Curriculum Vitae Niraj H. Tolia, Ph.D.

updated 12/22/2006 1 of 4

PERSONAL DETAILS

Name: Niraj H. Tolia, Ph.D.

Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow

Keck Structural Biology Laboratory.

Address: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

1 Bungtown Road

Cold Spring Harbor

NY 11724.

Tel: (631) 988-0627, (516) 367-8867

Fax: (516) 367-8873

e-mail: tolian@cshl.edu

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Apr 2004 – present Postdoctoral research, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL),

Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.

• Structural, biochemical and mechanistic studies of complexes involved in RNA interference.

• Developed a recombinant co-expression system for production of Argonaute (Ago) proteins.

• Performed kinetic and mechanistic characterization of cleavage by recombinant human Ago2

with implications for RISC slicer activity.

• Demonstrated S. pombe Ago1 is a bona fide slicer and requires slicer activity for

heterochromatic silencing.

• Identified a novel clade of worm specific Argonautes by a phylogenic analysis.

• Designed and developed a crystallization system allowing for predictive feed forward screening.

Successfully predicted and obtained crystallization conditions for three different protein

complexes.

• Preliminary crystallographic analysis of the binding domain of a malarial surface antigen in

complex with a Fab fragment of a neutralizing antibody

Sep 1999 – Mar 2004 Ph.D. thesis research, Watson School of Biological Sciences (WSBS), CSHL,

NY, USA. Research Advisor: Professor Leemor Joshua-Tor

• Crystallographic structure determination of the binding domain of a malarial surface antigen

involved in erythrocyte invasion, unbound and in complex with a small molecule containing the

essential components of the receptor for the antigen.

• Confirmed model of erythrocyte binding using a mutational analysis coupled to a semi-

quantitative mammalian cell culture binding assay.

May 1999 – Sep 1999 Undergraduate thesis research, Imperial College of Science Technology and

Medicine, London. UK. Research Advisor: Dr. Steven Matthews

• Expressed and purified an archael RNA polymerase domain for NMR studies.

Sep 1997 – Oct 1998 Industrial Trainee, Drug Metabolism Department, Pfizer Central Research,

Sandwich, Kent. UK. Research Advisor: Dr. Mark J. Ackland

• Developed an automated system for in vitro drug metabolism assays.

• Applied this system to active site characterization of cytochrome P450 2D6, using SAR studies

and modeling.

Curriculum Vitae Niraj H. Tolia, Ph.D.

updated 12/22/2006 2 of 4

EDUCATION

Sep 1999 – Mar 2004 Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,

Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA Ph. D. in Biological Sciences awarded Mar, 2004.

Thesis: “Structural and biochemical studies of EBA-175, a protein that mediates

erythrocyte invasion by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum”

Research Advisor: Professor Leemor Joshua-Tor

Sep 1995 – Aug 1999 Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK.

B.Sc. in Biochemistry, with honors awarded Aug, 1999

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Sep 2003, Sep 2006 Tutor, Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,

Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA

Tutored graduate students in structural biology during fall courses.

Oct 2005 Teaching assistant, X-Ray Methods in Structural Biology,

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA Assisted in crystallization, data collection, data processing and structure solution.

Jan 2000 – Jun 2000 Teaching instructor, Dolan DNA learning center,

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA Devised lesson plans and taught molecular biology techniques to high school and

middle school students.

PUBLICATIONS

• Song JJ, Liu J, Tolia NH, Schneiderman J, Smith SK, Martienssen RA, Hannon GJ, Joshua-Tor L. “The

crystal structure of the Argonaute2 PAZ domain reveals an RNA binding motif in RNAi effector

complexes.” Nature Structural Biology (2003) Dec; 10(12):1026-32. Epub Nov 16.

• Rivas FV*, Tolia NH

*, Song JJ

*, Aragon JP, Liu J, Hannon GJ, Joshua-Tor L. “Purified Argonaute2 and

an siRNA form recombinant human RISC.” Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2005) Apr;

12(4):340-9. Epub Mar 30. *co-first authors

• Tolia NH, Enemark EJ, Sim BKL, Joshua-Tor L. “Structural basis for the EBA-175 erythrocyte invasion

pathway of the malaria parasite P. falciparum.” Cell (2005) Jul 29; 122(2):183-93

• Tolia NH§, Joshua-Tor L. “Strategies for protein coexpression in Escherichia coli.” Nature Methods

(2006) Jan; 3(1):55-64 §corresponding author

• Irvine DV*, Zaratiegui M

*, Tolia NH

*, Goto DB, Chitwood DH, Vaughn MW, Joshua-Tor L, Martienssen

RA “Argonaute slicing is required for heterochromatic silencing and spreading.” Science (2006) Aug 25;

313(5790):1134-7. *co-first authors

(continued)

Curriculum Vitae Niraj H. Tolia, Ph.D.

updated 12/22/2006 3 of 4

PUBLICATIONS (CONTINUED)

• Yigit E, Batista PJ, Bei Y, Pang KM, Chen CG, Tolia NH, Joshua-Tor L, Mitani S, Simard MJ, Mello

CC. “Analysis of the C. elegans Argonaute family reveals that distinct Argonautes act sequentially during

RNAi” Cell (2006) Nov 17;127(4):747-757..

• Tolia NH, Joshua-Tor L. “Slicer and the Argonautes” Nature Chemical Biology (2007) Jan;3(1):36-43.

PATENTS

• Tolia NH, Sim BKL, Joshua-Tor L. “Crystal Structure of Erythrocyte Binding Domain of EBA-175”

Patent pending, filed April (2003).

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

Mar 2006 Malaria: Functional Genomics to Biology to Medicine Meeting Scholarship,

Keystone Symposia

Sep 1999 – Apr 2004 Leslie Quick, Jr. Fellowship, Watson School of Biological Sciences

Sep 1999 C. Ewart Stickings Memorial Prize

One of three distinction awards given by the Biochemistry Dept. at Imperial

College.

Aug 1998 IMPACT Award, Pfizer Central Research award for innovation

PRESENTATIONS

Sep 2006 Twinbrook III Seminar Series, NIAID, NIH

“Slicer and the Argonautes: Structure, enzymology and evolution”

Sep 2006 Twinbrook II Seminar Series, NIAID, NIH

“Structural basis for the EBA-175 erythrocyte invasion pathway of P. falciparum”

Apr 2006 Microbiology & Tumorbiology Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm

“Structural basis for the EBA-175 erythrocyte invasion pathway of P. falciparum”

Mar 2006 Keystone Symposium on Malaria

“Structural basis for the EBA-175 erythrocyte invasion pathway of P. falciparum”

Jan 2006 Gordon Conference on Reversible Associations In Structural & Molecular

Biology “The Structure of Argonaute: Implications for Substrate Loading and Turnover”

Apr 2004 CSHL In-House Seminar

“Predictive crystallization and its application to malaria invasion processes”

Aug 2003 6th

Summer Session of the New York Structural Biology Group

“Structural insights into the initiation of erythrocyte invasion during malaria”

Curriculum Vitae Niraj H. Tolia, Ph.D.

updated 12/22/2006 4 of 4

POSTERS

Mar 2006 Keystone Symposium on Malaria

“Structural basis for the EBA-175 erythrocyte invasion pathway of P. falciparum”

Sep 2005 CSHL meeting on Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Response

“The EBA-175 erythrocyte invasion pathway of the malaria parasite P. falciparum”

Sep 2005 CSHL meeting on RNAi

“Purified Ago2 and an siRNA form recombinant human RISC”

MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

2004 – present Member, New York Academy of Sciences, Science Alliance

ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Crystallization of macromolecules and complexes.

• Macromolecular structure determination by MAD, MIR and molecular replacement.

• Synchrotron crystallographic data collection by the crystal oscillation method, including crystal

cryoprotection, loop-mounting, data integration and data reduction. (NSLS and APS).

• Database design and programming for crystallization data analysis.

• Design of automation methods using robotics for molecular biology and crystallization applications.

• Protein overexpression, co-expression, purification and characterization.

• Mammalian cell culture and design of mutagenesis assays.

• Design of biochemical and kinetic assays.

• Recombinant DNA technology.

• Web page and web application design and implementation.

• Software: crystallographic software, C, C++, Perl, MySQL, HTML.