Research Summary

The goals of my research build directly on research that I began as a postdoctoral fellow in Allan Spradling’s lab at the Carnegie Institution, and have continued in my own lab over the past six years. More generally, my education and training have given me valuable skills for succeeding in basic science. As a graduate student with Mark Roth at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, I learned to identify and develop concepts that were both innovative and medically relevant. Early in my graduate studies, we discovered suspended animation in C. elegans (Nystul, et al., Science, 2003), and my characterization of this phenomenon was a critical part of a team effort that led to several patents and the founding of Ikaria, Inc., a multi-national biomedical research company. Subsequently, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution, I gained a better understanding of the importance of thinking broadly and studying multiple model organisms in developing productive research projects. I have been implementing these skills as I mentor the people in my lab and build our research program. At UCSF, I have the benefit of a rigorous, collegial scientific community, and a commitment of support from colleagues, such as my faculty mentors Drs. Zena Werb, Susan Fisher, and Diane Barber.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2020 - May 31, 2025 - Cell Fate Decisions in Epithelial Stem Cell Lineages , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R35GM136348
  • July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2020 - Modeling epithelial stem cell competition in a dynamic drosophila ovarian niche , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01GM097158
  • July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2019 - Regulation of Epithelial Plasticity , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01GM116384
  • March 1, 2012 - February 28, 2015 - Models for studying of the role of stem cell competition in field cancerization , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA164404

Education

University of California, San Diego—La Jolla, CA, B.S., 1993-1997, Molecular Biology
University of Washington—Seattle, WA, Ph.D., 1999-2004, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Carnegie Institution of Science—Baltimore, MD, Postdoctoral, 2004-2009, Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics

Honors & Awards

  • 1999
    Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Fellowship
  • 2000
    Training Grant (competitive slot), Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • 2005
    Life Sciences Research Foundation, HHMI Postdoctoral Scholar
  • 2007
    Keystone Symposium Scholarship, Keystone, CO

Selected Publications

  1. Rust K, Schubert A, Peralta JM, Nystul TG. Independent signaling pathways provide a fail-safe mechanism to prevent tumorigenesis. bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 06.  View on PubMed
  2. Gutierrez S, Seuferer JA, Guerrero AM, Carrasco Y, Bibbins-Domingo K, Nguyen T, Márquez-Magaña L, Nystul T, Morris MD. Evaluation of a mentorship matchmaking event at an academic research institution to reinforce the scientific workforce pathway for underrepresented minority groups. BMC Med Educ. 2025 Jan 20; 25(1):95.  View on PubMed
  3. Meyer NP, Singh T, Kutys ML, Nystul TG, Barber DL. Arp2/3 complex activity enables nuclear YAP for naïve pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells. Elife. 2024 Sep 25; 13.  View on PubMed
  4. Allen J, Abdiwahab E, Morris MD, Le Saux CJ, Betancur P, Ansel KM, Hernandez RD, Nystul TG. PROPEL: a scalable model for postbaccalaureate training to promote diversity in the biomedical workforce. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2024 Dec 12; 25(3):e0012224.  View on PubMed
  5. Gomez A, Gonzalez S, Oke A, Luo J, Duong JB, Esquerra RM, Zimmerman T, Capponi S, Fung JC, Nystul TG. A High-Throughput Method for Quantifying Drosophila Fecundity. Toxics. 2024 Sep 09; 12(9).  View on PubMed
  6. Gomez A, Gonzalez S, Oke A, Luo J, Duong JB, Esquerra RM, Zimmerman T, Capponi S, Fung JC, Nystul TG. A high-throughput method for quantifying Drosophila fecundity. bioRxiv. 2024 Mar 30.  View on PubMed
  7. Sun Z, Nystul TG, Zhong G. Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies eggplant as a regulator of germ cell development in Drosophila. EMBO Rep. 2023 Oct 09; 24(10):e56475.  View on PubMed
  8. Liu Y, Reyes E, Castillo-Azofeifa D, Klein OD, Nystul T, Barber DL. Intracellular pH dynamics regulates intestinal stem cell lineage specification. Nat Commun. 2023 06 23; 14(1):3745.  View on PubMed
  9. Castillo-Azofeifa D, Wald T, Reyes EA, Gallagher A, Schanin J, Vlachos S, Lamarche-Vane N, Bomidi C, Blutt S, Estes MK, Nystul T, Klein OD. A DLG1-ARHGAP31-CDC42 axis is essential for the intestinal stem cell response to fluctuating niche Wnt signaling. Cell Stem Cell. 2023 02 02; 30(2):188-206.e6.  View on PubMed
  10. Meyer N, Peralta J, Nystul T. Preparation of Drosophila Ovarioles for Single-Cell RNA Sequencing. Methods Mol Biol. 2023; 2626:323-333.  View on PubMed
  11. Li H, Janssens J, De Waegeneer M, Kolluru SS, Davie K, Gardeux V, Saelens W, David FPA, Brbic M, Spanier K, Leskovec J, McLaughlin CN, Xie Q, Jones RC, Brueckner K, Shim J, Tattikota SG, Schnorrer F, Rust K, Nystul TG, Carvalho-Santos Z, Ribeiro C, Pal S, Mahadevaraju S, Przytycka TM, Allen AM, Goodwin SF, Berry CW, Fuller MT, White-Cooper H, Matunis EL, DiNardo S, Galenza A, O'Brien LE, Dow JAT, FCA Consortium§, Jasper H, Oliver B, Perrimon N, Deplancke B, Quake SR, Luo L, Aerts S, Agarwal D, Ahmed-Braimah Y, Arbeitman M, Ariss MM, Augsburger J, Ayush K, Baker CC, Banisch T, Birker K, Bodmer R, Bolival B, Brantley SE, Brill JA, Brown NC, Buehner NA, Cai XT, Cardoso-Figueiredo R, Casares F, Chang A, Clandinin TR, Crasta S, Desplan C, Detweiler AM, Dhakan DB, Donà E, Engert S, Floc'hlay S, George N, González-Segarra AJ, Groves AK, Gumbin S, Guo Y, Harris DE, Heifetz Y, Holtz SL, Horns F, Hudry B, Hung RJ, Jan YN, Jaszczak JS, Jefferis GSXE, Karkanias J, Karr TL, Katheder NS, Kezos J, Kim AA, Kim SK, Kockel L, Konstantinides N, Kornberg TB, Krause HM, Labott AT, Laturney M, Lehmann R, Leinwand S, Li J, Li JSS, Li K, Li K, Li L, Li T, Litovchenko M, Liu HH, Liu Y, Lu TC, Manning J, Mase A, Matera-Vatnick M, Matias NR, McDonough-Goldstein CE, McGeever A, McLachlan AD, Moreno-Roman P, Neff N, Neville M, Ngo S, Nielsen T, O'Brien CE, Osumi-Sutherland D, Özel MN, Papatheodorou I, Petkovic M, Pilgrim C, Pisco AO, Reisenman C, Sanders EN, Dos Santos G, Scott K, Sherlekar A, Shiu P, Sims D, Sit RV, Slaidina M, Smith HE, Sterne G, Su YH, Sutton D, Tamayo M, Tan M, Tastekin I, Treiber C, Vacek D, Vogler G, Waddell S, Wang W, Wilson RI, Wolfner MF, Wong YE, Xie A, Xu J, Yamamoto S, Yan J, Yao Z, Yoda K, Zhu R, Zinzen RP. Fly Cell Atlas: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adult fruit fly. Science. 2022 03 04; 375(6584):eabk2432.  View on PubMed
  12. Tatapudy S, Peralta J, Nystul T. Distinct roles of Bendless in regulating FSC niche competition and daughter cell differentiation. Development. 2021 11 15; 148(22).  View on PubMed
  13. Rust K, Byrnes LE, Yu KS, Park JS, Sneddon JB, Tward AD, Nystul TG. Author Correction: A single-cell atlas and lineage analysis of the adult Drosophila ovary. Nat Commun. 2021 Oct 06; 12(1):5951.  View on PubMed
  14. Rust K, Byrnes LE, Yu KS, Park JS, Sneddon JB, Tward AD, Nystul TG. A single-cell atlas and lineage analysis of the adult Drosophila ovary. Nat Commun. 2020 11 06; 11(1):5628.  View on PubMed
  15. Rust K, Nystul T. Signal transduction in the early Drosophila follicle stem cell lineage. Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2020 02; 37:39-48.  View on PubMed
  16. Fadiga J, Nystul TG. The follicle epithelium in the Drosophila ovary is maintained by a small number of stem cells. Elife. 2019 12 18; 8.  View on PubMed
  17. Benitez M, Tatapudy S, Liu Y, Barber DL, Nystul TG. Drosophila anion exchanger 2 is required for proper ovary development and oogenesis. Dev Biol. 2019 08 15; 452(2):127-133.  View on PubMed
  18. Kim-Yip RP, Nystul TG. Wingless promotes EGFR signaling in follicle stem cells to maintain self-renewal. Development. 2018 12 05; 145(23).  View on PubMed
  19. Tatapudy S, Aloisio F, Barber D, Nystul T. Cell fate decisions: emerging roles for metabolic signals and cell morphology. EMBO Rep. 2017 12; 18(12):2105-2118.  View on PubMed
  20. Sumitra Tatapudy, Marimar Benitez, Todd Nystul. Methods for Imaging Intracellular pH of the Follicle Stem Cell Lineage in Live <em>Drosophila</em> Ovarian Tissue. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2017 Sep 26; (127).  View on PubMed

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