Molecular recognition and signal transduction.

Structural, dynamic and electronic determinants of biological processes underlying physiological functions are addressed in the lab through the development and application of methods in theoretical and computational biophysics. Much of the computational and modeling efforts offer improved methods and new structural insights related to function. The approaches include theoretical determinations of molecular structure and properties, computational simulations and bioinformatics.

A particular strength of the studies is that they are carried out in collaborative arrangements with experimental explorations of cellular processes and biomolecular functions. Because the central questions emerging from research in cellular and molecular biology require functional and mechanistic interpretations at the molecular level, computational explorations complement experiments and enrich them with mechanistic insights and new testable hypotheses.

New algorithms and informatics tools have also emerged from these studies. The research is focused on the study of generalizable mechanisms such as those triggered by molecular recognition and leading to signal transduction in systems of ever increasing size and complexity.