Thomas Fox
Professor, Molecular Biology and Genetics
While mitochondria are derived from eubacterial ancestors, the organellar genetic systems found today in animals, plants and fungi do not closely resemble those of modern eubacteria. To understand how these small but important genomes are expressed, one needs to study the organelles themselves.
Our research program, no longer active experimentally, has been aimed at understanding how expression of genes in mitochondrial DNA is controlled by nuclear genes, and how mitochondrially coded proteins are assembled with nuclearly coded proteins into the respiratory chain complexes. Budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is a wonderful organism in which to study these interactions, since mutations in both genetic systems can be isolated and manipulated. Furthermore, genetic transformation and homologous recombination allow the replacement of wild-type by mutant, or synthetic, DNA sequences in both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. For a summary of our findings, see the lab webpage.
Thomas D. Fox received his B.S. degree from Cornell University in 1971 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University in 1976.
Publications
Awards & Honors
Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, elected 1998
State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2003
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected 2010
Louis and Edith Edgerton Career Teaching Award (CALS), 2013
Outstanding Accomplishments in Research Award (CALS),2015
Courses Taught
- BioMG 2800: Lectures in Genetics and Genomics
- BioMG 3800: Advanced Genetics and Genomics
Fox Lab Alumni
Fox Lab Alumni
(Updates on email, webpages, etc. more than welcome: send to tdf1 [at] cornell.edu (tdf1[at]cornell[dot]edu))
Graduate Students
Peter Müller
Christian Sengstag http://www.net.ethz.ch/people/sengstag
Clifford Weil http://www.agry.purdue.edu/staffbio/weilbio.htm
Candace Poutre
Terry Twomey
Beatriz Fernandes biafer [at] butantan.gov.br (biafer[at]butantan[dot]gov[dot]br)
Christine A. Strick strickca [at] pfizer.com (strickca[at]pfizer[dot]com)
Donna Marykwas http://www.csulb.edu/depts/biology/pages/faculty/marykwas.shtml
Julio Mulero Julio.J.Mulero [at] appliedbiosystems.com (J[dot]Mulero[at]appliedbiosystems[dot]com)
Bicka Barlow bicka.barlow [at] sfgov.org (bicka[dot]barlow[at]sfgov[dot]org)
Nancy Brown nbrown90 [at] cinci.rr.com (nbrown90[at]cinci[dot]rr[dot]com)
Noelle Green N.GreenWillms [at] sympatico.ca (N[dot]GreenWillms[at]sympatico[dot]ca)
Jared Cohen %20jsc6 [at] comcast.net (jsc6[at]comcast[dot]net)
Sarah Broadley broadley [at] biochem.mpg.de (broadley[at]biochem[dot]mpg[dot]de)
Christina Demlow cmd26 [at] cornell.edu (cmd26[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Scott Saracco saracco [at] wisc.edu (saracco[at]wisc[dot]edu)
Elizabeth Williams liz.williams [at] stanford.edu (liz[dot]williams[at]stanford[dot]edu)
Ipsita Mukherjee im64cornell [at] yahoo.com (im64cornell[at]yahoo[dot]com)
Kellen Sensor kps29 [at] cornell.edu (kps29[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Post-doctoral
Paula Boerner
Ruth Hall
Deborah Hanson dkhanson [at] anl.gov (dkhanson[at]anl[dot]gov)
Maria Costanzo http://genetics.stanford.edu/~maria/maria.html
Thomas McMullin Tom_McMullin [at] cargilldow.com (Tom_McMullin[at]cargilldow[dot]com)
Linda Folley
Pascal Haffter Deceased
Peter Thorsness http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/uwmolecbio/Faculty/P_Thorsness.asp
Gerlinde Wiesenberger gerlinde.wiesenberger [at] univie.ac.at (gerlinde[dot]wiesenberger[at]univie[dot]ac[dot]at)
David Steele dfs4 [at] pacificcoast.net (dfs4[at]pacificcoast[dot]net)
Heather Dunstan heather_dunstan [at] stratagene.com (heather_dunstan[at]stratagene[dot]com)
Shichuan He STEVE.HE [at] stl.Monsanto.com (STEVE[dot]HE[at]stl[dot]Monsanto[dot]com)
Nathalie Bonnefoy bonnefoy [at] cgm.cnrs-gif.fr (bonnefoy[at]cgm[dot]cnrs-gif[dot]fr)
Hakim Mireau mireau [at] versailles.inra.fr (mireau[at]versailles[dot]inra[dot]fr)
Svetlana Shabalina shabalin [at] virgo.nlm.nih.gov (shabalin[at]virgo[dot]nlm[dot]nih[dot]gov)
Nada Bsat
Sushma Naithani sn66 [at] cornell.edu (sn66[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Xochitl Perez-Martinez http://www.futurehealth.ucsf.edu/fellows/02fellows/perez.html
Sanna Lehntinen Marjavaara sanna.marjavaara [at] helsinki.fi (sanna[dot]marjavaara[at]helsinki[dot]fi)
Alessandro Fiori Alessandro.Fiori [at] manchester.ac.uk (Alessandro[dot]Fiori[at]manchester[dot]ac[dot]uk)
Tim Ellis timpellis [at] yahoo.com (timpellis[at]yahoo[dot]com)
Undergraduates
Cindy Goldberg
Lars Hedin http://www.eeb.princeton.edu/FACULTY/Hedin/Hedin.html
Elizabeth Small
Tim Stearns http://stearnslab.stanford.edu/people.html
Lorianne Koch
Josh Cherry jcherry [at] ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Janet Rosenthal
Steve Wax
Diane Harvey
Meggen Shepherd
Tami Seaman
Ivan Brockman
Ralph Ho
Ann Corsi http://biology.cua.edu/faculty/Corsi.cfm
Curtis F. Barrett
Alison R. Frand http://www.frandlab.com/research/
Nick Gaiano http://www.neuro.jhmi.edu/profiles/gaiano.html
Jennifer Malossi
Madeline Meagher
Diane Wonsey
Scott Robinson
Jessenia Peña
Dylan Pillai
Friedemann Janus
Josh Silverman
Kerry Bubb
Mridula Ramesh
Joan Adamo
Stephanie Omokaro
Rebecca J. Sands
Margaret A. Macris
Kelli M. Clare
Stephanie Ortolano
Anupama Seshan anu105 [at] MIT.EDU (anu105[at]MIT[dot]EDU)
Katherine Ingrid Sprinz
Adam C. Martin acm14 [at] uclink4.berkeley.edu (acm14[at]uclink4[dot]berkeley[dot]edu)
Richard N. Cohen rcohen [at] uclink.berkeley.edu (rcohen[at]uclink[dot]berkeley[dot]edu)
Rebecca C. Burgess rcb2005 [at] columbia.edu (rcb2005[at]columbia[dot]edu)
Erin Kull
Christine Lin csl33 [at] cornell.edu (csl33[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Lydia Briggs lydiabriggs18 [at] yahoo.com (lydiabriggs18[at]yahoo[dot]com)
Jason Pike Jason_Pike [at] URMC.Rochester.edu (Jason_Pike[at]URMC[dot]Rochester[dot]edu)
Bansari Modi bkm7 [at] cornell.edu (bkm7[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Evangelos Papadimas ecp32 [at] cornell.edu (ecp32[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Jessica Kelly jak75 [at] cornell.edu (jak75[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Mary Gniadek mjg64 [at] cornell.edu (mjg64[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Visitors
Brigitte Weiss-Brummer Brigitte.Weiss-Brummer [at] Verwaltung.Uni-Muenchen.DE (Brigitte[dot]Weiss-Brummer[at]Verwaltung[dot]Uni-Muenchen[dot]DE)
Shen Zonghou zhshen [at] shmu.edu.cn (zhshen[at]shmu[dot]edu[dot]cn)
Julia Bailey-Serres http://www.cepceb.ucr.edu/members/serres.htm
Gerhard Rödel http://www.imprs-mcbb.de/groupleader/roedel.html
Thomas L. Mason http://www.bio.umass.edu/mcb/faculty/mason.html
Vicki L. Cameron http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/cameron/
Lisa Fuss
Omer Ali Bayraktar e142313 [at] metu.edu.tr (e142313[at]metu[dot]edu[dot]tr)
Technicians
Therese Catin
Susanne Stämpfli
Michelle Reif
Elaine Seaver http://www.kewalo.hawaii.edu/labs/seaver/
Paulette Dwen
Faith Andrews
Penny Hurd plh7 [at] cornell.edu (plh7[at]cornell[dot]edu)
Thomas in the news
News
He was known for groundbreaking fundamental work on the origin of sex cells in vertebrates. His experiments with South African clawed toads yielded important insights into the development and reproduction of amphibian embryos, with implications...
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