"Hands-on" Workshop on Computational Biophysics

This workshop, which runs from April 17-21, 2017, at the Beckman Institute, will be presented by members of the NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling & Bioinformatics at Urbana-Champaign. Topics will cover instruction in state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulation and free energy techniques using NAMD, bacterial cells simulation with Lattice Microbes (LM) and biomolecular visualization and analysis with VMD. Morning lecture presentations will introduce fundamental theory and concepts, while afternoon hands-on computer laboratory sessions will allow participants to apply NAMD, LM and VMD directly in a series of guided tutorials. The workshop is designed for all students and researchers in computational and/or biophysical fields who seek to extend their expertise to include biomolecular simulations. Experimentalists and non-specialists are encouraged to attend and will benefit particularly from instruction in the use of QwikMD, a new teaching software incorporating NAMD and VMD that significantly lowers the learning curve for novice users. Enrollment limited to 25 participants. Application deadline: March 10, 2017 Announcement and Applications: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Training/Workshop/Urbana2017a/

This is the first atomic structure of the ribosome solved by cryoEM on the U of I campus. Its breathtaking to see how each and every atom in this beautiful molecular machine arranged in three-dimension said Dr. Jin. Using the 3D atomic structure and biochemistry, Jin and team were able to decipher how a protein known as ArfA recognizes a stalled bacterial ribosome and recruits release factor RF2 to catalyze peptide release, a process that leads to rescuing the stalled ribosome in the bacterial cell. Since bacterial and human cells employ completely different strategies to rescue stalled ribosomes, the rescue mechanism of bacteria is a drug target. This is also a collegial collaborative effort, our colleagues in the Beckman Institute, the research team led by Prof. Emad Tajkhorshid, provided us with powerful computational resources, said Dr. Jin. Read the full article here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature21053.html

Biophysics Professor Paul Hergenrother's discovery from 10 years ago is showing success in treating cancer in dogs today. Human trials to begin soon. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/01/24/cancer-dog-drugs/

Center Director Satish Nair has been appointed to the I.C. Gunsalus Endowed Professorship in the College of LAS, for his "demonstrated high originality of thought, independence and impact in research, as well as a commitment to quality."

"This is LAS - A look at our year" features several Biophysics faculty members' achievements! See what some of our chemists have been up to this year.

Biophysics Professor Chad Rienstra has been elected 2016 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for distinguished contributions to the development of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance for structural determination of large biomolecular assemblies relevant to human disease.

Biophysics Professor Klaus Schulten has passed away. He was an integral member of the computational biology program and was highly respected. For more information regarding his work please visit the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group.

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