Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Biography

2014-present

Professor, University of Notre Dame

2006-2014

Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame

2000-2006

Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame

1995-1999

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Geneva, Switzerland

1996

Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Stanford University

1988

A.B. in Molecular Biology, Princeton University

Selected Awards

2019

Keynote Address, "Chemical Machinery of the Cell" Scialog, Research Corporation

2017

"Frontiers of Science - From Physics to Biology" Panel Member, Solvay Conference in Physics

2012

Thomas P. Madden Award for Exceptional Teaching of First Year Students

2012

Joyce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

2008-2010

Elected member, American Society for Cell Biology National Council

1996-1999

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

1995-1996

EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship

1988-1993

National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship

Research Interests

The Goodson laboratory uses multifaceted approaches including biochemistry, molecular biology, and computational biology to address cell biological questions. We focus on the microtubule cytoskeleton – the dynamic network of protein fibers that pulls the chromosomes apart at mitosis, acts as "railroad tracks" for intracellular transport, and organizes the cytoplasm. Questions that interest us include: how does this network assemble? What governs its dynamic turnover? How do other parts of the cell (organelles, chromosomes, the cell cortex) interact with microtubules? To answer these questions we use a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology, quantitative microscopy, and (in collaboration with applied mathematician Mark Alber) computational models of microtubule dynamics. Topics of particular interest include microtubule plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs), a network of diverse proteins that dynamically track growing microtubule plus ends, as well as the disease-associated proteins Tau (Alzheimer's) and stathmin (cancer).

A second long-term interest in the Goodson laboratory is molecular evolution. While establishing the history of protein families is an important goal in itself, our primary interest has been in using the history of a protein family to help understand how its members work now. We use nature’s mutagenesis (the set of related sequences present in the genome databases) and combine it with bioinformatics techniques such as homology modeling to perform structure/function analysis. Recently we have taken advantage of unique continuous culture systems developed for a biosensor project to begin a new project studying the process of evolution in vitro and in silico.

Recent Publications

• Goodson, H. V., Kelley, J. B., Brawley, S. H. "Cytoskeletal diversification across 1 billion years: What red algae can teach us about the cytoskeleton, and vice versa" 2021 BioEssays, 43, e2000278. DOI:10.1002/bies.202000278.
• Ong, J. Y., Pence, J. T., Molik, D. C., Shepherd, H. A. M., Goodson, H. V. "Yeast grown in continuous culture systems can detect mutagens with improved sensitivity relative to the Ames test" 2021 PLoS ONE, 16 (3 March), e0235303. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0235303.
• Goodson, H. V., Miller, R. A., Lee, S., Fridmanski, E. J., Barron, E., Pence, J., Lieberman, M. "“Scentsor”: A whole-cell yeast biosensor with an olfactory reporter for low-cost and equipment-free detection of pharmaceuticals" 2020 ACS Sensors, 5 (10), pp. 3025-3030. DOI:10.1021/acssensors.0c01344.
• Jonasson, E. M., Mauro, A. J., Li, C., Labuza, E. C., Mahserejian, S. M., Scripture, J. P., Gregoretti, I. V., Alber, M., Goodson, H. V. "Behaviors of individual microtubules and microtubule populations relative to critical concentrations: Dynamic instability occurs when critical concentrations are driven apart by nucleotide hydrolysis" 2020 Molecular Biology of the Cell, 31 (7), pp. 589-618. DOI:10.1091/MBC.E19-02-0101.
• Miller, R. A., Brown, G., Barron, E., Luther, J. L., Lieberman, M., Goodson, H. V. "Development of a paper-immobilized yeast biosensor for the detection of physiological concentrations of doxycycline in technology-limited settings" 2020 Analytical Methods, 12 (16), pp. 2123-2132. DOI:10.1039/d0ay00001a.
• Patel, R. J.; Murray, K. S.; Martin, P. O.; Sinclair, M.; Scripture, J. P.; Goodson, H. V.; Mahserejian, S. M. "Using STADIA to quantify dynamic instability in microtubules" 2020 Methods in Cell Biology,  158, pp.117-143. DOI: 10.1016/bs.mcb.2020.03.002.

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