{
  "id": "benjamin-tenoever",
  "name": "Benjamin tenOever",
  "alternateName": "Benjamin R. tenOever",
  "primaryField": "Virology",
  "url": "https://benjamintenoever.com/",
  "reviewed": "2026-09-26",
  "provenance": "Profile published on the subject’s own website.",
  "researchAreas": [
    "Virology",
    "Virus–host interactions",
    "Innate antiviral immunity",
    "Interferon signaling",
    "Influenza A virus",
    "RNA biology",
    "MicroRNA-mediated viral restriction",
    "Viral engineering",
    "Sendai virus",
    "RNA delivery"
  ],
  "positions": [
    {
      "title": "Jan T. Vilcek Professor of Molecular Pathogenesis",
      "institution": "NYU Grossman School of Medicine",
      "source": "https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/benjamin-tenoever"
    },
    {
      "title": "Chair, Department of Microbiology",
      "institution": "NYU Grossman School of Medicine",
      "source": "https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/benjamin-tenoever"
    },
    {
      "title": "Professor, Department of Medicine",
      "institution": "NYU Grossman School of Medicine",
      "source": "https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/benjamin-tenoever"
    },
    {
      "title": "Director, NYU Langone Virology Institute",
      "institution": "NYU Grossman School of Medicine",
      "source": "https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/benjamin-tenoever"
    }
  ],
  "education": [
    {
      "institution": "McGill University",
      "qualification": "PhD in Experimental Medicine",
      "year": 2004,
      "source": "https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2010/mount-sinai-microbiologist-receives-2010-icaac-young-investigator-award-for-his-work-focusing-on-virus-infection"
    },
    {
      "institution": "Harvard University",
      "type": "Postdoctoral training in molecular biology",
      "completed": 2007,
      "source": "https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2010/mount-sinai-microbiologist-receives-2010-icaac-young-investigator-award-for-his-work-focusing-on-virus-infection"
    }
  ],
  "awards": [
    {
      "year": "2008",
      "name": "Pew Biomedical Scholar",
      "organization": "The Pew Charitable Trusts",
      "status": "Scholar",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.pew.org/en/projects/pew-biomedical-scholars/directory-of-pew-scholars/2008/benjamin-tenoever"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2008",
      "name": "Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)",
      "organization": "United States government",
      "status": "Recipient",
      "note": "2008 cohort; announced 9 July 2009. Nominated by the Department of Defense.",
      "sources": [
        "https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/PRESIDENT-HONORS-OUTSTANDING-EARLY-CAREER-SCIENTISTS",
        "https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2009/07/three-nist-researchers-win-2008-pecase-honors"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2009",
      "name": "Milstein Young Investigator Award",
      "organization": "International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research",
      "status": "Recipient",
      "note": "Recipient list maintained by the International Cytokine and Interferon Society.",
      "sources": [
        "https://cytokinesociety.org/milstein-young-investigator-award-winners-2009-2019/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2010",
      "name": "ICAAC Young Investigator Award",
      "organization": "American Society for Microbiology",
      "status": "Recipient",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2010/mount-sinai-microbiologist-receives-2010-icaac-young-investigator-award-for-his-work-focusing-on-virus-infection"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2010",
      "name": "Cozzarelli Prize, Class IV: Biomedical Sciences",
      "organization": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
      "status": "Paper award",
      "note": "Awarded to the Perez et al. paper, coauthored by tenOever; announced in February 2011.",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/647163",
        "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1001984107"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2011",
      "name": "Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease",
      "organization": "Burroughs Wellcome Fund",
      "status": "Awardee",
      "note": "Project: Small RNA-mediated control of microbes.",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.bwfund.org/grants/infectious-diseases/investigators-in-the-pathogenesis-of-infectious-disease/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2012",
      "name": "Outstanding New Investigator Award",
      "organization": "American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy",
      "status": "Recipient",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.asgct.org/education-career-resources/grants-funding-awards/outstanding-new-investigator-award"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2012",
      "name": "Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science",
      "organization": "Vilcek Foundation",
      "status": "Finalist",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://vilcek.org/news/announcing-the-winners-of-the-2012-vilcek-prizes/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2013",
      "name": "Ann Palmenberg Junior Investigator Award",
      "organization": "American Society for Virology",
      "status": "Recipient",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.asv.org/ann-palmenberg-junior-investigator-award"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2014–2015",
      "name": "Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair",
      "organization": "Fulbright Scholar Program",
      "status": "Distinguished Chair",
      "note": "École Normale Supérieure, France; research stay January–July 2015.",
      "sources": [
        "https://fulbrightscholars.org/grantee/benjamin-tenoever"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2019",
      "name": "Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, Life Sciences",
      "organization": "Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists",
      "status": "Finalist",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://blavatnikawards.org/news/items/finalists-prestigious-blavatnik-national-awards-young-scientists-announced/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "year": "2022",
      "name": "Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology",
      "organization": "American Academy of Microbiology",
      "status": "Elected fellow",
      "note": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://asm.org/press-releases/2022/feb-2022/65-fellows-elected-into-the-american-academy-of-mi"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "contributions": [
    {
      "statement": "Connecting infection sensing to antiviral gene expression. tenOever and colleagues investigated IKK-related kinases in interferon induction and in the transcriptional response to interferon.",
      "sources": [
        "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081315",
        "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136567"
      ]
    },
    {
      "statement": "Using host microRNAs to control viruses. His laboratory developed experimental influenza systems in which cellular microRNAs restricted viral activity by host species or cell type.",
      "sources": [
        "https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1542",
        "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1206039109"
      ]
    },
    {
      "statement": "Distinguishing natural and engineered RNA defenses. His group tested the contribution of small-RNA silencing to mammalian antiviral immunity and constructed an RNAi-like defense in experimental models.",
      "sources": [
        "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2014.05.038",
        "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.10.020"
      ]
    },
    {
      "statement": "Linking viral replication quality to immune detection. Research involving his laboratory showed how insufficient nucleoprotein permits abnormal viral replication products to trigger host defenses.",
      "sources": [
        "https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.02274-20"
      ]
    },
    {
      "statement": "Characterizing an imbalanced response to SARS-CoV-2. tenOever’s laboratory and collaborators reported limited interferon induction alongside inflammatory signaling in early COVID-19 research.",
      "sources": [
        "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.026"
      ]
    },
    {
      "statement": "Developing experimental RNA delivery platforms. tenOever and colleagues engineered viral systems to express microRNAs and deliver coding or noncoding RNA, linking fundamental virology to biotechnology.",
      "sources": [
        "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1003115107",
        "https://doi.org/10.1038/mt.2011.244",
        "https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.03267-13"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "publications": [
    {
      "id": "sharma2003",
      "title": "Triggering the interferon antiviral response through an IKK-related pathway",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081315",
      "publisher": "Science (New York, N.Y.)",
      "date": "2003",
      "authors": "Sharma S, tenOever BR, Grandvaux N, Zhou GP, Lin R, Hiscott J.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1126/science.1081315",
      "pmid": "12702806",
      "pmcid": null,
      "volume": "300",
      "issue": "5622",
      "pages": "1148-1151"
    },
    {
      "id": "ikke2007",
      "title": "Multiple functions of the IKK-related kinase IKKepsilon in interferon-mediated antiviral immunity",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136567",
      "publisher": "Science (New York, N.Y.)",
      "date": "2007",
      "authors": "Tenoever BR, Ng SL, Chua MA, McWhirter SM, García-Sastre A, Maniatis T.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1126/science.1136567",
      "pmid": "17332413",
      "pmcid": null,
      "volume": "315",
      "issue": "5816",
      "pages": "1274-1278"
    },
    {
      "id": "perez2009",
      "title": "MicroRNA-mediated species-specific attenuation of influenza A virus",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1542",
      "publisher": "Nature biotechnology",
      "date": "2009",
      "authors": "Perez JT, Pham AM, Lorini MH, Chua MA, Steel J, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1038/nbt.1542",
      "pmid": "19483680",
      "pmcid": null,
      "volume": "27",
      "issue": "6",
      "pages": "572-576"
    },
    {
      "id": "varble2010",
      "title": "Engineered RNA viral synthesis of microRNAs",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1003115107",
      "publisher": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
      "date": "2010",
      "authors": "Varble A, Chua MA, Perez JT, Manicassamy B, García-Sastre A, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1073/pnas.1003115107",
      "pmid": "20534531",
      "pmcid": "PMC2895125",
      "volume": "107",
      "issue": "25",
      "pages": "11519-11524"
    },
    {
      "id": "perez2010",
      "title": "Influenza A virus-generated small RNAs regulate the switch from transcription to replication",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1001984107",
      "publisher": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
      "date": "2010",
      "authors": "Perez JT, Varble A, Sachidanandam R, Zlatev I, Manoharan M, García-Sastre A, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1073/pnas.1001984107",
      "pmid": "20534471",
      "pmcid": "PMC2895093",
      "volume": "107",
      "issue": "25",
      "pages": "11525-11530"
    },
    {
      "id": "influenza2012",
      "title": "Hematopoietic-specific targeting of influenza A virus reveals replication requirements for induction of antiviral immune responses",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1206039109",
      "publisher": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
      "date": "2012",
      "authors": "Langlois RA, Varble A, Chua MA, García-Sastre A, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1073/pnas.1206039109",
      "pmid": "22778433",
      "pmcid": "PMC3409765",
      "volume": "109",
      "issue": "30",
      "pages": "12117-12122"
    },
    {
      "id": "langlois2013",
      "title": "MicroRNA-based strategy to mitigate the risk of gain-of-function influenza studies",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2666",
      "publisher": "Nature biotechnology",
      "date": "2013",
      "authors": "Langlois RA, Albrecht RA, Kimble B, Sutton T, Shapiro JS, Finch C, Angel M, Chua MA, Gonzalez-Reiche AS, Xu K, Perez D, García-Sastre A, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1038/nbt.2666",
      "pmid": "23934176",
      "pmcid": "PMC3808852",
      "volume": "31",
      "issue": "9",
      "pages": "844-847"
    },
    {
      "id": "vector2014",
      "title": "A versatile RNA vector for delivery of coding and noncoding RNAs",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.03267-13",
      "publisher": "Journal of virology",
      "date": "2014",
      "authors": "Schmid S, Zony LC, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1128/jvi.03267-13",
      "pmid": "24307584",
      "pmcid": "PMC3911536",
      "volume": "88",
      "issue": "4",
      "pages": "2333-2336"
    },
    {
      "id": "backes2014",
      "title": "The Mammalian response to virus infection is independent of small RNA silencing",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2014.05.038",
      "publisher": "Cell reports",
      "date": "2014",
      "authors": "Backes S, Langlois RA, Schmid S, Varble A, Shim JV, Sachs D, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1016/j.celrep.2014.05.038",
      "pmid": "24953656",
      "pmcid": "PMC4096324",
      "volume": "8",
      "issue": "1",
      "pages": "114-125"
    },
    {
      "id": "aguado2017",
      "title": "RNase III nucleases from diverse kingdoms serve as antiviral effectors",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22990",
      "publisher": "Nature",
      "date": "2017",
      "authors": "Aguado LC, Schmid S, May J, Sabin LR, Panis M, Blanco-Melo D, Shim JV, Sachs D, Cherry S, Simon AE, Levraud JP, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1038/nature22990",
      "pmid": "28658212",
      "pmcid": "PMC5846625",
      "volume": "547",
      "issue": "7661",
      "pages": "114-117"
    },
    {
      "id": "blancomelo2020",
      "title": "Imbalanced Host Response to SARS-CoV-2 Drives Development of COVID-19",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.026",
      "publisher": "Cell",
      "date": "2020",
      "authors": "Blanco-Melo D, Nilsson-Payant BE, Liu WC, Uhl S, Hoagland D, Møller R, Jordan TX, Oishi K, Panis M, Sachs D, Wang TT, Schwartz RE, Lim JK, Albrecht RA, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
      "independence": "Coauthored primary research",
      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.026",
      "pmid": "32416070",
      "pmcid": "PMC7227586",
      "volume": "181",
      "issue": "5",
      "pages": "1036-1045.e9"
    },
    {
      "id": "np2021",
      "title": "Reduced Nucleoprotein Availability Impairs Negative-Sense RNA Virus Replication and Promotes Host Recognition",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.02274-20",
      "publisher": "Journal of virology",
      "date": "2021",
      "authors": "Nilsson-Payant BE, Blanco-Melo D, Uhl S, Escudero-Pérez B, Olschewski S, Thibault P, Panis M, Rosenthal M, Muñoz-Fontela C, Lee B, tenOever BR.",
      "kind": "Peer-reviewed research",
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      "verification": "Title, authors, DOI, abstract and bibliographic fields verified through Europe PMC",
      "accessed": "2026-09-26",
      "doi": "10.1128/jvi.02274-20",
      "pmid": "33568513",
      "pmcid": "PMC8104106",
      "volume": "95",
      "issue": "9",
      "pages": "e02274-20"
    }
  ],
  "identifiers": {
    "orcid": "0000-0003-0324-3078",
    "source": "https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JVI.02274-20"
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