Email

sludtke@bcm.edu

Positions

Professor

Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US
Primary Appointment

Charles C. Bell Jr. Professor of Structural Biology

Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Baylor College of Medicine

Director

CryoEM/ET Core
Baylor College of Medicine

Co-Director

Center for Computational and Integrative Biomedical Research (CIBR)
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Member

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine

Deputy Director

Advanced Technical Cores
Baylor College of Medicine

Addresses

Office (Office)

Baylor College of Medicine
BCMN-N420
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-9020
sludtke@bcm.edu

Education

PhD from Rice University

06/1996 - Houston, Texas United States

Physics

MA from Rice University

06/1993 - Houston, Texas United States

Physics

BS from Caltech

06/1990 - Pasadena, California United States

Physics

Honors & Awards

Burton Medal

Microscopy Society of America (01/2008)

HAMBP (Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Program) Fellow

Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Program (01/1992 - 01/1996)

NRSA (Institutional) Fellow

NRSA (01/1996 - 01/1997)

NRSA (Individual) Fellow

NRSA (01/1998 - 01/1999)

Outstanding Lecturer in Quantitative and Computational Biosciences

Outstanding graduate program lecturer in 2020 and 2023

BCM, GSBS

Professional Interests

• Cryo-electron Microscopy and Tomography
• Quantitative Image Processing Algorithm Development
• Structural Biology and Macromolecular Assemblies
• Membranes and Membrane Proteins
• Protein Structure-Function and Protein Folding
• Antibiotic Resistance
• Fatty Acids and Lipid Metabolism

Professional Statement

My group focuses on CryoEM/CryoET and quantitative image processing, applying these techniques to a wide range of biological systems ranging from individual macromolecules to whole cells. For the last 25 years my group has been developing the EMAN software suite for both high resolution single particle analysis as well as in-situ and in-vitro tomography. This software has been used on a large fraction of the structures in the EMDatabank, and with over 30,000 downloads is one of the most widely used in the field. In addition to developing new image processing methods such as deep learning applications and bispectral analysis, my group engages in a wide range of biological projects, from the high resolution structure and dynamics of individual molecules to the study of functioning macromolecular assemblies within the cell. Over the last decade, cryoEM has experienced a renaissance, largely due to the development of revolutionary direct detector technology, making this field directly competitive with X-ray crystallography for high resolution structural analysis, and providing many unique capabilities, such as in-situ structural biology. Now, we are seeing a similar growth pattern in CryoET which permits visualization of macromolecules within cells without chemical fixation, opening the door for a new era of in-situ structural biology.

Websites

Videos

Selected Publications

• Chen M, Dai W, Sun SY, Jonasch D, He CY, Schmid MF, Chiu W, Ludtke SJ "Convolutional neural networks for automated annotation of cellular cryo-electron tomograms." Nature Meth.. 2017;14(10):983-985. Pubmed PMID: 28846087
• Yi P, Wang Z, Feng Q, Chou CK, Pintilie GD, Shen H, Foulds CE, Fan G, Serysheva I, Ludtke SJ, Schmid MF, Hung MC, Chiu W, O'Malley BW "Structural and Functional Impacts of ER Coactivator Sequential Recruitment." Mol. Cell. 2017;67(5):733-743. Pubmed PMID: 28844863
• J.M. Bell, M. Chen, P.R. Baldwin & S.J. Ludtke "High Resolution Single Particle Refinement in EMAN2.1." Methods. 2016;100:25-34. Pubmed PMID: 26931650
• R.N. Irobalieva, J.M. Fogg, D.J. Catanese, T. Sutthibutpong, M. Chen, A.K. Barker, S.J. Ludtke, S.A. Harris, M.F. Schmid, W. Chiu & L. Zechiedrich "Structural diversity of supercoiled DNA." Nat. Commun.. 2015;6:8440. Pubmed PMID: 26455586

Memberships

Biophysical Society

Member (01/1992)

Microscopy Society of America

Member (01/1998)