People

Current Members

Maria Margarida (Maggie) Rosa, PhD Student

  • Maggie is interesting in understanding functional mechanisms of lipid transport by MFSD2A (Major Facilitator Superfamily Domain Containing 2A) transporter protein. MFSD2A is highly enriched within endothelial cells of the blood-brain and blood-retinal barriers where it mediates Na+-dependent uptake of the ω-3 fatty acid in the form of lysolipids into the brain and eyes, respectively. Maggie's aim is to take advantage of the functional mechanisms of MFSD2A to develop drugs that can harness the transporter’s machinery and penetrate the brain. To achieve this goal, Maggie is studying fundamental molecular-level mechanisms underlying MFSD2A-mediated lipid transport by state-of-art molecular dynamics simulations and analyzing molecular dynamics data with advanced methods of computational biophysics based on machine learning and Markov State Modeling .

Omar Alvarenga, PhD Student

  • Omar is studying how TMEM16 transmembrane protein family members scramble phospholipids The eukaryotic plasma membrane is characterized by an asymmetric distribution of lipids. Dissipation of this asymmetry is necessary for processes regulated by lipid signaling, such as blood coagulation, membrane fusion, and apoptosis. Lipid movement between leaflets requires overcoming a large energy barrier encountered by the polar or charged lipid head group moving through a hydrophobic environment. Scramblase proteins, such as TMEM16 mediate the rapid and bidirectional movement of lipids between membrane leaflets. Omar's goal is to use combination of single-molecule experimental and computational approaches to determine structural requirements for phospholipid scrambling by TMEM16 proteins.

Myongin Oh, Postdoctoral Associate

  • Myongin is interested in application of various machine learning models, such as Graph Neural Network, for rational drug design. He develops and applies different advanced computational biophysics approaches to study complex function-related molecular mechanisms in protein systems, such as retinol transporter STRA6 protein. Myongin's goal is to understand how Ca2+ ions modulate STRA6-mediated retinol transport and to determine mechanistic factors responsible for regulating retinol transport directionality at STRA6.

Past Members

Xiaolu Cheng, Postdoctoral Associate (2017-2022)
















Zarek Siegel, Undergraduate Student (2017-2018)


















Alexander Payne, Graduate Student on Rotation (2019)
















Changhao He, Graduate Student on Rotation (2019)

  • George Khelashvili, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Assistant Professor in Computational Biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

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