Rate My Professor Gökhan Tolun

Associate Professor Gökhan Tolun is a structural biologist and academic in the School of Science at the University of Wollongong, where he also serves as a research group leader at the Molecular Horizons Research Institute. He earned his B.S. in biology and M.Sc. in biotechnology from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. He then pursued his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami, Florida, followed by postdoctoral training in electron microscopic imaging of macromolecular complexes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Subsequently, he conducted cryo-EM training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland before joining the University of Wollongong to establish his independent research program. Tolun's research specializes in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and structural biology to investigate bio-nano-machines involved in nucleic acid processes, including DNA recombination, replication, repair, and RNA processing. His work has advanced understanding of molecular mechanisms such as recombineering proteins and viral proteins like Red-Beta.

Tolun has secured competitive funding, including an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project grant (DP210100365) and contributions to NHMRC health and medical research grants totaling $3.3 million for projects on anti-viral drugs against herpes. Key publications include 'Half a century after their discovery: Structural insights into exonuclease and annealase proteins catalyzing recombineering' (2023), 'Redβ annealase structure reveals details of recombineering' (2022, Nature Communications), and 'Structural characterisation of the complete cycle of sliding clamp synthesis by the E. coli replisome' (2024). With over 1,657 citations on Google Scholar, his research has significant impact in biochemistry and structural biology. He has received the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence and holds leadership roles such as elected Academic Council Member at the University of Wollongong. Tolun teaches molecular biology subjects, including molecular imaging and structural biology, and supervises PhD students.