267 1548-51 Towards solving the mystery of peroxisomal matrix protein import. Skowyra ML, Feng P, Rapoport TA, Trends Cell Biol 2024 May 34 5 388-405 Cell-free reconstitution of peroxisomal matrix protein import using Xenopus egg extract. Skowyra ML, Rapoport TA, STAR Protoc 2023 Mar 4 1 102111 Structure and function of the peroxisomal ubiquitin ligase complex. Feng P, Skowyra ML, Rapoport TA, Biochem Soc Trans 2022 Dec 50 6 1921-1930 Mycobacterium tuberculosis Type VII Secretion System Effectors Differentially Impact the ESCRT Endomembrane Damage Response. Mittal E, Skowyra ML, Uwase G, Tinaztepe E, Mehra A, Köster S, Hanson PI, Philips JA, mBio 2018 Nov 9 6 Model-driven mapping of transcriptional networks reveals the circuitry and dynamics of virulence regulation. Maier EJ, Haynes BC, Gish SR, Wang ZA, Skowyra ML, Marulli AL, Doering TL, Brent MR, Genome Res 2015 May 25 5 690-700 Results 1-10 of 17 1 2 Next Last Honors & Awards Southwestern Medical Foundation Scholar in Biomedical ResearchUT Southwestern Medical Center (2025) Most Impactful Research Award9th Open European Peroxisome Meeting (2024) Porter Prize for Research ExcellenceAmerican Society for Cell Biology (2023) HHMI / Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Research FellowshipHarvard Medical School (2020-2023) Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Medical Science FellowWashington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (2019) Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung Speaker AwardGordon Research Conference on Molecular Membrane Biology (2017)
