He was awarded a Ph. D. in Physics by Cornell University in 2000, where he worked with Prof. Harold Craighead to study the behavior of biomolecules in nano-fabricated structures. His work contributed to the establishment of the Nanobiotechnology Center at Cornell. He was a member of the project team at Cornell which developed the technology now employed by Pacific Biosciences and was co-author of the cover story in Science magazine (January 31, 2003) that introduced the technology to the scientific community.

Dr. Tuner's undergraduate work was at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he received a Bachelor of Science with a triple major in Physics, Applied Mathematics and Electrical Engineering.

He is the author of over 30 scientific papers in fields ranging from nanofluidics, genetics, cell attachment to chemically- and topographically-modified surfaces, x-ray lithography and process modeling. He is listed as the inventor on nine U.S. patents and more than 20 published patent applications.

Dr. Turner was recipient of the MIT Technology Review "TR100" Award in 2003 and the University of Wisconsin Madison Distinguished Young Alumnus Award in 2008. He is a sitting member of the National Institutes of Health grant review study section on new technologies.

He oversees the scientific and technical direction of Pacific Biosciences and is a member of its Board of Directors.