Quick Facts
Biography
David Jonathan Owen FRS FMedSci is Professor of Structural biology and Molecular biology in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge.
Education
Owen was educated at the University of Oxford where he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1994 for molecular studies of the enzyme phosphorylase kinase supervised by Louise Johnson.
Career and research
Owen's group uses an integrated combination of in vitro and in vivo techniques to study how membrane-embedded ‘cargo’ proteins are moved between a mammalian cell’s membranes in transport vesicles and tubules.
Along with their collaborators, his group has focused on understanding the structure and function of the AP2 adaptor complex, which selects cargo for and plays a central role in controlling the internalization of proteins from the cell surface. They have also provided insights into the mechanisms underlying the selective incorporation of SNARE proteins, which allow transport vesicle and tubules to fuse with their correct target membranes, into a range of transport vesicles and of the formation of transport vesicles and tubules that leave endosomes.
Awards and honours
Owen was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2017 and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci). He was awarded the Colworth Medal in 2003 and EMBO Membership in 2011.